Picking apart a Quote

1. Picking apart a Quote Murky Water in The Natural

2. “The raft with the singing green-eyed siren guarding the forbidden flame gave off into the rotting flood a scuttering one-eyed rat. In the distance though quite near, a toilet flushed, and though the hero braced himself against it, a rush of dirty water got a good grip and sucked him under” (185).

3. “The raft with the singing green-eyed siren guarding the forbidden flame gave off into the rotting flood a scuttering one-eyed rat. In the distance though quite near, a toilet flushed, and though the hero braced himself against it, a rush of dirty water got a good grip and sucked him under” (185). (**pieces I pulled as potentially significant) Context: This passage occurs right after the party Memo and Gus threw for the Knights. Memo and Roy have just had sex.

4. “The raft with the singing green-eyed siren guarding the forbidden flame gave off into the rotting flood a scuttering one-eyed rat. In the distance though quite near, a toilet flushed, and though the hero braced himself against it, a rush of dirty water got a good grip and sucked him under” (185). The water is a “rotting flood” and the raft gives off a “scuttering one-eyed rat.” If after sex the water is polluted, it implies he is soaked in something dangerous and unhealthy. The “rat” was with the siren, implying that they are in collusion. Interesting that it is one-eyed. Kind of like Gus, who is in collusion with Memo… Just after sex with Memo, Roy imagines the “siren” (Memo?) floating on a raft. This implies that he is not on the raft, but in the water.

5. “The raft with the singing green-eyed siren guarding the forbidden flame gave off into the rotting flood a scuttering one-eyed rat. In the distance though quite near, a toilet flushed, and though the hero braced himself against it, a rush of dirty water got a good grip and sucked him under” (185). When a toilet flushes it is sucking down excrement….and at the same time it is cleansing as it brings new, fresh water into the tank. This flushing feels far but also near to Roy- perhaps because it is surrounding him? He’s in the vortex of the sucking water, pulling him away like garbage.

6. “The raft with the singing green-eyed siren guarding the forbidden flame gave off into the rotting flood a scuttering one-eyed rat. In the distance though quite near, a toilet flushed, and though the hero braced himself against it, a rush of dirty water got a good grip and sucked him under” (185). “A rush of dirty water” sucks Roy, “the hero” under despite his attempt to brace against it. He is engulfed in the rotting flood after having had sex with Memo and is now being sucked under and away. Right after this Roy awakens in the hospital, his stomach pumped and the doctors “dredged up unbelievable quantities of bilge”(186). There is a connection implied between the rotten food Roy ate, sex with Memo, the “one-eyed rat,” Gus, and his being sucked under in his career.

7. “The raft with the singing green-eyed siren guarding the forbidden flame gave off into the rotting flood a scuttering one-eyed rat. In the distance though quite near, a toilet flushed, and though the hero braced himself against it, a rush of dirty water got a good grip and sucked him under” (185). Pieces I will use: “The raft …gave off into the rotting flood a scuttering one-eyed rat” (185). “a toilet flushed, and though the hero braced himself against it, a rush of dirty water got a good grip and sucked him under” (185).