I can relate to some of the frustrations about afternoon, a story not having a clear story line. Some pages of the so-called “story” don’t always relate to subsequent pages, and this caused me to feel a little bit stumped while I was reading. I would say that afternoon doesn’t fufill our need or desire for closure, but I do think that this was Michael Joyce’s intention. The work raises a lot of questions for the reader – something I think all enjoyable texts do. It’s ironic, however, that although we desire closure, we are also intrigued by ambiguity and uncertainty. As readers, we like to ask questions about the larger meanings behind a work. What is the writer doing here? How does he or she do it? What is the significance of this particular character, object or scene? How does this apply to the real world? There’s something appealing about a text that leaves readers on the edges of their seats and gives them the feeling that they want more. Just as afternoon doesn’t have a clear story line, our lives don’t follow a predetermined path. Our life experiences are often scattered and disconnected and leave us feeling baffled, like afternoon does. This is perhaps why the hypertext appeals to us and why we can identify with Peter’s character, who doesn’t seem so stable.
So one thing that intrigued me while I was perusing afternoon was the different references to tigers. The character of Nausicaa mentions them when she reflects on a businessman she once met in India who “kept white tigers in a chrome steel cage surrounded by orchids. Afternoons his servants would walk them through the gardens on long leashes.” Nausicaa then recounts her dreams of the “white tigers in the cool garden. [She] would think of them stretching their flanks, their paws like velvet across the cool stones of the garden paths, their tongues slowly lapping the curved surface of the gold radio.” Another reference to tigers comes when Peter describes the humidity – “Four full days now it has crouched over us, the humidity like the exhalation of tigers, scratch of tough leather across the piss damp concrete.” I thought the juxtaposition of hard and soft was interesting here. By this I mean that when I usually think of tigers, I think of them as hard, aggressive animals. The mention of the “chrome steel cage” also evokes the idea of hardness for me. On the other hand, the mentions of “orchids,” “long leashes,” “dreams” and “velvet” evoke the idea of softness. It’s an unlikely combination, and I’m not quite sure what the meaning behind it is. However, I think the releasing of the tigers from the cage and into the garden might be symbolic of Peter’s unraveling or unpacking of memories that might reveal that he did in fact witness his son’s death.