Lesson Learned

I think that House of Danger should definitely remain on the syllabus for this course. I appreciated, of course, the brevity of the reading, and the fact that the content was fun and something I could get through without over-analyzing. Mainly though, upon reaching the ending I was led to based on my choices, I realized that the text really had taught me a lesson about manipulation. The children’s book is so incredibly transparent in its manipulative strategies that it made me aware, more so than any other text, of the forces acting upon me. Montgomery gives the reader “choices” when in reality he has mapped out every path the reader could possibly take, and ultimately decides the fate of the main character for the reader. There is no alternative, other than ceasing to read the book (which we didn’t do because we allowed ourselves to be manipulated by our professor), to succumbing to the author’s influence. He or she may fall under the illusion that they are deciding the outcome of the case, especially because of the second person narrative mode that makes the reader feel like they embody the protagonist, but throughout the story they are entirely under the author’s control. After all, there are only twenty possible endings—it’s not as if the author directs us to write our own ending.

In this way, reading House of Danger also helped me understand the purpose of the chapter addition assignment. It is an exercise in acting against manipulation. Free of anyone else’s maneuvering or exploitation, we employ our free will and determine the ending of a piece of literature. In my opinion, this is a nice break from closely picking apart the work of others to figure out what the “truths” and “lies” are, like we have been doing all semester. The realization I came to after finishing Montgomery’s story and the chapter addition assignment also serve as a reminder to constantly think about and try to act against manipulation in everyday life, as was discussed in class. Although just a children’s book, House of Danger, combined with Tuesday’s class discussion, enhanced my general awareness of life’s manipulative techniques and the importance of determining for yourself the value of the decisions you make.