“The Gathering” by Anne Enright - Analytical Essay

This book “The Gathering”, sheds some light on the dark side of human behaviour. It shows that every single event that occurs in the past, effects your present actions and attitudes, and that laughter and happiness are some of the greatest weapons against the dark. The Kraken attempts to make each member of the Chain vulnerable, by breaching their weaknesses and talking about their worst memories, so that they get distracted from the true battle.

“The past has the power to influence present actions and attitudes but it must be left behind for progress to be achieved.” This idea is used on many occasions during the book, such as how Nathanial’s behaviour is influenced during his
The police wouldn’t listen to him, because it was Benno’s car, and Benno had lost his license. Danny refused to lie to them, so the police sicced their dog on him, while they held him down. Danny realized that the police could have done anything they wanted to, because no one would listen to a mere child over someone as important as a policeman. He doesn’t trust the police, because he doesn’t see them as good guys anymore. He doesn’t like to take sides, because he thinks that people who can’t make up their own minds are wimps, he’d rather be an individual. Danny turned into an animal to survive, and now acts wild and crazy. Lallie’s message to Danny was, “Extinguish the dark flame of the past, lest it consume you.” In other words, Lallie was telling Danny to forget about the incident with the police and to start anew, or else he’ll be clouded with that memory forever.
Although he’s consistently under pressure to join his father and merge with the dark, Seth does his best to stick with Lallie and the rest of the Chain. The amount of stress he’s put under by this, is shown when he tries to drown himself at the beach. He has a big link to the police, as his father is the head of the Cheshunt Police Division, and works with Mr Karle. This makes Danny very suspicious and cautious about what he tells Seth, in case Seth is forced to tell his father what the Chain are up to, or succumbs to the evil of the dark. Many people, particularly