Creative Writing: Fear of the Unknown

Everybody has a different perspective on fear and everybody is affected differently. The Mental Health Foundation stated that, “Fear can last for a short time and then pass but it can also last much longer and stay with us. In some cases it can take over our lives, affecting appetite, sleep, and concentration for long periods of time. Fear stops us from travelling, going to work or school, or even leaving the house.” This quote shows that fear does not affect people as much as it does to others. Although, fear can affect people for a long time which can cause them to stay isolated from others. There are many types of fears and some examples of fears include: the fear of the number 13, the fear of spiders, the fear of heights, and many others. There are hundreds of fears and many people have these fears and everybody is affected differently.

“Some people say I was lucky to survive, other will say I deserved it for the choice I made. I’m here to say I was lucky, it’s never ok to say your life isn’t worth living even at your worst you can always look forward tomorrow will come and if you put your mind to it you’ll see that anything is possible.” – Stephen McGregor Professional Paralympian

How can day exist without night; how can night exist without darkness? In Paul Bogard’s, “Let There Be Dark”, Bogard elucidates on the absence of darkness in today’s world. With authenticity, Bogard analyzes the significant elements of darkness in both a rational and factual way. In “Let There Be Dark”, Bogard creates a refined and persuasive analysis using rhetorical appeals to endorse his ideology on preserving Earth’s natural darkness.

In the poem “Gretel in Darkness”, the author Louise Gluck writes based off of the classic Brothers Grimm fairytale “Hansel and Gretel”. Gluck visualizes herself as Gretel, seeing and feeling from her point of view after being faced with her terrible encounter with the witch. Gretel is distraught and feels as though no one is there for her or cares about what she is feeling. She is overwhelmed with this certain sensation of darkness. Darkness is a word filled with a strong meaning. It represents the absence of light, an important aspect used in sight. As a result darkness denies humans this sense which can make a person feel trapped, unable to see or protect oneself. The speaker is haunted by her past unable fulfill her expected “happy

     We humans especially, fear many different things: death, disease, old age, commitment, noises in the night, pain, responsibility, work, being too fat or too thin, or any number of other things. Some of our fears are reasonable and rationale, like the fear for our safety so we lock our doors at night, never walk alone on dark streets, and

In Holly Wren Spaulding’s essay, “In Defense of Darkness,” her main claim is that we have fallen away from darkness and immersed ourselves in a society of lightness. Furthermore, she claims this has lead humans to lose touch with basic human emotion as well as the sensual and spiritual experience true darkness has to offer. Spaulding makes this claim evident through exceptional use of personal testimony and copious appeals to value.

Night: a pitch-black time of day in which no light is shown, other than the reflection of sunlight off of the moon's surface. Darkness is scary when alone and can also be dangerous to those not cautious. Elie Wiesel is a survivor of something so gruesome but inspiring to all people who have read the Nobel Peace Prize winner's novel. Elie was trapped in a darkness he could not escape until the world once realized it was not all about themselves. To be free and living a life worth living then in a matter of seconds, being confined as though you are a zoo animal. Only to be observed at a distance with no pity or thought that lies behind those caged doors; And once that caged animal is released, not all of it is free.

The experience of darkness is both individual and universal. Within Emily Dickinson’s “We grow accustomed to the Dark” and Robert Frost’s “Acquainted with the Night,” the speakers engage in an understanding of darkness and night as much greater than themselves. Every individual has an experience of the isolation of the night, as chronicled in Frost’s poem, yet it is a global experience that everyone must face, on which Dickinson’s poem elaborates. Through the use of rhythm, point of view, imagery, and mood, each poet makes clear the fact that there is no single darkness that is too difficult to overcome.

"Wake up, partners," the trail boss, James called. I sleepily looked up , shivered, and saw I was the only one not up. "Here," James said, giving me the horses' bridles and saddles. "Take these and get the horses ready. We have a long day today." I groaned in reply and set up the horses for the day's long drag. I was the horse wrangler and this was my everyday job but I still couldn't get use to the idea of waking up before the sun and working. We drove the cattle into open plains against the winter's cold wrath.

In the solitude of pitch-black infinite space, “men forgot their passions”-all values were lost, hopes and goals were put on hold, and only darkness existed. A world living in darkness was forced to displace its

When children think of darkness they think of lack of light which causes them to become scared. As we grow older, we begin to not only realize the lack of light, but the objects inside the dark which can be more frightening. We start understanding how darkness makes us feel. Darkness makes one think of unusual scenarios that are not real, but seems so real at that moment. Once we start believing in those scenarios, they start to overcome us and we no longer stay ourselves. There are multiple definitions of darkness and they all go with these two authentic stories, Heart of Darkness and The Dead. In the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, darkness is defined as: partial or total absence of light, wickedness or evil, unhappiness, secrecy and lack of spiritual or intellectual enlighten. Comparing, Heart of Darkness written by Joseph Conrad and The Dead written by James Joyce, each author brings out darkness and the living dead into the main character and shows how much it changes them for the worse and/or for the better.

I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, then alone in the light.

A lesson used in the Dwór was, “Carrying light in darkness is an invitation to be snuffed out. Learn to keep your sight in the dark” (196). Seeing in the dark is

The first time I can remember hearing Darkness whisper in my ear was when I was seven years old. I can still feel of my scratchy carpet on my legs and the hot tears running down my puffy cheeks. I remember holding that old purple notebook in my hand and reading and rereading the only three words on the paper and the only three words I believed. I had scrawled “YOU ARE WORTHLESS” across the lined page in my childlike chicken-scratch. Thinking back on that now, I don’t know how I learned that feeling, much less where it came from. I think about my little six year old cousin and wonder if he even knows the word worthless. However, Darkness whispered it into my ear, making it sound enticing and made want to believe all

move, but I am restrained. I listen, but I hear nothing. I smell but I