Reality, Fantasy, Dreams, and Visions
In H. G. Wells’ “The Door in the Wall,” the narrator Redmond relates the story of his friend Lionel Wallace’s encounters with a green door in a white wall, and the fantastical garden of otherworldly peace, beauty, and happiness that lies behind the door. Wallace first comes upon the door and garden at five years old. The door then appears to him multiple times over the course of his life, but in each…
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Ambition and Material Success vs Contentment and Joy
H. G. Wells’ “The Door in the Wall” relates the story of Lionel Wallace, who, throughout his life, was precocious and successful. He learned to speak at a young age, was responsible beyond his years, excelled first in school and then in his career, and by the age of thirty-nine was about to move into the upper echelons of government. He is successful in a way that would make anyone—including Redmond, the narrator…
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The Lost Golden Past
“The Door in the Wall” tells the story of a man, Wallace, who in his long-ago youth stepped through a magical door and experienced a brief, hazy moment of golden perfection—love, harmony, and pure connection. The story never makes clear if that moment was or was not imaginary, but in some sense it hardly matters. What matters instead is that Wallace consistently has the feeling that he can go back to that time—the door…
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