Previous
Symbols
The ravine symbolizes the unknown and, more specifically, the mysterious boundary between life and death. The ravine runs through the middle of town, separating Lavinia and her neighbors from the community’s main center, where Lavinia’s friends Francine and Helen live. Bradbury initially aligns the ravine with danger when Francine says she doesn’t like it; Francine warns Lavinia that if they stick to their plans of going to the movies, Lavinia will have to walk back through the ravine alone at night. This association with danger and the unknown gets heightened when the two friends descend into the ravine, described as “ancient,” “black,” and “secret.” As they follow a shortcut through the overgrowth, they discover the dead body of Elizabeth Ramsell, the Lonely One’s most recent victim. The ravine, Bradbury implies, is an in-between place, not only a literal divider separating the two parts of town but also a location where life ends and death begins. Later, when Lavinia crosses through the ravine alone, Bradbury reinforces this symbolism. As Lavinia begins to suspect the Lonely One is stalking her through the ravine, the imagery foreshadows that she is on the cusp of her own death: “Only the ravine existed and lived, black and huge, about her.” While the ending implies that Lavinia meets her fate in her home, the ravine is the site of her figurative crossing over from life to death.
The Ravine Quotes in The Whole Town’s Sleeping
The The Whole Town’s Sleeping quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Ravine. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Whole Town’s Sleeping Quotes
They stood upon the edge of the ravine that cut the town half in two. Behind them were the lit houses and music, ahead was deepness, moistness, fireflies and dark.
“Maybe we shouldn’t go to the show tonight,” said Francine. “The Lonely One might follow and kill us. I don’t like that ravine. Look at it, will you!”
Lavinia looked and the ravine was a dynamo that never stopped running, night or day; there was a great moving hum, a bumbling and murmuring of creature, insect, or plant life. It smelled like a greenhouse, of secret vapors and ancient, washed shales and quicksands.
[…]
“Bosh!” said Lavinia Nebbs.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
As Lavinia and Francine head to the movies, they must walk through the ravine that separates one side of town from the other. Francine feels trepidation about descending into the ravine because the Lonely One is still at large, but Lavinia dismisses her fears. As such, the personalities of the characters are established through their feelings about the ravine: Francine is cautious and fearful, and Lavinia is brave. At this point, Lavinia’s attitude seems reasonable, but later she will act recklessly. As such, Bradbury suggests that the line between reason and recklessness isn’t always easy to distinguish. The ravine is Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Liber
The ravine was deep, black and black, black! And the world was gone behind, the world of safe people in bed, the locked doors, the town, the drugstore, the theater, the lights, everything was gone. Only the ravine existed and lived, black and huge, about her.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
After encountering Officer Kennedy on the streets and refusing his offer to accompany her home, Lavinia begins descending the staircase into the ravine. She is utterly alone and exposed now, with everyone else in the town safely locked inside their homes. Lavinia is beginning to realize that perhaps she made the wrong choice and has acted recklessly: staying home, locked in her private space like her neighbors, would have kept her safe. The repetition and imagery in this passage personifies the ravine, casting it as a menacing predator. Lavinia is figuratively swallowed inside of it, with everything else falling away. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possi
She heard music. In a mad way, in a silly way, she heard the great surge of music that pounded at her, and she realized as she ran, as she ran in panic and terror, that some part of her mind was dramatizing, borrowing from the turbulent musical score of some private drama. […] She told her legs what to do, her arms, her body, her terror; she advised all parts of herself in this white and terrible moment, over the roaring creek waters, on the hollow, thudding, swaying almost alive, resilient bridge planks she ran, followed by the wild footsteps behind, behind, with the music following, too, the music shrieking and babbling.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
As Lavinia descends into the ravine, she grows increasingly anxious, and as she crosses the bridge, she begins to hear footsteps following behind. Now truly afraid that the Lonely One is following her, she begins to run. Significantly, as she flees, she imagines herself as a character in a movie. She has an out-of-body experience and even hears an imaginary soundtrack underscoring the terrifying scene. In this way, Bradbury connects Lavinia’s taste for thrills—her decision to go to the movies despite multiple warnings from neighbors and friends and her pleasurable excitement when she learns that the druggist gave out her Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia ea
There was nobody following me at all. Nobody running after me. She got her breath and almost laughed at herself. It stands to reason if a man had been following me, he’d have caught me! […] How silly of me. I wasn’t running from anything. That ravine’s as safe as anyplace. Just the same, it’s nice to be home. Home’s the really good warm place, the only place to be.
She put her hand out to the light switch and stopped.
“What?” she asked. “What, what?”
Behind her in the living room, someone cleared his throat.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
In the final lines of the story, Lavinia makes it to her house and locks herself inside. Peering out her window, she sees she wasn’t being followed, after all, and feels relief until she realizes she isn’t alone. This open-ended conclusion ties together multiple themes—public space versus private space, reason versus recklessness, and gender and sexuality—while also foreshadowing Lavinia’s fate. Bradbury offers an unexpected twist by suggesting that private space might not be the safe haven the townspeople believed it to be. Lavinia has adopted their viewpoint by the end of the story, reasoning that if she can just get Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis.
Get the entire The Whole Town’s Sleeping LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
The Ravine Symbol Timeline in The Whole Town’s Sleeping
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Ravine appears in The Whole Town’s Sleeping. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Whole Town’s Sleeping
...begin their walk to the town center, which lies on the other side of the ravine, two neighborhood women ask where they are going. The women are shocked to learn that...
(full context)
...all have been found strangled, with their tongues hanging out. When they arrive at the ravine they must cross, Francine, fearing danger, proposes skipping the movie. But Lavinia dismisses her, just...
(full context)
As Lavinia and Francine round a curve of a path in the ravine, they find the dead body of Elizabeth Ramsell, the Lonely One’s latest victim. As with...
(full context)
...out it’s only Officer Kennedy on his patrol. He offers to accompany her through the ravine, but she refuses. He tells her to call out if she needs help, and she...
(full context)
Lavinia makes it out of the ravine and onto her street. Her thoughts race as she runs to her door, and she...
(full context)
