"and with its soft touch came instant oblivion"

During class on Wednesday, Dr. Sexson asked us to used deductive reasoning, as opposed to inductive reasoning, to formulate a definition of 'epiphany.' That is to say that we should use the text to create the definition, and not try to fit a current definition of the word to fit the text. The epiphanic moment that was to be our guide was chapter seven in "The Wind and the Willows" by Brian Jacques. I was already familiar with the book because it had been read to me as a small child. I've probably seen every cinematic version as well (turns out the Brit's versions are my favorites!), so I was already confident in where the major epiphany occurred in the story.

Through careful re-reading of the chapter, I found that I could also incorporate another idea that Dr. Sexson presented to the class: the little 'Oh' epiphanies and the larger 'Ah' epiphanies. Even though I am familiar with the text, I found myself still having those moments, especially with the sense of having to create a definition based on the text.

I connected the emphasis on the 'norm' with the actually epiphany itself, first. Portly, the juvenile otter, was missing, again. To Mole, it didn't raise a concern, which he shares saying "What, that child?.... Well, suppose he is; why worry about it? He's always straying off and getting lost, and turning up again; he's so adventurous. But no harm ever happens to him" (Jacques 117). The first 'oh' moment comes soon after when Rat shares that it isn't normal this time; Portly has been missing for several days. It is after hearing this that Mole is overcome by an urge, an obligation, to help find the missing otter. It is a small epiphany because it was only upon hearing the news that he felt this stirring inside of him.

As the story moves along, and the characters' lives have been altered by that small epiphany: "Their old haunts greeted them again in other raiment, as if they had slipped away and put on this pure new apparel and come quietly back, smiling as they shyly waited to see if they would be recognized again under it" (Jacques 120-121). Their lives had been altered in some fashion, and they could no longer connect with things the same way as they did in the past. Perhaps, it was because they were being forced to look at things around them in a different light and more closely, and as a result they began to appreciate their surroundings more.  

Moving on, the story begins to build to a larger epiphany. The 'ah' moment. Rat and Mole's surroundings begin to change, and the they are in awe to what is happening to them. Rat recognizes it at first: "It's gone!.... So beautiful and strange and new! Since it was to end so soon, I almost wish I never heard it. For it has roused a longing in me that is pain, and nothing seems worth while but just to hear that sound once more and go on listening to it for ever" (Jacques 121-122). But it returns. Mole is unable to see for himself the change in nature that Rat is seeing until the dawn begins to show the beauty of the landscape mixed with the music in the air. The two friends realize that they are experiencing something special that will not last. It was overwhelming to their senses. Mole literally has an 'ah' experience: "Then suddenly the Mole felt a great Awe fall upon him, an awe that turned his muscles to water, bowed his head, and rooted his feet to the ground....indeed he felt wonderfully at peace and happy" (124).

This was a point in their epiphany where they were overwhelmed by the experience. The act did not happen all at once. It occurred over a series of time, how long, maybe as long as it takes for the sun to rise just enough to shed light on the landscape to make them visible enough to appreciate. For as the sun continued to rise, the vision vanished for them. The experience was over. Things were normal again because with the sun rise the birds wake and sing their merry songs, and the time has come when they usually explore the world. Their experience has greatly affected them, but it has only changed them in a split moment, and its effects are not so great as to alter their lives in some dramatic way. They will go on with their lives, and their subconscious will take the experience and file it away. Thus, "gift of forgetfulness" (Jacques 126).  Put willows here.

So getting to the point of this assignment, through careful reading of chapter seven of "the Wind and the Willows," I have attempted to create my own definition of 'epiphany.' To me, I think that epiphanies can be grand, overwhelming experiences, like that of Rat and Mole at dawn when they hear the 'music,' or they can be seemingly normal blips of time, when overwhelming realizations come and affect the parties involved, but they are not necessarily awesome, like when Mole has an overwhelming urge to help in the search for Portly. . It was not a great, big ephiphanic experience, yet it altered his life. It was an 'oh' moment. He felt in his gut that he needed to help after finding out that the norm had changed. The epiphanies are seen/recognized in some way or another, whether is through an outward change in how, physically, they view their surroundings, or if it is a change in their outlook in life, etc. Epiphanies do not have to be recognized by those who have them as blatant objects of time. They are felt within, and can be dismissed as fast as they come. I'm sure I am overlooking something, but at this time, this is at least a start to a working definition of 'epiphany' that has been formulated through careful reading of a text.