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| Original 1965 illustration for "The Bus" |
With each miniature masterwork, Shirley Jackson gets a little more "under our skin." Here again, we have a tale of displacement: of time, distance, and of the sudden loss -- or acquisition -- of a feeling of familiarity. We've all had those moments of dissociation -- familiar things seeming suddenly unfamiliar, and vice versa -- but what if, after we rubbed our eyes, they still remained reversed?
"The Bus" is filled with the small frustrations of the everyday, amplified since we know that the main character is elderly, and at times confused. She is determined, all the same, to reach her destination. How many time have any of us heard the words "this is your stop" from a bus driver or conductor -- who are we to question them? We begin, indeed, with empathy: what a sad turn of events -- what will happen to this innocent old woman? And then, by slow degrees, we begin to anticipate another fate: is this just some random house, with a faint whiff of familiarity? Or is it, though at first unrecognized, home?
Along with Jackson's story, I'm asking you to view an old episode of
The Twilight Zone, "Mirror Image." It, too, begins in a bus depot with an unfriendly ticket agent, though in this case the protagonist is a young woman, Millicent Barnes (Vera Miles) waiting for her bus to Cortland. The bus is late, the ticket agent is grumpy, but nothing else seems out of place -- until, well, of course, it
does. Directed by the German filmmaker John Brahm, and introduced with his usual stretched-lip panache by Rod Serling, it offers another tale in which a journey by bus becomes a trip to insanity. It's available via
various streaming services, including Paramount Plus, Prime Video, or Apple TV.
In the Twilight Zone episode Mirror Image, we see a lady waiting for a bus and these strange things start to happen to her first we hear the bus stop worker say you’ve already asked a few minutes ago when the bus to Syracuse will be here. Millicent was very confused because that was the first time she went up to the old man. We then see her spot an identical bag checked in behind the counter and the man says you checked your bag although her bag was at the bench she was sitting at. After these weird encounters we see Mrs. Barnes go into the bathroom and a worker seems shocked to see her almost like she just was in there, we the here the workers say you were just in here a few minutes ago and once again Millicent because confused and worried about what is happening. We finally see the “mirrored image sitting on the bench through the bathroom mirror and when she tells someone about it they think is crazy. Eventually, a man calls the police because she fainted after seeing herself sitting on the bus. They just think she is crazy and basically seem to have her admitted to a hospital but we then see the man lose his own bag and spots his clone and chase after him down the road. The way the camera made it seem almost like the “mirror person” was in another dimension cause he was running and the man wasn’t gaining on him and the mirror person was almost off to the side and then eventually vanishes right in front of him.
ReplyDeleteIn the “Mirror Image” episode of the Twilight Zone, we find a woman being messed with at the bus station. Later in the episode she remembers hearing about beings from another dimension invading other dimensions. So, she believes she is being haunted by herself from another dimension. After the police take her away for observation, the man that helped her then experienced the same thing. He tried to chase after his alternate self but was unable to catch him in the end. This plays around with the idea of a parallel universe where someone invaded the wrong universe. It’s often believed that two versions of yourself can’t exist in the same universe and one version would try to kill the other. While we don’t see this in the episode, the alternate versions of these characters definitely seemed to have mischievous motives.
ReplyDeleteHannah Parker
In the "Mirror Image" episode of "The Twilight Zone," the story revolves around a woman named Millicent Barnes who is waiting at a bus station. As she waits, she begins to notice odd occurrences that make her question her sanity .Millicent becomes increasingly disturbed when she believes she sees her own doppelganger in the bus station. This double seems to be mimicking her actions. Millicent is unable to convince others around her of the strange events she is experiencing. As the episode progresses, Millicent's anxiety grows, and she becomes convinced that there is a parallel world or alternate reality where identical copies of people exist. - Katherine Arthurs
ReplyDeleteA woman named Millicent is waiting at a bus stop in the "Mirror Image" episode of "The Twilight Zone" when she starts to observe strange things happening. She starts to believe that a different version of herself is attempting to rule her life. Although Millicent's doppelganger seems to be a malicious entity, she looks exactly like her. Millicent struggles with the idea that a different version of herself is attempting to take her place throughout the entire episode. The episode explores themes of uncanny, paranoia, and duplicity. It investigates the psychological effects of doubting one's own reality as well as the uncomfortable idea of coming across a different version of oneself. Throughout the episode, Millicent Barnes, becomes increasingly convinced that there is another version of herself trying to take over her life. This theme of doppelgangers and the eerie feeling of being replaced or duplicated is a classic element of science fiction and horror.
ReplyDeleteThe bus tells a story about a confused old lady on a bus trip home, who experienced an unpleasant bus journey. Miss Harper is desperate to get home and the idea of being home brings her much comfort. Instead of getting home, she is taken to her childhood home, where her dolls come to life and her toys terrorize her. Suddenly, she’s back on the bus which starts over the whole series of events again. From my understanding, the old lady is suffering from what seems to be dementia, or maybe even old age, as she is disconnected from reality and only connects to one thing being home. In the mirror image episode of twilight zone, a women named Millicent Barnes awaits at a bus station, where she begins to notice occurrences that gives her the strange feeling that her doppelgänger awaits with her at the bus stop and is trying to take over her identity. There is a strong feeling of supernatural presence in this episode, as we can discover from the title "mirror image". The concept of doppelgängers and identity loss are themes associated with psychological thrillers, and all of the stories we have read and films we watch connect to one another in that sense.
ReplyDelete-Nicollette DeFusco
From the beginning of the story "The Bus" Miss Harper seems uneasy, some may even say irritable and desperate to reach her final destination. It seemed to me that she has some sort of anxiety that makes her short and anxious to people on this bus. The whole story shows the struggle of Miss harper trying to get back home. These struggles can increase in their intensity until taking her to the edge of death. When Miss Harper is dropped off at a location that seems to be her house when she was younger, she seemed quite frightened by the changes. This story was quite interesting to read and the main character Miss Harper was intriguing to read about in her struggles to just get home.
ReplyDelete- Rebecca Fyrer
In "Mirror Image," an episode of “The Twilight Zone”, we witness a woman who experiences strange things at a bus stop. As a result, she believes she is seeing otherworldly creatures. A man who had comparable experiences was never able to fully explore his other personality just as the woman was trying. This incorporates the idea of a parallel universe where an invader enters a different universe. The themes of science fiction and horror literature are the idea of doppelgängers playing a big role in this story, which leads to the unsettling sensation of being copied or replaced by your double.
ReplyDeleteThe story goes from her falling asleep to waking up from her dream of her childhood toys coming to life. Miss Harpers journey to her childhood home is a metaphor for revisiting one's childhood or a happy memory. She remembers the old house she use to live in and the different rooms, which is now called Beer Bar and Grill. Miss Harper reflects on how she liked the stain glass window in her house, where the light shines through and creates assorted colors. It is like when someone visits a place where they grew up or a certain place they used to go to as a child, that brings back events from the past. It feels sad, that the place she once knew is no longer what it used to be and how things change over time. The feeling is bittersweet, that these places that held so much meaning transform into something else or even get destroyed. I like it when stories do this, where it starts out as a dream and then tells the whole story while also ending in a dream. Like the dream is the beginning while also the ending.
ReplyDelete-Jessyca Iswanto
The Bus by Shirley Jackson is about a lady, Ms Harper’s journey home. Ms Harper is left at a place called Rickets Landing. From the story it is clear that Ms Harper's character goes through many inconveniences and obstacles to get to her destination. I found the story to be interesting. I liked the imagery Shirley Jackson used to tell the story. I think the story can be seen as how people reminisce about the past or nostalgia. When we see things like a house or an object that comes with a familiarity it can remind us of our past and make us reflect on our lives. In the same way I think Ms Harper's recollection of her childhood was metaphorically brought to life when she stayed at the hotel. She was remembering the good things from her past. I think the twist at the end when she wakes up to the sequence of events starting again was interesting as well. Maybe the story was a way of symbolizing dreams and the longing to experience the past once more and have things be how they used to be.
ReplyDelete- Ashley Hernandez
"The Bus" depicts a old lady who, on a bus trip home, is treated harshly by the bus driver and takes advantage of her confused state, and lets her off at an unheard-of town, in the pouring rain. After a painful series of terrible misadventures, she is transported to her childhood home, where her old toys confide her. Her childhood doll makes an appearance to chat with Miss Harper. (the doll calls her an old lady, which horrifies her.) She can hear her father on the piano and her mother singing. I feel like Miss Harper may suffer from dementia or maybe she is in a hospital bed recalling her life, however, her ability to connect with reality is not there, and she is pondering what the idea of "home" feels like to her.
ReplyDeleteava Perry
"the bus" was an interesting reading for me. When she gets off the bus and finds herself lonely and no way to go home made an impression on me being a commuter. Ever since I started commuting at 11-12 years old I was always afraid of not getting off the bus at the right stop, imagine how scary it could've been for the old lady who didn't have a way to communicate with someone she knew to go help her. Also, I like how there's the transition to her childhood home and I felt her fear when her childhood toys came to life. Who wouyldn't freak out if a doll told you to go away? And the ending lerft me with a big question mark, was it all a dream or is she living in some sort of loop that doesn't end? Is she going again to the childooh home and meeting her wooden toys again there?
ReplyDeleteThe lady Millicent is at the bus station. Unaware to her, weird things begin to happen to her. The question arises to her, has she become a doppelgänger? It is quite disturbing to her, she's questioning everything about herself. Thinking she was going to her destination she desired. She is brought to her childhood home, being torched by items that brought her joy in her younger years. I think when the author added in positive memories mixed with the horror it brought a strong sense to the story. It makes me feel a little sad knowing she wonders what her safe place is.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThe story is about a woman who constantly takes the same bus and encounters a mean bus driver who is rude to her but constantly tells her he is not her alarm clock because he must wake her constantly. I do not think it was some form of dementia, but I do think it was a form of strange dream. Jackson wrote in such a way that Miss Harper is perhaps in some form of a dream and is very confused about her destination.
Ololade Ojekunle
Mirror Image" delves deep into existential anxieties, unraveling a narrative that challenges fundamental notions of reality and self. The whole idea makes you question everything—like, how stable is our existence, and can we really trust what we see? Millicent Barnes' paranoia takes us on this wild ride where reality seems to bend, leaving us wondering if our own lives could be duplicated without us having a say in it. It's like a spooky rollercoaster of doubting what's real and what's not. The episode taps into this deep fear of the unknown and forces us to think about how shaky our grip on reality might be.
ReplyDelete"The Bus" tells the story of an elderly woman who is cruelly treated by the bus driver when she is on her way home. He then takes advantage of her confusion and drops her off in a strange town in the pouring rain. She then is returned to her childhood home after a grueling string of horrific mishaps, where her old toys confide in her. Her childhood doll appears and starts to have a conversation with Miss Harper. She can hear her mother singing and her father playing the piano. This then freaks her out even more. Miss Harper seems like she is suffering with dementia and is trying to remember her life as best as possible.
ReplyDeleteGeneveve Provencial
DeleteIn this story, themes of isolation, displacement, and nostalgia are explored through Miss Harper's journey. Miss Harper is alone and seeks comfort in memories from her past. In the story she is left vulnerable and in an unfamiliar place and uncomfortable situation.
ReplyDeleteKaleigh Hopkins
This story really seems to look deep and analyze things like being displaced and often being in a situation of single or being alone. Leaves a little bit of suspense and makes it feel like a place that has never been seen before and makes things very unclear.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Bus" by Shirley Jackson, Miss Harper, who is an older lady feels as if everyone around her (the ticket salesman, bus driver, and the two men driving the truck) are mistreating her and are being rude. She keeps repeating she can't wait until she is home after her harsh experience with the bus, but it wasn't until the bus driver dropped her off at the wrong location. She seems to have nostalgia with the saloon she stays in, which made her remember much of her childhood very vividly and reminded her of what home really feels like. Although she took a sleeping pill at the bus stop, it is difficult to interpret if the events she experienced after she first got on the bus were reality. She is of older age so it could possibly be dementia or confusion from the sleeping pill. Some audiences reading this may be left with uncertainty if the events truly happened or not based off of the ending of the story with the bus driver waking up Miss Harper again.
ReplyDelete-Elena Ruggieri
The Bus starts on a creepy and confusing note, but then seems like it is a story about a lady who possibly has dementia. She commutes and falls asleep on the bus and the driver is very rude to her. He notices her confused state and leaves her at a random town. She somehow returns to her childhood home after some things occur, and starts encountering things from her childhood. She even starts hearing her mother and father singing and playing the piano. Things like this can be imagined in a person who has dementia. She is possibly trying to remember the most that she can. This story was also creepy, in a sense that maybe something horrific is pulling her there.
ReplyDelete- Emily Torrez