Summary and Analysis

In "Visitation" we see the boy's life is suddenly very different than it was in the simplicity of August. The darkness that seems to be just kept at bay now becomes a part of the family's life. It is written in two parts. The first describes the details of the narrator's father, Jacob, losing his sanity. The rich summertime mood of August is replaced with the somber melancholy of autumn. The narrator introduces the theme of the labyrinth in his description of his house, a dark house, so similar to the other houses in Market Square, filled with staircases, balconies and apartments that one could get lost in. The theme of trying to find one's way in an unfamiliar maze is a way of showing the difficulty of this young boy watching his father sink into madness. The familiar...