Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1996. [Vol. 3.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 23)

STUDIES - László Dányi: Decoding Decoded Systems: An Interpretation of Steven Millhauser's "In the Penny Arcade"

alludes to events that happened earlier. Thus the reader is forced to jump to and fro in time if he wants to make out the linear sequence of the plot. From the reader's point of view the textual present comprises the past tense, and the reconstructed past is comprehended through the past perfect. Still examining the first sentence one could interpret the boy's motion from "August sunshine" into "the shadows of the penny arcade" (Millhauser 135) as the boy's intention to hide away from the heat and relax in the shade, or as the first step, or as the initiative to start the voyage of discovery into the unknown. The word "shadow" implies something mysterious and unknown into which the boy starts his quest, and the plot of the story could be devoted to the obstacles he has to overcome during his voyage, thus at the end of the quest he is expected to achieve the precious aim, or is supposed to develop as a character through his experiences, and to attain a better awareness of his condition. The connotations of certain words also invite the reader into the world of mysteries, "the world seemed hushed and expectant, as if on the verge of revealing an overwhelming secret" (135). This interpretation could be linked to the aforementioned symbolic code and hermeneutic code as well, and is reinforced by the mother's anxiety. The message of her anxiousness to the reader is that there is something concealed, and her behavior arouses curiosity. Furthermore, her attitude to her son entering the arcade supports the interpretation of the story on the quest motif level, which can even be traced back in time to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, who started their quest for the non-existent Holy Grail. The failure of this interpretation is that almost any story could be pressed into the quest-motif mould. The quest motif both can and cannot be applied to this story depending on which aspect of the quest motif is emphasized, and on what one thinks the essence of this motif is, if there is such a thing at all. For example, in Myths and Motifs in Literature the following definition is provided: The quest motif stresses less the journeying than the soughtafter results of that journey. The goal of the quest is the lost 11