The Mystery of the Caves

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

            In the poem "The Mystery of the Caves" by Michael Waters, a boy reveals his relationship between himself and his two parents in comparison to a story he has read. In the story, a boy struggles to survive in a deleterious cave filling with water while in his life he struggles to choose between his mother and father. Based off the information provided in the poem and in comparison between the boy's life and the story, it can be inferred that fantasy is not so different from reality. This can be supported through the images and symbols of the text.

            The boy in the cave faces decisions that can either save or kill him. "The Mystery of the Caves" opens with a boy frantically running through a cave as it fills with water. The rising water evokes an ultimatum: the boy can either venture to the top but risk failure in finding nothing, or he can risk dying on ground level. This begins the dilemma of pivotal decisions in the cave. The "labyrinth of caverns" serves as a metaphor that symbolizes the boy's confusion in making a decision. Later on, the boy holds, "One yellow finger of flame wavered on his last match." (7) Here, the boy has one last lit match, which symbolizes yet another instance of him having to make a decision to leave his spot or stay before the flame dims out.

            The boy reading the book suffers from the same difficulty in making a decision. His reality begins with his mother and father arguing. The boy is unsure which side to take, and "The boy found it impossible to see which passage led to safety." (15) This can be compared to the boy with respect to his hesitation in siding with his mother or his father but also to the boy's situation in the cave' should he endeavor to go to the top, or should he stay below? The mother's "blur of perfume" the young boy becomes entangled in symbolizes the haze of judgement he has in trusting either his mother or father. As the poem progresses, when the mother is being restrained by the father, the young boy observes her, "among bright islands of skirts." (29) The bright skirts can be paralleled to the match in that they evoke in each boy a question: what do I do?

            Clearly, both boys face the dilemma of what decision to make, with the boy in the story deciding to leave or go and the boy in reality torn between his mother and his father. An incontrovertible answer, however, is never stated and is instead left to the reader. The boy finishes the poem with the idea that the boy in the story, "is still searching below the light for a thin pencil of light." (33) The light, symbolizing hope, poses an interesting question to the reader: are all decisions in life regretted? When people enter into the world of what could have been, does fantasy really become that different from reality?