Essay Questions

Deconstruct the narrator's notions of gender in "Dawn is Dangerous."

Peter asserts, "I felt rather pleased when he said that, about ' the fewer who knew the better.' Though I was only fourteen, I had been counted in with the men. They could say what they like, but there was a certain amount of danger. Sir Philip was a bad enemy to cross.” Peter’s involvement in the exercise of deconstructing Sir Philip‘s walls elicits feelings of masculinity. He senses that his father recognizes him as a man because he is male. He feels confident and stronger than his sisters who are not involved in the exercise.

Why does Peter get into the inn? What is the irony of his resolution?

Peter recalls, “I was one of the first to pay my penny. I wanted something to take my mind off homesickness and the fear of death or prison. So I went- yes, and paid another penny for a stool to rest my weary bones.” The decision is ironic because Sir Philip comes to the inn as well and notices him. Therefore, he encounters the enemy in the inn where he had anticipated distracting himself. The inn is not as secure in the inn as he had anticipated before getting in.

Expound the relevance of the subheading “There is safety in coffins.”

Peter elucidates, “The next moment I heard a high, squeaky voice reciting…and I knew, as I was set down on a creaking floor, that we had reached the public stage. That was my first theatrical appearance - if you can call it an appearance when you are lying in a wooden chest under a black velvet pall- and I can’t say I enjoyed it.” Despite the chest being uncomfortable for Peter, it offers him temporal safety from Sir Philip because neither he nor the actors are aware that Peter is hiding in the chest. Similarly, although the living may dread being in coffins, coffins can be the only place where some people would find security. Dying is not an utterly unpleasant thing; it occasionally liberates some individuals from their suffering.