Zvirimumwoyo Chinoda, Jr.

English 112 Tadeyeske

Inquiry #1
Unica Zurns Dark Spring Review
Unica Zurn takes one deep inside the mind of a love-stricken twelve year old on the brink of
adolescence. The girl becomes enraptured with affection for a forbidden love, and takes on the
role of a secret admirer. However, atypical to youth tragic love stories, she accepts and
understands the rift that her age causes. She simply longs for the opportunity to be present, to
admire. Zurn effectively fights against the conception that kids are too young to truly love
through the use of aphorism and symbolism, as the young girls forbidden romance fulfilled her
need for a sense of purpose.
Balanced, contrasting elements of the hopeful protagonists character captivatingly portrays her
developmental purity and old soul. The girl is often nervous, quiet, and innocent; Sometimes, at
twelve years of age, she behaves rather childishly (Zurn, 91). She draws her would-be lover
frequently, imagines his presence wherever she goes, and pretends to play upon sunbeams. These
images and occurrences serve to realistically portray the girls inevitable pre-adolescent
disposition, making the qualities she possesses beyond her years more believable. Conversely,
through aphorisms showing her depth of thought, she displays a grasp of love far ahead of her
time. Watching him from afar, desiring only to absorb his beautiful presence, she calmly
resolves, Worshiping someone requires complete passivity. To turn the principle of mobility
into a rule (Zurn, 93). At one point she even contests, only those who love without hope are
given the chance to love forever, and with the same intensity (Zurn, 90). Her recognition of
these succinct, general truths and, more importantly, her acceptance of them, solidifies her innate

maturity, perpetuates her unrequited love, and fulfills Zurns aim to disprove the notion that
children cannot comprehend true love.
Spoiler Alert
The girls low self-esteem and lack of confidence is a recurring concept throughout, propelling
her to seek fulfillment in the object of her affection. It is illustrated through foreshadowing when
she states, Not to see him again means death for her (Zurn, 107). He is her everything, as far as
shes concerned, and without him life simply is not worth living. This total investment and
dependence is portrayed through the heavy use of symbolism. Dark Spring, for example, is
symbolic of the girl. Shes twelve years old, which is right around the time that girls are able to
reproduce and are on the verge of becoming women. This symbol of vitality is dark, however,
due to her overall take on life. Darkness pervades her space, thoughts, and emotions; she spends
much time in brooding isolation, sees nothing of value apart from her love, and builds upon
already-existent resentment towards her family members when she is kept from him. These
elements of the piece serve to shock the reader and show that not only may young children feel
true love, but true depression, hatred, and the entire range of deeply embedded emotions.
The sun itself serves as a contrasting symbol of the strength, vigor, and hope given to her when
she knows she will reconnect with her forbidden fruit. On page 90 she states that because of the
sun, she will see him again, as the light pouring through her window parallels the light pouring
from her when her love is within reach. Symbolism is also prevalent in the end, regarding the
idea of dying on foreign soil when she refers to her own impending death on pages 109 and
107. She speaks about jumping to her demise in her neighbors garden, rather than her own, in
order to further shock her parents. Ultimately, when it comes down to it she does not care on
what soil her darkness-ridden soul dies: only that it does in the name of her love. Zurns use of

multiple symbols in creative ways shows firm manipulation of literary elements to further prove
her point that children can not only love deeply, but act upon their emotions in drastic measures.
Its the only suitable ending to the young girls tragic love story, and grips the reader in the raw,
gruesome truth Zurn sought to express.

This distortedly enchanting girl comes in contact with her loved one and her heart swells. The
detail in each sentence tends to be directly affected by this, like on page 83 when she observes
that he seems to combine within himself everything that is noble and beautiful in the human
race. Such claims simultaneously shock with their mature, poetic depth and sadden in the
solemnity following closely behind, as she cannot have what she desires most and depends on
the image of him for her worth. Still, it is in these moments of heightened emotion that she sheds
her characteristic dark, morbid tone and inserts flecks of hope. Flecks of hope that she holds in
life and in love. Hope that can only be brought about by the fulfillment of her purpose: loving
and admiring her forbidden fruit. Zurn effectively shows the girls unwavering dedication to her
purpose through this piece, basing the reality that children can love unto death in vivid
expressions of aphorism and symbolism. Such mastery of literary elements makes Dark Spring a
worthwhile read.