sample essay on darkness and isolation in Maestro

In Maestro darkness is used to represent Keller's all-consuming past and his attempts to isolate himself from society. While the imagery of the "brilliant furnace of the rising sun" suggests that every day offers possibilities, Keller's future is "ruddered" by the "clouds" of his past. His life, like the sky "slowly thickens" with grief and regret and he is unable to see the future that could be possible in Darwin. While others in the community have windows and doors "open to maximum aperture" and open their lives both literally and figuratively to the environment, Keller keeps his louvres "tightly shut". As the narrative unfurls, Paul is admitted to the "monastery" above The Swan for more than the obligatory piano lessons. In their final meeting, light "glinted" from the "open door" symbolising Keller's growing hope however Paul only sees the "dark shuttered room", not the "confessional" that he discerns with hindsight. Goldsworthy's use of imagery powerfully portrays the idea of a sinner seeking forgiveness in a dark, private confessional. Indeed, Keller uses the darkness both to hide from his past, and to deny his future however it is Paul who is truly in darkness, unable to "recognise the scene" for what it was.