50 pages 1 hour read

Kiersten White

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Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

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Symbols & Motifs

Amazement Park

Amazement Park symbolizes the deceptive nature of Asterion. Designed by Lillian Nicely in the late 1940s, it was built as a trap to lure sacrifices to the monster and disguise the deaths of these many casualties. Lillian writes in her diary of her “brilliant new plan,” “a garish, cheerful solution” that features “[l]ow entertainment for the low classes” and is “perfect for [the Asterion families’] needs” (192). On the surface, Amazement Park was advertised as a harmless and entertaining venue for families, and the founders were even praised for their generosity in granting people free admission for one week every seven years. However, the park was secretly designed to be a deadly trap, and the owners’ generosity was part of the bait to draw more victims in. Notably, the park’s name, “Amazement,” also contains the word “maze,” hinting at the treacherous labyrinth concealed within. Similarly, the posters for the park urge people to “Get Lost in the Fun!” (3), obliquely alluding to the fact that the park was designed to trap people. As the narrative openly admits, “The maps were useless, the You Are Here guides impossible to find. It was a park designed to swallow” (3).

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By Kiersten White