In “The Land of Lost Content” by Suzy Charnas, there are many references to cages and being held in captivity, which are related to the growth and changes of the narrator. Mark, is a ninth grade high school student, that forms a close relationship with a vampire. He assists in caring for vampire because he is crucially wounded. Unfortunately, Roger is holding the vampire as a prisoner in his home in hope of becoming rich. Mark is faced with the dilemma of keeping the vampire in captivity or freeing him. Mark begins to relate to the prisoner towards the end of the story when he realizes, he to is in captivity. At the beginning of the story we see Mark as someone who is timid. His parents have obviously been through a divorce but still fight with each other. This causes Mark to stay with his Uncle Roger for long periods of time. He feels he is a prisoner captive in his own home because he is miserable and feels that there is no way to escape their negative comments and arguments. An …show more content…
Weyland vigorously take out his revenge on Roger and leave his almost lifeless body shut inside the cage. The importance of Roger being shut inside the cage, shows that, all of the power that he once held over Dr. Weyland and Mark is now demolished with a single shut of a gate. With this new perspective, Mark and Dr. Weyland both escape the control of Roger they were under. Suzy Charnas uses the references to cages and being in captivity as an insight of how Mark becomes a prisoner to his own thoughts and to a person he looks up to. Mark unknowingly naive to what is truly going happening just down the hall from his room. Him being unaware of this causes him to become a prisoner to his innocence. He does not want to accept the idea that someone he cares about is actually cruel and greedy. Once Mark comes to realize the harm that is being done to the vampire, his innocence is gone and he finally sees everything for what it undoubtedly was from the very