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Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.
- Jorge Luis Borges

I feel old today. I remember, as a child, wondering what it would be like to feel old, and now I have a child who wonders the same thing. This is me, bobbing about on the thickened waters of time, experiencing the past, the present, and the future all at once. There is a cadence to it, an echo that sounds slightly different in each direction, coloured by the canyon walls that restrict our presence to the presents (for each is uniquely ours, here momentarily and then swept aside by the next). In the essay Volatile Time (2008), Yvette Bíró discusses the layering of time and identifies the rhythmic nature of narrative, pointing to complexity as both a cause and result of stability. After examining these ideas, the concepts unearthed will be used to explore the way that time is manipulated in the telling of Out of Gas, an episode from the show Firefly (Whedon, 2002).
Volatile Time begins by deifying the very concept of time, introducing it in terms of the gods of the ancient world, thus framing it as having deep and transcendent importance. The names of gods such as Saturn and Jupiter, mightiest of the gods, are invoked, bringing with them vestigial allusions to their heavenly counterparts. This is subsequently given modern relevance by situating time within the terms of our own contemporary gods, our Lord Physics and Lady Philosophy, the what and the why. With this enthusiastic and grandiose introduction completed, discussion in the essay turns to the aspects of time most relevant to its portrayal in art, in particular its dynamic nature and the layers and complexity which give it rhythm.

The Firefly series as a whole comes replete with layers of time. The very premise of the show sets this up; there is a group of lawless adventurers who dress and act a lot like classic western characters, and indeed there are often horses and gunfights within the show. And yet they live in a spaceship, in a setting hundreds of years in the future. Layered on this, their actions and interactions resonate as being both modern and contemporary, creating a forum for the exploration of issues that are relevant to us, the viewers in the here and now. The stories, as seen in Out of Gas, follow the ideas of complexity and rhythm that are laid out by Bíró, and utilise this to create interest and meaning.
And so it is with my own life. Understanding experience in terms of interconnections between complex and often unknowable systems allows patterns to reveal themselves. I see in myself the results of innumerable complex situations, resolved inevitably, and leading just as inevitably towards the next moment of progress. For that is the essence of change, of time. Though we can recognise and evaluate and attempt to manipulate time, we must realise that we are ourselves simply part of a complex system. This thick and turbulent broth of time that I bob around in, along with my son, my previous selves, and all the rest of you too, is the blood that rus through any story. When old Father Time becomes listless, flaccid, it is the peaked moments of intensity that arouse and engorge his interest.

REFERENCES
Bíró, Y. (2008). Turbulence and 本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。