*WARNING: THIS IS REALLY LONG SO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK OF FALLING ASLEEP WHERE YOU ARE! I'M AN ENGLISH NERD SORRY. HEAD TO NEXT CHAPTER FOR Q&A IF YOU HAVE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS!*

This was based off a Year 10 exam essay I wrote for English class 3 years ago, with the question requirement being that it was titled 'The Prisoner'. I revamped it to fit in vmin as well as to accommodate the new title: Ensnared. The plot, however, is unchanged and yes the only reason it didn't get a perfect score was because it was too long for an exam based essay.

Most of you would had already figured out what happened at this point (if not, it's all in the Epilogue as well as hints scattered throughout the story, reread again if you hadn't caught on yet) so here's some explanations on certain phrases, the use of symbolism as well as popular concepts throughout the text.

Symbolism: Interpretations

Anemones

➢Greek Mythology (anemone origin story): dual meanings of the arrival of spring breezes and the death of a loved one

➢Victorian language of flowers: Fragility

➢Eastern cultures: symbol of bad luck. The Japanese Anemone tends to mean ill tidings

➢Japanese language of flowers (Hanakotoba): Sincerity (White anemone)

➢May represent anticipation and unfading love, as a gift to someone stepping into a new stage of life or to tell the recipient that you will always love them.

Butterflies (Black)

➢symbol of misfortune and an omen of death

➢'Death': may also be interpreted as a death of 'something' rather than a person, such as the end of a relationship, an idea or something bad/negative

➢Irish and Celtic legends: black butterflies are also the souls of deceased people who are unable or unwilling to move on to the afterlife; they may return to the place they once lived or somewhere they were fond of visiting when they were alive.

➢sign of positive change and freedom

➢symbol of transition, renewal or rebirth

➢associated with power, authority, sexuality, mystery, sophistication, elegance, anger, fear, evil, sadness, death, mourning, remorse and the unknown.

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Analysis & Concepts

There was a great deal of foreshadowing in the text but I'm not going to point them all out if not it'll take the fun out of everything.

Time Loop

➢Periods of time that are repeated and re-experienced by characters. Time loops constantly reset themselves when a certain condition is met, with one or more characters retaining the memories from the previous loop.

➢If not interfered with, everyone will do the exact same things every time, right down to dialogue.

→ I tried with this concept but I think I did a real shoddy job. It's hinted (very badly) that Jimin's comatose dream sequence is repetitive and that it always starts with him waiting for Taehyung and ending with them falling asleep together on the couch. It's always night and that's all that happens.

→ (yes jimin is in a coma i confirm this from the epilogue oops)

The Butterfly Effect

➢"Small causes can have larger effects". This concept simply means that sometimes what may seem like an insignificant event may have large repercussions: That small events have a rippling effect that causes much larger events to take place.

➢ Explains the possibilities of alternate worlds and outcomes in fiction.

➢ Evidence: (one example)

→ 'Jimin peered at the foreign creature.'

Foreign referred to the butterfly in this context. The word peered means an alert and exaggerated way of looking out for potential danger. This means that throughout the repetitive time loop, there was NEVER any presence of a butterfly until this moment which is why Jimin is so wary of it.

So when the butterfly appeared, this interfered with the original sequence and caused the story's events to happen. Which is why when the time loop was reset, the butterfly did not appear again.

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If you have any other questions, ask them in the next chapter Q&A.