Essay balloons

The balloon itself is the symbolic representation of the story, so that the reader is forced to confront and respond to the story in the same way that the citizens of New York City must confront and respond to the balloon. The balloon can represent any imaginative origin, as the public demonstrates.

One man thinks the balloon is inferior to the sky, but the balloon is actually an improvement on January dark, ugly weather. Another person considers the balloon to be an “unanticipated reward”, as if just being in the balloon presence was a gratifying and positive experience.

The balloon can represent any imaginative origin, as the public demonstrates. The mention of the balloon as having a “deliberate lack of finish” which gave the “surface a rough forgotten quality” reinforced the idea that the balloon is an art object designed to provoke public and private reactions.

The lack of a fixed reason for the balloon creates a lack of trust, frustration, and hostility for the authorities. Experts conduct secret tests to determine ways of removing or destroying the balloon, but because the narrator has hidden the pumps, there was nothing the authorities could do.