Randy Orton and Edge: A WWE double-team
Faced
with the end of her relationship, the narrator ponders whether she has it
in her to “start again” (75); at the same time, because of her cancer, she
wonders if starting over is even a “real possibility” (75).
Why do you think the author weighed her main character with these two crises at once?
I think the author gave the main character both crises at the same time to show that neither cancer nor a partner defines who you are or the value of your life. It is easy to build your identity around your relationships and begin to see someone else as part of yourself. When you lose that relationship, it can feel as though you have lost a part of yourself and have to "start over." In reality, you have not lost any part of who you are. The same can be said for cancer. A disease like this can feel as though it is taking over your life, making it seem like your identity is tied to your diagnosis. However, cancer does not define you. I think this is something many people struggle with at different points in their lives—believing that who they are is determined by a partner or by their physical condition. I believe that neither of those things defines us. We get to choose who we are, not circumstances beyond our control, such as a disease or a relationship. - Nina Benton
ReplyDelete“I’m not sure which scares me more: the work of making myself and my life desirable again or the fact that it could just stop” -Katie Yee
ReplyDeleteI feel like this is a moment of truth. She is realizing she believed her marriage and her life were solidified. That there wasn’t ever a reason to remain available. To then try and become available after structuring her life around the vision of a life time partner would certainly be exhausting and discouraging. Before she allows herself the opportunity to once again open to love she faces the reality that it maybe all for nothing and just amount to wasted energy. For any of us tomorrow is never promised but I think for a cancer patient that harsh truth carries allot more weight. I can see this crisis being a burdensome and difficult situation to navigate.
I believe that authority gave her character these two crises at once as a way to show the value of one's own life and that you should cherish it. The value of your life should not depend on whether you are in a relationship or fully healthy. It should depend on how you choose to spend it. A life means the most when you try to make it a good and joyful one in a way that makes you specifically happy and not just living for others or for a moment that might never come to fruition.
ReplyDelete