The Many Faces of Love

Henry David Thoreau once stated, “There is no remedy for love but to love more.” This statement proves to be true throughout Love in the Time of Cholera, and is evident in many different aspects of the story. Gabriel García Márquez, whose extraordinary understanding of life and relationships shows through in his writing, explores the numerous types of love in Love in the Time of Cholera. Whether it be necessary love, obsessive love, true love, or fatal love, one of Márquez’s characters is sure to experience it.

The love that consumes the majority of the story is obsessive love. Florentino Ariza, from the moment he lays eyes on Fermina Daza, is obsessed with her. As a seventeen year old boy, he watches her as she walks to school, and writes hundreds of pages on how much he loves her. As they grow older, after Fermina rejects Florentino and marries Dr. Urbino, Florentino’s obsession barely dwindles. His love for Fermina, although scarily on the verge of being stalker-ish, is never ending. Florentino vows to save himself (in a spiritual way, of course) for Fermina until the day he dies, and serves as proof that love can consume every aspect of a person’s life and despite the obsessive nature, there is such thing as never-ending love.

Another aspect of love that is prominent in Love in the Time of Cholera is necessary love. Throughout Florentino’s life, he uses sex and physical attraction to fulfill his desire for love. Although the relationships that he takes part in while he is waiting for Fermina can barely be considered relationships based on true love, that the fact that this love is a necessity gives the reader a sense that it is sincere.

In the case of Fermina and Dr. Urbino, their love begins as a form of convenience, and transforms momentarily into short-lived love. Fermina marries Dr. Urbino because of his place in society, and because she would’ve been crazy to have turned down such a man. Dr. Urbino, on the other hand, marries Fermina because she is beautiful and will be an honor to have on his arm. This form of love is forced, and therefore their relationship makes both Fermina and Dr. Urbino miserable most of the time.

Leona Cassiani was the woman who made Florentino realize that “it is possible to be a woman’s friend and not go to bed with her.” (188). This is an important realization for Florentino because it proves that his sexual relationships do not account for true love. Leona is the closest Florentino comes to love other than Fermina, and this is because he respects her so much that he cannot have sex with her. Leona also stands for unattainable love. She and Florentino miss their chance, and since they have allowed their relationship to become so intellectual, there is no chance for it to flourish into something else.

One of my favorite types of love that Márquez touches on often during the story is secret love. All of the main characters have a lover or a crush that no one is aware of. Florentino makes all of his lovers a secret in order to keep it a secret from Fermina that he has ever been unfaithful. Most of Florentino’s lovers are married, widowed, or extremely young, and don’t want others to know of their affair. Dr. Urbino has an affair with a mulatto woman, and although he tries to keep it secret, Fermina finds out about it. And the list goes on. I find this type of love to be exciting and mysterious, keeping the story interesting.

The Historical Context of Love in the Time of Cholera

It is nearly impossible for people living in the present day to fully comprehend the cultures and lifestyles of those in the past or in different parts of the world. People living under democracies are closed to the idea of living under communist rule or a dictator. People whose cultures and religions allow them to date and choose their own partners don’t understand arranged marriages. People who have never lived through a civil war can’t fathom what it is like to have war that close to home. And people who live in a society that has a three tier class system don’t understand the extreme division between the lower and upper class, not only economically but socially, in other parts of the world. In Love in the Time of Cholera, it is a challenge as a reader to look past what we see as the ‘norms’ of society, and read the book with and understanding of the historical context. It is for that reason that I decided, after having a hard time understanding the characters and their lifestyles, to do some research.

From my research, I learned that Love in the time of Cholera is set in an unnamed city of Columbia, located along the Caribbean coast. This land was first found in 1533, by Pedro de Heredia, a Spaniard. Columbia was under Spanish rule during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, with the native populations forced into slavery, or a sort of indentured servitude. In the early 1800’s, when France invaded Spain, Columbia threw out its Spanish officials, and the Republic of Columbia was born. Although free of their rule from Spain, Columbia then entered a period of civil unrest. The Liberal and Conservative parties battled over the government, the church, and the sharing of power between the two. Because of these disagreements, Columbia suffered civil wars from 1840 to 1842, and 1899 to 1902, during which internal political struggles consumed the country, allowing for little trade or international relations. Finally in 1991 a constitution was adopted with a system close to that of the United Sates. Columbia now has a diversified economy, with exports such as oil, textiles, clothing, chemicals, and coffee, and is slowly becoming known for more than its most notorious export, cocaine.

Love in the Time of Cholera takes place from the late 1800’s to around 1930 – the time in which Columbia transitions from the colonial to the modern period. It is important for the reader to understand that the country has undergone and is undergoing civil wars throughout the story, and that there are still slave quarters along the coast, filled by the large lower class, and separated socially from the upper class. Gabriel García Márquez comments often upon the lifestyles of the “poor mulattoes”, making them seemingly uncivilized and barbaric. He states that “During the weekend they danced without mercy, drank themselves blind on home-brewed alcohol, made wild love among the icaco plants, and on Sunday at midnight they broke up their own party with bloody free-for-alls.” (17). On the other hand, the upper class, for example Dr. Urbino, were part of the old colonial elite, and kept hold to their power during and after the revolution. There is little or no communication between those of the different social classes, and when there is communication, it is not often accepted.

Fermina Daza comes from a family that is seeking a higher social standing, and in the culture she has grown up in, does not have the opportunity to marry for love, but rather for money. When Florentino Ariza begins to court Fermina, her father does not want her having any communication with him, for he is not seen as good enough for her. This is hard to understand growing up in the society in which most of the students at PCDS have. Most of us are allowed to date, and are going to be given the opportunity to choose who we want to marry, despite their religion, race, or social class. Even though Florentino and Fermina are ‘in love’, they will never have the opportunity to be together, because Fermina’s father will never allow it. And one day, when Fermina is older and understands the difference between social classes in her culture, she will marry for money and reputation (to Dr. Urbino) rather than for love. Without having a clear understanding of the time period in which this novel takes place, and the culture surrounding that time, it would be difficult as a reader to understand why the Fermina is not allowed to marry Florentino, and why their love is not socially accepted and therefore, secretive.

The Sister, The Caregiver, and the Doxy

In William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury, what the readers know about Caddy is learned only through the thoughts of her brothers. Caddy’s position in the story is controversial. She represents both good and bad, love and deceit, longing and disgust. She is the reason why both Benjy and Quentin have felt loved at some point in their life, but at the same time, causes the downfall of both of them. In the first two sections, with Benjy narrating one, and Quentin the other, we see many different aspects of Caddy and her effect on the two brothers and all of the Compson family.

It is evident, from the very beginning of the novel as Benjy waits by the gate for Caddy to come home, that Benjy truly loves Caddy. Caddy is understanding and caring, and does not refer to Benjy as ‘looney’ or retarded as nearly everyone else around him does. Caddy seems to be the only one who gives Benjy the love that he needs, on account that he barely receives any love from his mother or father. Since Benjy only gets older physically, but not mentally, he expects everyone else to not change mentally. He wants Caddy to be a little girl forever, and cherishes her innocence. When Caddy loses her virginity to Dalton Ames, Benjy senses her promiscuity and beings to bawl and scream. For all of Benjy’s life, Caddy has kept him safe and done what he wanted her to, like when she washed off her perfume, or washed her mouth, but she can’t wash off what she did with Dalton. It is at this point that Caddy breaks down Benjy. From the minute Caddy loses her virginity, she and Benjy become detached. Suddenly, the pattern and familiarity that has been Benjy’s life, is shattered. This is unfortunate because Caddy was such a large part of Benjy’s life, and it seemed as though the connection that her and Benjy had was unbreakable.

When Quentin begins to talk about Caddy, the reader gets a different sense of who she is. Quentin shows Caddy as a lost and weak girl, hiding under the cover of a strong and mature woman. She is unsure of why she slept with Dalton, and lies to Quentin about whether or not she has feelings for Dalton. Quentin and Caddy had a relationship similar to that of Benjy and Caddy. Caddy was the one person who truly loved Quentin, and cared for him when their parents didn’t. This caring nature created a bond between Caddy and Quentin that was more than just that of siblings. Quentin was jealous of the men Caddy was around, and felt as though none of the men she ever encountered were good enough for her. He wanted to break the pessimistic views that his father had about virginity and women, and for most of his life had used Caddy as a precedent. When Caddy loses her purity, Quentin loses hope. He can no longer believe that women are not ‘bitches’ or concubines, and because of the fact that he had not yet lost his virginity, he was ashamed and shocked. Caddy’s impurity was the breaking point for Quentin as well. With his loss of hope came his obsession with time. His father had told him once that time cures all, but Quentin had waited long enough, and time hadn’t cured his feelings. The tragedy of the Compson family seems to revolve around Caddy, who was once the rock of a family teetering on the edge of destruction. When she cracked, they all came tumbling down after her. (608)

The Five-Forty-Eight

John Cheever’s “The Five-Forty-Eight” is a captivating story that shines light on the struggle to create a facade of perfection in order to cover up one’s true inner turmoil. Blake’s stalker, a mentally ill and emotionally unstable woman, becomes the object of Blake’s deception. Blake is a well-off businessman, who feeds on those who are weak, confident that there will be no dire consequences. When his stalker gets the job as Blake’s secretary, it is her chance to recreate herself, and overcome her mental illness. Instead, Blake messes with her mind, and leaves her jobless, alone, and more frail than ever. In the end, though, it is not Blake’s stalker who works to cover up her inner conflicts, it is Blake. Despite the fact that the reader is meant to see the stalker as the psychotic character, it is Blake whose deep-rooted problems begin to seep through his phony exterior.

When the reader is first introduced to Blake, he is overly confident and distracted. He notices his stalker as he leaves his office, and wonders why she is following him, but seems preoccupied by the recent construction and window displays to worry about her for more than a moment. And for that moment that he does worry, he reassures himself with the fact that, “She was not clever. She would be easy to shake.” (4) Blake is completely oblivious to why the woman, whose name he has not yet taken the time to remember, would be following him. Maybe she was “misled, lonely perhaps.” (4) Despite this false sense of comfort, Blake takes a detour into a men’s bar on his way to the train, believing that his stalker was too simple-minded to wait for him. While in the bar, Blake tries, unsuccessfully, to remember his stalkers name-“Miss Dent, Miss Bent, Miss Lent”. It then becomes obvious to the reader how Blake can live with himself after the way that he feeds on women. He picks women who have a lack of self esteem because to him, they are not people. He dehumanizes them to the point where they are all nameless, each a star on the wall.

After realizing he has missed the express, Blake leaves the bar in order to catch the local five-forty-eight. He is sure that he has lost his stalker, boards the train, and uses the evening paper to “avoid speculation or remorse about her.” (16) “Mr. Blake”, he hears her voice from above him, and suddenly he remembers her name. Miss Dent. While, to the reader, Miss Dent is becoming seemingly more dangerous, her timid voice gives Blake some relief. He still feels as though he has the power to manipulate her, and instead of being worried about what Miss Dent is capable of, Blake looks around to make sure that none of the people on the train that he knows are watching them. But it doesn’t take long for Blake to realize that Miss Dent is serious. She tells him she has a pistol, and that she is not afraid to kill him. This scene shows that there has been a role reversal between Blake and Miss Dent. Blake is now the weak one, the one who is being dehumanized and messed with. The consequences of his actions have finally come back to torment him. He is now the coward, for once he does not have the upper hand of being the tabby in this cat and mouse game he often plays. Miss Dent, although mentally tormented, has found the strength to stand up to the man who has caused her unwarranted trouble and pain. She has realized that she has a problem, and found Blake to be the principle source. Miss Dent uses the train ride to share with Blake how he has made her feel, and instead of listening and trying to fix what he has done to Miss Dent, Blake is distracted by the ads on the walls of the train stations, and who is getting on and off of the train.

Miss Dent is a symbol of Blake’s past. She symbolizes all of the women that Blake has manipulated and used in the past. Instead of confronting the women, Blake has always avoided them-after sleeping with Miss Dent, he fired her, and refused to allow her into his office building. When Miss Dent first met Blake, she had imagined his life to be “full of friendships, money, and a large and loving family.” (6) But once Miss Dent sees Blake’s weaknesses and heartlessness, and once the train stops in Shady Hill, she realizes Blake’s life was not what she had imagined. She says that she ought to feel sorry for him, and that despite what she has been through, she is still better than him. This is ironic, because most of the story, the reader sympathizes with poor Miss Dent, a troubled woman, so desperate for the adoration of such a man as Blake. In the end though, it is Blake whose tormented soul is visible and pitied. It seems as though he is past the point of being cured, whereas Miss Dent can now wash her hands clean of Blake, and finally find peace of mind. After having just been held at gunpoint with his face down in the dirt, Blake, who realizes that Miss Dent has left the station and he is safe, “got to his feet and picked up his hat from the ground where it had fallen and walked home,” and unchanged man. (63)

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Discussion Questions:

1. Do you believe that Blake or Miss Dent had a revelation in the end?

2. Why do you think that Blake was always distracting himself with everything that was going on around him?

3. In your opinion, were either Blake or Miss Dent likeable characters?

4. What is the significance of Miss Dent’s handwriting?

5. What mental problems do you believe that Miss Dent suffers from?

Arnold "Friend"

While reading “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, I couldn’t help but become strangely engrossed by the horrible situation in which Connie found herself. I was reading it-despite being advised otherwise-at night after my Mom was fast asleep, and halfway through the story, I couldn’t help but stand up and close the shutters in the room where I was studying and turn on all the lights I could. In addition, I found myself becoming overly sensitive to the usually drowned-out sounds of cars driving through the neighborhood. I found this story to be one in which any young girl, or woman of any age, can relate to. Although Joyce Carol Oates writes an exaggerated version, many women at a young age experience a situation in which they feel threatened or uncomfortable because of a male.

In “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, Arnold Friend becomes the stereotypical male predator that most females find themselves worrying about while at home alone. With his shaggy black hair that was “crazy as a wig”, and his eyes that were “chips of broken glass”, he becomes a greaser-esque character, with tight pants tucked into his boots, and a white shirt that was tight enough to show off his lean arms (618). And while meant to be a sickening and perverse character, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by Arnold Friend’s charisma. From the moment that he pulls up to Connie’s house, he holds her attention, and makes her second guess staying in the house. At one point Connie blushes because “the glasses [he was wearing] made it impossible for her to see just what this boy was looking at. She couldn’t decide if she liked him or if he was just a jerk, and so she dawdled in the doorway.” (617). For Connie to be considering going for a drive with Arnold, a murderer, says a lot about Arnold. It shows that not only is he persuasive, but he has a sort of charm that stems from his mysteriousness.

Another thing that struck me as strange was the way in which Connie deals with males. She seems to have this air of confidence, but I had a hard time deciphering whether or not this is true confidence, or just a face she puts up to cover her insecurities. Although beautiful, Connie is constantly checking her reflection in mirrors, “or checking other people’s faces to make sure her own was all right.” (614). This tells me that Connie is truly insecure, and is just trying to grow up too fast and let off a sense of false security to play games with men. It seems like this control that she seems to have over males is her way of getting the reaction she wants out of people, which she doesn’t get from her family. It is sad that her character comes to her own downfall because of her attitude and her values. If it weren’t for her self confidence, and the way she acted when Arnold Friend first saw her at the movies, maybe Connie wouldn’t have faced the same horrific ending that she did, at the feet of Arnold “Friend”. (534)

The Grass Is Always Greener On The Other Side

Why is it that, as humans, we feel the need to make things fair? Is equality really the solution to all of our problems? In Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s short story “Harrison Bergeron”, the characters live in a society where everyone’s natural ability and talent are not praised. Every character is made equal by bringing those with more intelligence, or those who are more athletic, down to the level of a person who lacks those entities. The United States Handicapper General is in charge of creating handicaps. For example, if a person has an intelligence that exceeds that of the person in the lowest caliber, they get a device put in their ear, that lets out a sharp, deafening sound which prevents them from thinking. Apart from this intelligence handicap, there are handicaps for physical ability, looks, even musical talent. Our society would be completely different than it is today if there were handicaps for talent. And although this equality is supposed to be a characteristic of utopian society, it seems as though we would find it otherwise.

The society of not only the United States, but the world, is much more technologically advanced than it was 100 years ago. If there was such a thing as the United States Handicapper General that placed handicaps on intelligence, there would be no place for improvement or new technology. There wouldn’t be computers, television, space travel, internet, long-distance calling. It would affect businesses, families, and everyday life in general. Imagine not being able to call family members who lived on the other side of the country. Today, using a telephone to call long distance is an everyday thing. But if Alexander Graham Bell had had an intellectual handicap, he would not have been able to think long enough, due to the screeching in his ear, to invent the telephone. These handicaps make a society worse, and even with the handicaps, are people really equal?

Nearly everyone enjoys watching, playing, or talking about sports. The Olympics are exciting and create a sense of nationalism. And no one can deny the joy that comes out of competition. If everyone had the same physical abilities, there would be no point in sports, or the Olympics. In athletics, the athletes are pushed to do their best, and to be the best. The physical handicaps that the United States Handicapper General puts on the athletes take away from that determination. Not only would the athletes not try as hard, the games wouldn’t be fun to watch if no team was allowed to win, if everyone had to be equal. Also, in the story, George makes a comment about how the ballerinas aren’t very good, “no better than anyone else would have been, anyway” (10). This just shows that the handicaps put on society make things less enjoyable, but the people just don’t realize because they don’t have the brain capacity to do so.

The government has so much control over the society because of the handicaps that they put on people, that there is no chance of a successful revolution. It isn’t because the people aren’t unhappy, it is because they don’t have the mental or physical ability to come together and do so. If one person goes against the government, as Harrison Bergeron does, he is shot down immediately, and 5 seconds later no one even remembers that it happened. It makes the reader wonder how many times someone has stood up against the government, and no one remembers.

Although many people think of an equal society as something positive, the story “Harrison Bergeron” shows that it is indeed the exact opposite. Kurt Vonnegut Jr., in a sense, mocks the stupidity of the people who have created this perfect society, by pointing out that they approved the amendments (211, 212, 213) that created the handicaps (1). The characters in “Harrison Bergeron” aren’t really happy, they just don’t remember why they are sad. When Hazel is crying in the beginning of the story, she feels a tear drop on her face and forgets why she had been crying. It is unfortunate that in order to create an equal society, everyone loses their natural abilities, which in most societies, are looked upon as a positive thing. I believe that competition and jealousy makes a society more successful and allows for positive change, and technological advances. This story also proves that these ‘utopian’ societies aren’t really all that they appear to be. (742)

The Violence and Despair of Flannery O'Connor

From reading only two of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories-“A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and “Revelation”-the recurring theme of violence and despair in her writing became evident. It is intriguing as a reader to study O’Connor’s background in order to get insight into her dark writing. Her family suffered from the hereditary disease, lupus, which took the life of her father when she was only 15. Not long after his death, O’Connor herself was diagnosed with the disease. It was recorded that she rarely spoke of her father’s death or of her own sufferings. O’Connor lived until her mid thirties aware of her own impending death, making life an everyday struggle.

O’Connor’s struggle comes out in many of her characters. Of those I met in the two stories, all of them were irritable and unpleasant. O’Connor may have been treated differently because of her disease, and therefore the negative people that she encountered became her characters. Another theory may be that she makes her characters unpleasant and uses a dark and dreadful theme in order to help her understand or explain disease and human suffering. Either way, the characters in O’Connor’s stories help to develop a consistently dark theme in her writing.

The themes of both “Revelation” and “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” concentrate on human misery and lost souls. On the Cyber Pat blog by Patrick Galloway, The Dark Side of the Cross: Flannery O’Connor’s Short Fiction, O’Connor is recorded as saying, “I have found that violence is strangely capable of returning my characters to reality and preparing them to accept their moment of grace.” In both stories, at least one character seems to be going through a great amount of emotional turmoil, and each individual deals with it in their own way. In “Revelation”, Mary Grace lets out her hatred towards the judgmental Mrs. Turpin in a violent way (as O’Connor previously stated), by throwing a book at her head (102). Mrs. Turpin, on the other hand, looked towards God to guide her soul and lead her towards heaven (79). In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, the Misfit also uses violence, this time in the form of murder, to let out his emotion (124). I find that although the violence these characters use is meant to help them accept their moment of grace, it is unsuccessful and I do not believe the characters go through any spiritual change in the end, as O’Connor may have anticipated.

The Misfit is a particularly interesting character in that it seems as though O’Connor is trying to make the reader respect him, or at least pity him. Despite the fact that his crimes are so cruel, he has an explanation for why he does them. He explains that he was put into the penitentiary for a crime that he didn’t do (112). After he was put into jail, he explains that from then on he strove to make what he had done wrong fit his punishment, but that it never worked (130). I find it ironic that a place that is meant to punish criminals and to hopefully change them, can do the exact opposite. In this case, jail created a murdered from someone who, although charged as a murderer, had not previously been one.

One of the things I found most interesting about both of the O’Connor stories is that they had a sudden plot change that caught the readers’ attention. Usually in stories, the foreshadowing to the climax is gradual and steady, but in O’Connor’s stories, she comes out of left field with a sudden plot change. It is completely unexpected, and in my case, makes the reader have to stop and re-read what just happened. For example, in “Revelation”, Mrs. Turpin is in the waiting room talking to Mary Grace’s mother about how happy she is that she got Claude and no one else did, and all of a sudden, “The book struck her directly over her left eye. It struck almost at the same instant that she realized the girl was about to hurl it.” (102). In the paragraphs previous to that, there was no mention of Mary Grace holding the book or of her being increasingly annoyed with Mrs. Turpin, which leaves the reader shocked at her actions. I personally did not enjoy this aspect of the novel, but along with her dark underlying themes of despair and her violent characters, it is another thing that makes Flannery O’Connor stick out from other short story writers. (761)

The Trials of Parenting

One of the most criticized and controversial jobs that a person can hold is that of a parent. If a child turns out to be a bit rambunctious, or if they don’t get straight A’s in school, people rarely ask, ‘what is wrong with that kid?’ No. It’s almost always, ‘where are that kid’s parents?’ Parenting is a job that is misunderstood by both children and adults, and it seems like every parenting book creates a different strategy to raising the Stepford child. In “Teenage Wasteland”, Daisy is the mother of a delinquent teenager who seems to be lost when it comes to motherhood. She seeks help from different sources, all of whom seem to be pulling her in a different direction. The entire story Daisy is struggling to create a better relationship with her son and to help him become a better student and stay out of trouble. In the end she fails, not entirely because of personal fault, but by listening to the misleading advice of others.

When Daisy is first introduced to her son’s issues, it is by Mr. Lanham, the school principle. He calls her into his office to talk about how Donny was “noisy, lazy, and disruptive”, and was always messing around with his friends during class (2). Upon first hearing this, Daisy felt ashamed, and was wondering how Mr. Lanham must’ve thought she was a horrible mother. These selfish feelings appear often in the book. Daisy is worried more about the mother that she appears to be, rather than the mother that she is. Mr. Lanham’s suggestion to Daisy was to check Donny’s homework assignments every day and to make sure he did all of his homework every night. This suggestion, although it may sound like it would be successful, creates a negative outcome rather than a positive one. Yes, Donny begins to raise his grades, but he begins to resent his parents even more.

To Daisy’s surprise, she is called into Mr. Lanham’s office again only a few months later, and is told to bring her husband. During the meeting Mr. Lanham informs them that although Donny’s grades have risen slightly, he has developed some new problems. He cuts classes, smokes in school, breaks into lockers, and “during athletics, he and three friends had been seen off the school grounds; when they returned, they coach had smelled beer on their breath.” (7). It is apparent that Mr. Lanham’s first suggestion did not work, so he suggests that Donny see a psychologist and get some tests done. This is also unsuccessful, so Mr. Lanham recommends yet another idea. He tells Daisy about a tutor that has been successful among some other kids. His name is Cal. Daisy and her husband, desperate to help Donny, agree.

Cal is a somewhat young man, with the appearance of an overgrown teenage boy. He seems like he relates well with teenagers, and Daisy has hope, upon meeting him, that he will be able to help Donny. Donny begins spending a lot of time at Cal’s house, and from Daisy’s point of view, he seems to be improving. But Cal has a lot of rules, Daisy is not to interfere in any of Donny’s affairs. If the school has any problems with Donny, or if Daisy has any problems with Donny, they are to deal with Cal first, not directly with Donny. This does not strike Daisy as strange, as it would most parents. She seems like she will do anything to help Donny become more disciplined, and will listen to anyone who seems to have a solution.

In listening to Cal’s advice, Daisy stops checking in on where Donny is going, and whether the parties he attends are supervised. She retracts his curfew, and stops looking over his homework. Donny also begins going to concerts with Cal, hanging out at Cal’s house, and Cal also introduced him to his new girlfriend, Miriam. Although Daisy “was touched that Cal would grow so involved in Donny’s life, … she was also a little hurt.” (56). It became apparent to her that Donny looked up to Cal as a parent figure, and seemed to appreciate him more than he did herself, but as long as Donny was behaving, Daisy was content.

It wasn’t until Daisy got a phone call nearly four months after she had last talked to Mr. Lanham that she realized what had been going on. He told her that Donny had been expelled. This news came as shocking to her, how could Donny have gotten into so much trouble under Cal’s supervision? After arguing with Cal when he tries to make excuses for Donny, Daisy stops allowing Donny to meet Cal for tutoring sessions. She realizes that the whole time Donny was hanging out with Cal, he was not being supervised; instead he was becoming more of a delinquent. It was as though Donny had slipped through her fingers, and she no longer had any control over him. But it was not until the end of the story, when Donny runs away, that Daisy fully realizes the extent of her mistakes. Daisy had put too much hope and trust into the ideas of others, and had made herself vulnerable. The decisions that she made as a parent, although with the best intentions, are looked upon by the reader as careless. If Daisy had only listened to her own ideas, and although she may not have been the most successful mother, Donny may have turned out all right. (919)

Lily Owens, as a Character and as a Person.

Lily Owens is a fourteen year-old girl who, in the beginning of The Secret Life of Bees, finds herself feeling very much alone and unloved. Friendless, and motherless, Lily is raised by a seemingly heartless father, and Rosaleen, their black maid, who becomes Lily’s first friend. Lily tells the novel in first person, so the readers get an inside look at her thoughts and feelings, and throughout the novel we watch Lily mature from a lost girl into a strong woman. Sue Monk Kidd, the author The Secret Life of Bees, creates a character out of Lily that many readers can relate to. Although many have not experienced the loss of a parent as Lily has, almost everyone has felt alone or unloved at some point. The way in which Lily strives for a father that loves her, or waits around to be invited to a sleepover, is something that almost every child goes through at some time in their life. This realness makes Lily a lovable and relatable character for nearly anyone who reads the novel.

As the novel progresses and Lily matures, we watch her turn from a weak child into someone who stands up for herself. Lily, although still skeptical on whether or not she hates T. Ray or feels bad for leaving him, doesn’t allow him to treat her like a child anymore. She stands up to him, and when he comes to the Boatwright house to pick her up, Lily refuses to go. Also, Lily learns how to forgive. Once she finds out the truth about her mother, she feels a lot of hatred towards her, not only for leaving her, but for marrying T. Ray just because she was pregnant. These feelings of hatred are teamed up with more feelings of being unwanted and unloved. Lily also feels regret for her killing her mother, even though it was an accident, it is something that Lily will have to live with forever. She comments on this in the novel when Zach feels like he to blame for May’s death, “I was afraid, though, the blame would find a way to stick to them. That’s how blame was.” When a person experiences the death of someone close to them, there are always regrets involved, and almost always people take the blame for what has happened. Lily’s character is made more realistic by showing these emotions throughout the novel.

One of the other main themes in the novel, which helps readers to relate with Lily as a character and as a person, is when she finally finds herself. Throughout the story, we watch Lily go through a rollercoaster ride of emotions and thought processes while she is trying to figure out who she is, and in the end, it all comes together. Lily finds herself loved and a part of a family when T. Ray comes to get her and all the Daughters are there along with Rosaleen and August. The feelings of love that she has longed for all of her life are finally there. She no longer needs her mother back, she no longer feels as though she’s a worker bee who had lost her Queen bee. She has found herself many new Queens, and can therefore become a part of the world again, and quit living the lie that she had been the entire summer, if not her entire life. The ‘perfect’ world that Lily had wanted to live in, had come to her, not as literally ‘perfect’, but as ideal. As August once said to Lily, “There is nothing perfect... there is only life.” (601)

Feelings Towards Reading and Writing

English has never been one of my strongest subjects. I have a hard time becoming motivated to read, and it takes a fascinating book to keep me interested. Writing, on the other hand, I consider one part of English in which I usually excel. I have always been able to put my feelings on to paper, but usually in a private manner, like a journal. During elementary school, the beginning of middle school, and more recently, I have made a habit to keep journals, or to write down my thoughts when I feel that I need to.

With recent events, writing has become sort of an escape for me. When I become overwhelmed with feelings of loss or sadness, it helps me to write a letter to my dad. It’s a way for me to feel close to him and to let him know the things that are going on in my life, and that he is still loved. The topics and moods of journal writing has changed drastically since elementary school when I used to write. It used to consist of the events of the day, the boys who my friends and I were interested in, and what my sister did to me that day to make me mad. But in many ways, they are a lot a like. Like all writing, all the journals were a way to let out feelings that would, most other times, be kept inside.

As for reading, it does the exact opposite for me. I cannot seem to become engulfed in a book. I cannot let out feelings or emotions while reading, nor can I find comfort in learning of other lives, fictional or not. When I read my mind wanders, I am constantly thinking of other things while I am reading, and cannot pay attention to what the author is trying to tell me. This has been the same way for me since I was young, and hopefully one day, will change. I find many topics of books interesting, and am beginning to become more open to different books and authors, and finding it easier to concentrate while reading.

As for top achievements in reading and writing, every time I finish a book or finish a writing assignment, I feel a sense of achievement. Last year in history, writing research papers, although tedious and stressful, made me proud (especially when upon completion I received a good grade). And as for this year, I am excited to become a better reader, and continue to learn more about writing. English is a subject that, with maturity, has begun to grow on me, and this year will continue that. (444)