When death strikes, no two people are affected in the same way. Some are strong and cope with it well, while others can barely even function. Death certainly changes a person's life, mainly for the worse. In Eudora Welty’s The Optimist's Daughter, Judge McKelva’s death had the surprising effect of changing Fay and Laurel for the better; they became more adventurous and open to new experiences, and learned that they could find family in people who were not related to them.
Laurel McKelva, Judge McKelva’s daughter, has had a rough life. Experiencing the death of her father, husband, and mother certainly shaped her personality to the way it was portrayed in the book. She was often closed-minded, controlling, and quiet. She overthought everything,
…show more content…
which resulted in her ongoing anxiety. According to Christina Neckles, “Suzan Harrison, in aligning the structure with Laurel’s consciousness, suggests that as the novel progresses ‘the external world becomes an extension of the protagonist’s internal reality’ (125).” This quote exhibits how Laurel would take everything happening externally and let it affect her internally. In every situation, she thought deeply about what each person was specifically saying and their meaning behind it. If something was somewhat offensive, it killed her inside. She was severely affected by other people’s actions, but she tried very hard to hide her emotions. She was very defensive of those she cared about. If anyone insulted them, she would immediately shut them down. She never allowed anyone to make a joke on someone's’ behalf, and if they did she shut it down right away. According to Adrienne V. Akins, “Laurel reflected uneasily that the nurse ‘would never in a year dare to get so possessive of Judge McKelva’… or find something in his predicament that she could joke about.” (23) In this case, the nurse was making jokes about her father. Laurel was astonished that the nurse would dare to make jokes about her father, considering the intensive condition he was in. Laurel was severely bothered by this, it began to eat away inside of her. Fay was very insensitive towards Judge McKelva and Laurel about their deceased mother and wife, Becky. She failed to recognize that she was still present and significant in both of their lives. Fay would continuously touch Becky’s belongings, which angered Laurel. One day, Fay even ruined one of Becky’s most prized possessions, her bread board. This item was so important to Laurel because it was a gift from her deceased husband, to his mother-in-law, Becky. When Fay used it for other reasons other than its purpose, it broke, and Laurel was devastated. After seeing the damage, Laurel confronted Fay saying “What have you done to my mother’s breadboard? Look where the surface is splintered, you might have gone at it with an icepick.” (120) Fay responded “What does the board matter? All bread tastes the same.” (121) Laurel was even more so disappointed with Fay’s response. She couldn’t understand why Fay would do such a thing and why she wouldn’t take responsibility for her actions. Laurel even said “I don’t think I can safely predict anything about Fay.” (52) Laurel claimed she didn’t know Fay anymore, because she didn’t know that she was capable of doing such emotional damage without even recognizing it. This led Laurel to question the relationship that her father and Fay had. Margaret Pepperdene said “opposite the vulgar movements of his young bride and poses at the story’s start the unspoken question on everyone’s mind, the one that prompts Laurel’s night-long search for an answer to that and its related questions: why did he ever marry Fay Chisom?” Laurel questioned why her father, at such an old age, would let someone like Fay into his life? Fay started out as a very arrogant and an opinionated person.
She viewed herself as superior to others and was constantly making a judgement about them. She questioned others frequently, which resulted in her having the attitude that she couldn’t trust anyone. Fay even admitted “I haven’t got anybody to count on but me, myself, and I.” (54) She never took responsibility for her actions, and always blamed them on other people. When her late-husband, Judge McKelva, passed away because of her aggressive actions, she blamed it on the doctor. She said to his lifelong doctor, Dr. Courtland “All I hope is you lay awake tonight and remember how little you were good for!” (42) When decisions were made without her permission, specifically operating on her husband, a whole new side of Fay was illustrated. She blamed the unsuccessfulness of the surgery on the medical staff. When the nurses accused her of making his retina slip, they tried to kick her out of the hospital, which angered Fay. She yelled at the staff saying “You went in my husband’s eye without consulting my feelings and next you try to run me out of this hospital!” (36) This just showed how on edge Fay was, and how easily she could break. Although Judge McKelva was a capable adult, Fay still felt as if every decision should be made by her. When she didn’t get her way, it was everyone else’s fault. After the Judge passed away, she angrily yelled at the doctor “I knew better than to let you go in that eye to start with. That …show more content…
eye was just as bright and cocky as yours is right now.” (41) Fay furiously blamed her own consequential actions on the family's beloved doctor. She later referred to him as a “crook” (41) and a “quack.” (42) The death of Judge McKelva deeply affected those around him, specifically Fay and Laurel. They both grieved in different ways, especially when it came to interacting with their loved ones. When they returned to Mount Salus from New Orleans after Judge McKelva died, their house was filled with their closest family members and friends. Laurel was beyond excited to see her loved ones “she ran from the car and across the grass and the front steps to hug her friends!” (51) She was so grateful and relied heavily on them to get her through this difficult time. Fay, on the other hand, didn’t rely on anyone. Her attitude towards the people that were trying to comfort her was very bold. She did not appreciate or want their loving comfort or support. When she came home to them waiting at her house, her response was “What are all these people doing in my house?” (52) Although all they wanted to do was ease their pain, Fay refused to recognize that. She viewed them as nuccense and was a roadblock to every little thing they did. On the morning of the funeral, Laurel’s closest friends, “the bridesmaids”, made everyone breakfast. Breakfast was done, and everyone was ready to eat except Fay. Laurel went to Fay’s room to tell her that there was a nice breakfast waiting for her. When Laurel made Fay aware that everyone was waiting for her in order to eat, Fay’s response was “I’m the widow! They can all wait till I get there!” (61) This showed how selfish Fay was, and how she didn’t appreciate the efforts of everyone else. After Fay and Laurel went through their reluctant phases, their characters both changed significantly for the better.
Laurel recognized, with the remarks of others, that she had no one. Mrs. Chison, a close friend to Laurel pointed out “You was cheated. You ain’t got no father, mother, brother, sister, husband, chick nor child. Not a soul to call on, it’s just you.” (69) Fay also found the importance of friendship and memory in life. She began to recognize the significance of a stable home. According to Jennifer Bussey “It is a safe haven where Laurel and Fay can be truthful with themselves among people who know them well enough to know when to challenge them and when to leave them alone.” Laurel was originally from Chicago, Illinois and Fay was from Madrid, Texas. The two decided to spend some time together at the house in Mount Salus, before returning to their hometowns. In this time together, they got to know each other much better. Through their talks, they both recognized the fact that they needed to move on with their lives. Laurel said “The past is no more open to help or hurt than was Father in his coffin. The past is like him, impervious, and can never be awakened. It is memory that is the somnambulist. It will come back in its wounds from across the world, calling us by our names and demanding its rightful tears. It will never be impervious. The memory can be hurt, time and again-- but in that may lie its final mercy. As long as it’s vulnerable to the living
moment, it lives for us, and while it lives, and while we are able, we can give it up its due.” (179) This shows that Laurel had gotten past a majority of her emotions and was ready to move on with her life. Laurel eventually seeked Fay’s help to decide whether she should return to her life back in Chicago. This stood out to me because it showed that Laurel had grown to trust Fay and that her opinion mattered.
“Well, Alice, my father said, if it had to happen to one of you, I’m glad it was you and not your sister” (57). Even though Alice was the victim of the horrid crime, she had to stabilize her own emotions, so that she could help her sister cope with this tragedy. Throughout Alice’s childhood, Jane struggled with alcoholism and panic attacks. “I wished my mother were normal, like other moms, smiling and caring, seemingly, only for her family” (37).
Sadly, life is a terminal illness, and dying is a natural part of life. Deits pulls no punches as he introduces the topic of grief with the reminder that life’s not fair. This is a concept that most of us come to understand early in life, but when we’re confronted by great loss directly, this lesson is easily forgotten. Deits compassionately acknowledges that grief hurts and that to deny the pain is to postpone the inevitable. He continues that loss and grief can be big or small and that the period of mourning afterward can be an unknowable factor early on. This early assessment of grief reminded me of Prochaska and DiClemente’s stages of change, and how the process of change generally follows a specific path.
Her family life is depicted with contradictions of order and chaos, love and animosity, conventionality and avant-garde. Although the underlying story of her father’s dark secret was troubling, it lends itself to a better understanding of the family dynamics and what was normal for her family. The author doesn’t seem to suggest that her father’s behavior was acceptable or even tolerable. However, the ending of this excerpt leaves the reader with an undeniable sense that the author felt a connection to her father even if it wasn’t one that was desirable. This is best understood with her reaction to his suicide when she states, “But his absence resonated retroactively, echoing back through all the time I knew him. Maybe it was the converse of the way amputees feel pain in a missing limb.” (pg. 399)
Some would argue that my story is incomparable to that of the young woman’s due to the significantly different circumstances and the different time periods. Nonetheless, it is not the story that is being compared; it is the underlying emotion and specific experiences that made such a wonderfully deep connection. Marie’s intention when writing this tale was for her reader to learn something, whether it is about themselves or the story. Though the outcomes seemingly differ as the three characters--Milun, the women, and their son--are reunited and live happily ever after, my story is not over. Through my life experience and emotions of love, motherhood, and separation, I have learned that patience and time heal all.
The late first lady Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "Hate and force cannot be in just a part of the world without having an effect on the rest of it." Mrs. Roosevelt means that although one person may feel alone through the hardships one faces, one has millions beside oneself who can relate to and understand what one may feel. Zora Neale Hurston shows that even though Janie's family and spouses continue to be abusive and harsh toward Janie, their hate and control left her stronger than before, preparing her for the next challenges thrown at her. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, the deaths' of close relatives and family positively affect Janie because she tends to become more educated and wiser with each death she overcomes in the obstacles she calls her life.
The juxtaposition of characters Laurel, Fay, and Judge McKelva contains the differences of how depression affects each individual. In the beginning of the novel, the author declares: “[f]or a long time Judge McKelva was seen as a reassuring figure by the many who knew and liked him” (Welty 170). However, this d...
After the funeral is over Fay returns with her family to Texas for a few days while Laurel finishes saying goodbye to her old house. Fay is very bitter t...
People say the mind is a very complex thing. The mind gives people different interpretations of events and situations. A person state of mind can lead to a death of another person. As we all know death is all around us in movies, plays, and stories. The best stories that survive throughout time involve death in one form or another. For example, William Shakespeare is considered as one of the greatest writers in literary history known for having written a lot of stories concerning death like Macbeth or Julius Caesar. The topic of death in stories keeps people intrigued and on the edge of their seats. Edgar Allan Poe wrote two compelling stories that deal with death “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Raven.” In “The
Looking back on the death of Larissa’s son, Zebedee Breeze, Lorraine examines Larissa’s response to the passing of her child. Lorraine says, “I never saw her cry that day or any other. She never mentioned her sons.” (Senior 311). This statement from Lorraine shows how even though Larissa was devastated by the news of her son’s passing, she had to keep going. Women in Larissa’s position did not have the luxury of stopping everything to grieve. While someone in Lorraine’s position could take time to grieve and recover from the loss of a loved one, Larissa was expected to keep working despite the grief she felt. One of the saddest things about Zebedee’s passing, was that Larissa had to leave him and was not able to stay with her family because she had to take care of other families. Not only did Larissa have the strength to move on and keep working after her son’s passing, Larissa and other women like her also had no choice but to leave their families in order to find a way to support them. As a child, Lorraine did not understand the strength Larissa must have had to leave her family to take care of someone else’s
...a was raised, she was learning life lessons. She learned of violence from inside The Little Store. She never considered Mr. Sessions and the woman in the store to have any kind of relationship because Eudora never saw them sit down together at the table. Then tragedy struck, and this was how she learned of violence. She never knew exactly what had happened, but knew it was not good. The family just disappeared. Every time she came home from the store, she was carrying with her a little of what she had learned along the way. She learned a lot about, ?pride and disgrace, and rumors and early news of people coming to hurt one another, while others practiced for joy?storing up a portion for [her]self of the human mystery? (82).
In the realistic fiction novel Ellen Foster, written by Kaye Gibbons, a young girl named Ellen Foster yearns for a loving family and a better life after enduring a tremendous amount of abuse and loss. Throughout the novel, Ellen exemplifies resilience by making the most of difficult circumstances and finding ways to rise above hardships. Of all of the qualities that Ellen demonstrated during the hardships she faced, resilience was the most valuable to her future success, because it enabled her to develop a strong sense of identity and bounce back from adversity.
In conclusion we have seen how death can take a big effect on a person who is close to death and love one's family and friends. Death is a major part of life that all of us will go through one day. Even though we can't avoid death there are ways that we can deal with death in healthy manners. There is no time limit on how long it takes to heal from the mark death has made, but with the right attitude and the proper steps taken, anyone can move on in life.
She continues in this sequel to talk about the abuse she faced and the dysfunction that surrounded her life as a child and as a teen, and the ‘empty space’ in which she lived in as a result. She talks about the multiple personalities she was exhibiting, the rebellious “Willie” and the kind “Carol”; as well as hearing noises and her sensory problems. In this book, the author puts more emphasis on the “consciousness” and “awareness” and how important that was for her therapeutic process. She could not just be on “auto-pilot” and act normal; the road to recovery was filled with self-awareness and the need to process all the pieces of the puzzle—often with the guidance and assistance of her therapist. She had a need to analyze the abstract concept of emotions as well as feelings and thoughts. Connecting with others who go through what she did was also integral to her
The story begins on quite a dark note, with the death of Brentley Mallard, husband of Louise Mallard. As the reader soon finds out that Mrs. Mallard the main character in the story, has many issues brought forth throughout, including what is described as a “heart trouble”; Which is the main reason right from the start that Josephine, Mrs. Mallard’s sister, is apprehensive to break the news too bluntly. In that moment you see
Most women in Mrs Mallard’s situation were expected to be upset at the news of her husbands death, and they would worry more about her heart trouble, since the news could worsen her condition. However, her reaction is very different. At first she gets emotional and cries in front of her sister and her husbands friend, Richard. A little after, Mrs. Mallard finally sees an opportunity of freedom from her husbands death. She is crying in her bedroom, but then she starts to think of the freedom that she now has in her hands. “When she abandoned herse...