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Interpretation in literature
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Reading this book has been interesting and heartbreaking experience. A Year of Magical Thinking, a journey through the grieving process. While dealing with the death of her husband, she is confronted with the sickness of her only child. This book touches me, and it makes me think of what would happen if my loved one died. This paper is a reflection of my thoughts and feelings about this woman’s journey that has been explored by book and video. I will also explore the author’s adjustment process, and how she views her changed self. The title of the book, actually defines how she approached her grieving process. She believed her husband was coming back, and she questioned certain events that could prevent her husband’s death. I actually relate well to this line of thinking. When something bad happens in my life, I usually go for what if I did this differently. Maybe things would have turned out differently. I actually used this line of thought, when a classmate died last year in a car accident. Before he died, my classmates and I stopped for lunch. I thought if we did not have lunch, he would still be here. If we all did not go to the VA Stand-down, he would still be here. I try not to think that way, but it does creep up on me. That is a normal process that individuals go through when dealing with grief. It is nice to see someone put their experience on paper. In reality, her grieving process was normal and healthy. Telling someone how to grieve is like telling someone how to breathe. Individuals grieve in different ways, and there is nothing wrong with that. During the book, she tried to do things familiar to her and her husband. In an attempt to keep him alive, that is perfectly normal. It felt like she w... ... middle of paper ... ...till feels like a wife and mother, but the love ones who classified her as such are no longer here. The book’s main purpose is to show her evolving self and how she adjusts to her new life. Her life is different. Than man she was with for over forty years is gone, she has to adjust to be alone. Her life process was fascinating to read. She at first wanted to be alone so her husband would come back, then she did not because all she did was think of him. She saw herself as an independent person before her husband died; now she realized how dependent she really was. She changed to adapt to her situation, to cope. This book was an interesting read. Normally I do not go for the type of grief that is deposited in the book. I usually like happier books. This book is very detailed about the grief process, and I believe will help people deal with grief and loss.
I always looked at death as such a sad thing that is eventually going to occur to everyone. However, after reading this book, it made me realize death can actually be a beautiful thing. Death allows a person to go to a next life, one where they will be loved and others will be there for them. It was interesting to be able to read about stories that these hospice care workers witnessed themselves. I have experienced a few deaths within my life and I never coped with them very well. After reading this book, I honestly believe I will be able to look at the positive side of death and be able to deal with my emotions better. I can also help others surrounding me deal with a death that they are experiencing. This book was filled with information that I loved learning. For example, I never knew that a dying person can choose a time to die. The thought of this never occurred to me before. I always thought that when it was someone’s time to go, they had no choice. But, a dying person can “put off” passing on until they see a certain person or event that has great significance in their life. Nevertheless, there are still people who will wait to die until they’re all alone in the room. This book makes you think of real life situations and think what you would do in them. Taken as a whole, it was a very in depth book that changes the way you would naturally perceive
The Year of Magical Thinking is Joan Didion’s account of the year following the death of her husband, writer John Gregory Dunne. The book shows how she attempts to cope with the grief of the death of her husband while tending to her daughter’s, Quintana, severe illness. In the book Didion does something, which might seem abnormal to some people. While Didion is cleaning out her husband’s closet at work, she cannot find herself throwing away her husband’s shoes because “he would need shoes if he was to return” (Didion). Joan Didion reactions to death are typically American because of how people in America cannot cope with death and refuse to accept the notion that their loved one has passed away while other cultures are able to accept the idea of death because their loved ones are not gone but still here with them.
No matter how much he put her through, she kept fighting for her life. I was confused by this because, in my eyes her life was completely over. I did not see how she could ever live a functioning life after all of the things that she went through. I would have thought that this reality would have been a reason for her to give up and choose fiction. Fiction would have been the easy way out of the pain, loses, and suffering that she faces and would continue to face. Then I thought to myself that is what makes humans amazing. Being able to endure the challenges of life and keep going. Originally, I thought she was a fool to keep going then I realized that she was strong. If I was her I would have chosen my reality
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion is a memoir about her husband, John Dunne, who died before her eyes. In her story, she goes in depth about her feelings regarding her life the year after his death and how she attempts to cope with his death. In The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion accentuates the dangers of magical thinking through her wishful thinking, irrational thoughts, and self-reflection.
Jerry Sittser’s book not only brings readers into loss with all its real emotions and pain but it also highlights truths that can be applied to anyone’s life. Sittser’s faith is evident throughout the book and his struggle of finding his faith within his loss and sorrow is encouraging to many. In the end, through his loss, he finds God again and through the writing of his book is now able to offer many insights on the Christian perspectives of sorrow, loss, forgiveness and how mental illness affects families. Sittser inspires readers because they have witnessed that they can too grow and continue living life despite their loss and without forgetting their loss.
I was torn by Harry’s negative thoughts. Harry (2010) states, “You are beautiful, but if you’re going to hang around and give me trouble, I’d rather you died (p. 4). In addition, she did not see her daughter for the first 24 hours! A mother’s love for her daughter should always be unconditional. Riding along Harry’s roller coaster of emotions, I was sad and mad at first but then I became understanding of her feelings. Harry sets forth the honest truth of how she felt. She asked questions to the doctor regarding Melanie’s intelligence, while coping with her own fears. I understood the things she said and felt because it was her way of coping and expressing how her ideal story of motherhood and how it had to be rewritten. As Harry questions the doctors, she begins to expose herself to the unfamiliar world. She learns about her daughter 's diagnosis and grows as a person as she reflects on her thoughts. Hence, Harry’s growth as a person has left me feeling grateful that she tells her story the way she does. However, gripping on the last few pages, I was saddened and heartbroken to find out that Melanie had passed away at the age of 5. The way Melanie had died brought out my feelings of fear. It rushed through my body reminding me that my inner deepest fear of working with children is coming across death. If anything happened to the child, I would feel responsible and reminisce endlessly
Grief Girl is a novel written by Erin Vincent about her and her sibling’s experience of losing both their mother and father. Vincent was only fourteen years old at the time of her parents’ death. The chapter goes into detail about the events of the night of Vincent’s parents’ death. Based on the chapter, I can conclude that Vincent definitely went through at least two of the stages of grief. The fact that the novel is nonfiction helps me connect with the emotions that Vincent felt that day. Her details are extremely vivid and it is recognizable that Vincent recalls the events from that day very well.
Overcoming the grief that is felt after losing a loved one is a physically and mentally agonizing task. According to Dr. Christina Hibbert, a clinical psychologist who graduated from the California School of Professional Psychology, three main stages of grief include anger, depression and acceptance. Each one of these emotions can be seen in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and The Descendants (2011, Payne) as the artists explore the effects of grief and the different emotional responses that one can have due to the loss of a loved one. Additionally, in Ismail Kadare’s Broken April, the Berisha family feels the sufferance that is associated with unexpected death, as well as the various temperamental reactions that one will have after losing a loved one. Each of these works of art represent a powerful example of the stages that one will go through after feeling the intense sorrow that is connected with death, as well as the unavoidable effects of grief.
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
I walked into the room on New Year’s Day and felt a sudden twinge of fear. My eyes already hurt from the tears I had shed and those tears would not stop even then the last viewing before we had to leave. She lay quietly on the bed with her face as void of emotion as a sheet of paper without the writing. Slowly, I approached the cold lifeless form that was once my mother and gave her a goodbye kiss.
The novel shadows the life of Janie Crawford pursuing the steps of becoming the women that her grandmother encouraged her to become. By the means of doing so, she undergoes a journey of discovering her authentic self and real love. Despise the roller-coaster obstacles, Janie Crawford’s strong-will refuses to get comfortable with remorse, hostility, fright, and insanity.
This was a great book, but took me a lot longer to finish then most, simply because of how upsetting some of the things talked about are. If you’re look for a book that will make you think, and bring tears to you’re eyes, and teach you a thing or two a highly recommend this book, and might actually read it again myself. Hopeful my eyes can stay dry this time.
The point of view she expressed through out the whole text, was her own. She was able to keep readers insight of the psychoanalytic theory the story has. The actions the protagonist had in the story showed us how it affected her adult self, and how the issue developed a rebel over time. Even after years from when the recurring events took place, her actions as a child had an effect on both mother and daughter. This theory gives readers the idea that things that happen to people during childhood can contribute to the way they later function as
The book is written by Pamela Tucker Burton, an ordinary person who experienced the death of four family members, she shares her experiences and how a family stay positive, when they faced a deadly disease. In Pamela’s family were no cancer survivors, there were no encouraging sentiments to alleviate their pain. For a family with strong Christian beliefs the only healing and strength for their family was to pray, don’t be afraid and be spiritually prepared for the final journey.
I loved this book, its different religious views and different perspectives, the little love story and the search for oneself. It was a book that I couldn’t let go of. A book that can make you cry and is very emotional.