Imagery is usually just an aspect of a novel, but in the case of Mary Karr's The Liar's Club, it is almost a theme. She goes above and beyond to thoroughly explain and describe every aspect that makes up her story. By doing this she makes it very obvious that, as the writer, she wants the reader to feel as though you are right there with her, experiencing it all just as she did. There are endless examples of how she does this on each and every page, but there is one specific topic that she discusses many times that always catches my eye, and my heart. It's the topic of suffering, and although sympathy is probably the last thing she is looking for, each time she writes about it the reader begins to hurt for her more and more. With each story she tells, Karr paints a very vivid picture of what suffering can be, but also makes sure to explain that someday the suffering may be worth it.
"So just when I'd started to believe that the terse chronology of Grandma's cancer that I'd prattled off all my life held truth, some window shade in the experience flew up to show me what suffering really is. It's not the old man with arthritic fingers you glimpsed trying to open one of those little black, click-open purses for change at the Coke machine. It isn't even the toddler you once passed in a yard behind a chain-link fence, tethered to a clothesline like a dog in midday heat. Those are only rumors of suffering. Real suffering has a face and a smell. It lasts in its most intense form no matter what you drape over it. And it knows your name" (49). Thinking of suffering this way truly sends chills up and down my spine. Everyone knows what suffering is, and how it feels to suffer, but the thought of something causing this much suffering, at such a young age, is heartbreaking to me. Not only did they have to deal with their Grandmothers uncanny behavior while she was living, but also having to almost fend for themselves after her death, (because their mother was so distraught) is just a fraction of what Mary and Lecia went through. It seems as though every time they would get somewhat of a break, like a new move to Colorado, something even more devastating, like their parents splitting up, would follow. Life for these girls was an uphill battle from the start, and they learned a great number of lessons very early on, and what it means to suffer was definitely one of them.
"Il faut souffrir, one must suffer. For some reason, suffering got lined up in my head not with moral virtue or being good, as it had with the Baptist kids back home, but with being smart. Smart people suffered; dumb people didn't" (232). Although I don't know for sure what she means by this, I do have my own opinions of this very enlightening statement. I see it as, those who love and care about something may end up suffering, which can sometimes lead to pain in places we didn't even know we had, but at the end of it all we are smart for suffering. If we never took chances, just to avoid what suffering may come out of it, we would never truly live. It's those chances, the ones with the highest risk of getting hurt, that usually end up being the most worthwhile. Through her parents, somewhat backwards guidance, Karr seemed to learn this and I think it may end up having a huge impact on the person she will later become.
It is because of quotes like these two that I believe Karr is trying to tell us a lot about suffering. There may be a number of themes hidden in between each line of this book, but it is her lesson about suffering that sticks out in my mind. Although her and her sister did suffer in ways unimaginable to me, it's not that aspect that seems to affect me. It's the fact that despite all of her suffering, she seems to be more concerned with her readers understanding that she is almost thankful for all that she went through, because it is what molded her into the person she has become. It's this message that I will take with me when times get hard, when I feel suffrage staring me in the face. It's this message that made me look at Mary Karr as more of an inspiration, than just a little eight year old girl. Very few people go through all that she did and live to tell about it, but more importantly, choose to tell about it.
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Michelle,
ReplyDeleteFirst off since this is an argumentative essay I wouldn't use words like I think or I believe. (Paragraph one)
Your thesis is unclear at first, I was unsure whether you were highlighting Mary's suffering or Mary's style of writing. I would only emphasize one of those points in the opening paragraph.
Grammar stuff:
you glimpsed trying to open ONE of those little black(one was on). It seems as though every time they would get somewhat of a break, like a new move to Colorado, something even more devastating, like their parents splitting up, would follow (after Colorado you might want to put or).
Since Mary Karr was very young when this was all occurring I don't think she processed it the same as an adult would. I'm not saying she was merely unscathed but I don't think she realized the enormity of what she went through until she was older. I think this is evident when she constantly compares her maturity level to Lecia, making it seem like Lecia has a grasp on whats going on.
Your last paragraph provided good closure and linked everything together well. I didn't find much summarizing and for what you argued any extra summary seems unnecessary.
I have to agree that at first your thesis is a little unclear, i understand after reading the whole post what the goal was, but i would clarify your thesis first.
ReplyDeleteI like the impact your quotes had, especially the first one i thought it paints a vivid picture of what was happening and how it contributed to Karr's suffering.
I think the summary was just right. You refreshed the readers memory to what happened, but you did not overdo it.
just what Dan said with grammatical stuff.
along with your quotes you analyze them well and provide support to them. good job
Michelle,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dan partly. It is good to limit "I think" or "I believe" but they can be useful sometimes. Don't make it a hard-and-fast rule.
The first paragraph does seem vague. You want to look at specific images of suffering and show how they're constructed, but you don't suggest how you'll do that or which images you'll look at. Introductions move from the general to the specific, right? But that's a worn-out rule too. Try not to keep us in the dark for too long.
The topic itself might be too difficult. Suffering isn't an image. You might look into specific moments of pain. In fact, would it be productive to see how Karr describes a moment of physical pain compared to a moment of emotional pain? Maybe she uses similar diction. Maybe she says "I felt a stab through my heart" or something like that when her mother mistreats her. In fact, when she discovers her mother naked on the living room floor, she suggests that she is "wounded" deeply by a lie her mother tells.
Good thinking here. Keep working. We can talk about your ideas or you can send me revisions any time.