Monday, August 25, 2008

Escape

One notion that really intrigued me while reading this was that of escape. Both Roseanne and the doctor seemed imprisoned in a life that they were powerless to change. Roseanne was actually imprisoned in the institution, more or less, but before that, when she was in her cottage, I kept wondering why she couldn't flee. Why couldn't she just pack a suitcase and hit the road and begin anew somewhere else? And why couldn't the doctor take his life in his hands and tell Bet he couldn't live like that, that it was no life, that he needed love and forgiveness and joy? What did you make of their terrible submission to sorrow? And was it submission? Were they powerless?

There was a beautiful scene — I can't find it now! — where Roseanne had a bird in her cottage, and she scooped it up and set it free. Then the priest came for her, to tell her her awful fate, and she felt like a trapped bird, but she knew no one was going to gently scoop her up and let her fly off into the sunlight.
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3 comments:

Erin said...

Yes, I loved that passage! And that is a great question. They seemed to both feel committed to their situation, as if that were simply their lot in life and they had to make the best of it.

4:22 PM, August 27, 2008
kc said...

It sort of felt like the townspeople were keeping an eye on Roseanne at the behest of the priest, like making sure she didn't have any friends or much enjoyment and didn't just pick up and leave. It's like everyone, including Roseanne, understood her cottage to be a prison. And if she did try to leave the priest probably would have made sure her "shame" followed her wherever she went so she could never have a normal life among people.

I like to think the proximity of the sea was a comfort to her, something that suggested a broader view, a bigger world, the beautiful, nonjudging immensity of nature.

I like when she says: "The human animal began as a mere wriggling thing in the ancient seas, struggling out onto land with many regrets. That is what brings us full of longing to the sea."

I feel longing every time I'm near the ocean.

Have you ever read anything so sad as when she got fixed up and journeyed to her in-laws to beg them for help? And they turned her away, not showing even a sliver of mercy? That was humanity at its worst.

8:27 AM, August 28, 2008
Erin said...

That was absolutely heartbreaking. How she tried to make herself look presentable so that she could humble herself in front of these people who had completely turned their backs on her. She was utterly alone in the world, and scared, and was so brave even to try reaching out to them. And they responded with cruel, indifferent rejection.

10:24 AM, August 28, 2008

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