Here’s a thought: Why was Freud such a fool and why does everyone still buy into all of his outdated, mysoginistic, one-sided theories? This crap that Dr. Hammer is writing in his notes about a daughter acting out her sexual attraction to her father and feeling like her mother is her sexual competition seems so twisted. I know that Freudian psychoanalysis is an intricate part of psychoanalytic theory as well as (for whatever reason, I don’t pretend to understand) literary theory, but the more I learn about it in my post-ENG 330 life, the more disgusted I am.
Having said that, I want to think about Mary and specifially how this novel would be different if there were any first person narration from Mary’s point of view. Ever since we first discussed on the first day how difficult it is to write using a third person limited omniscient narrator, I’ve wondered how this changes the novel and our reaction to the novel. Frankly, Mary bothers me. I pity her and I feel that I can understand where she was coming from in her intentions– feeling stifled, ignored, useless, confused in adolscence is not uncommon. We can all probably admit we’ve experiences this somewhat in our own lives. And I also realize that Mary Veal is not a real person, but I’m trying to imagine how I’d treat her if I ever encountered someone like her in my life. I feel like I’ve known a lot of people like Mary also, and I’ve pretty much hated them. This is probably a very immature reaction to have to a novel and I know it does exhibit any amount of critical thinking, but I also think this reaction relates to our larger question about why young girls might fake abductions. Or I hope at least.
No, it would be worse if you didn’t have a response at all– at least for Julavits. On the one hand you do feel bad for Mary, she’s placed in an unfair situation. At the same time there’s this new MTV show, Exiled, and you kind of want her to go on that show and go to Africa.
Mary is like the inverse of Myra, really.
I love how hateful you are already of this novel. Too funny. Anyway, I have to say that I completely agree with you in the sense that you pity Mary. I mean c’mon you aren’t the only one to deal with being not getting everything that you want Mary. I’m thinking that I would want to shake a person like this if i saw them and ask them “what is wrong with you?! “
Mel,
Don’t be such a hater. No seriously, I can see how her character is frustrating. I am more sympathetic towards Mary. I think Julavits’s critique on the Puritanical forced sexual repression, the reliance of Freud’s thoeries on sexual repression,and the culture of the 80′s where women’s rights regarding rape are all contributing factors to Mary’s character and what she represents. For these reasons, I have a hard time hating Mary.