Blog Post 2.1
She sobbed like a whip-poo-will, then brayed in and out like an affronted donkey.
Abandoned. (Lopate, 437, 1st & 2nd paragraph)
This paragraph break truly stuck me. Lily’s birth was the cause of Cheryl’s labor pains, and Phillip’s emotional pains and when she was finally born, she was left on the table, crying alone. Phillip begins his paragraph with such a strong word, Abandoned. It was as though Lily were brought into this world and was left there unaccompanied. He uses this word as a reflection of what the world feels like. A human’s attention span is so limited. Lily was brought into this world and is immediately left alone. At such a young age she gets a taste of what the world is like. Even Phillip who see’s his daughter alone on the table, feels intimidated and fails to go accompany her.
Lily’s “abandonment” might be a reflection on how Phillip felt through Cheryl’s labor. Cheryl threw all her frustrations out on Phillip. No matter how hard it got, he stood by Cheryl and tended to her every need. The labor had taken a huge toll on him as well.
No responses yet