S.
by Lizbeth ~ November 10th, 2010. Filed under: Uncategorized.Although I was not in class on Tuesday, I still wanted to put my two cents in on “S.” (forgive me if I touch upon points presented in class, but as I pointed out I was not present).
I want to start out with the quote on pg. 38, the second paragraph starting with “In this place, death is not something remote or foreign…” This really stuck with me. Everyday we see people taking life for granted and we ourselves have also at some point or another. I cannot even imagine how frightening it would be to live in a life where “death is a constant companion”. This truly captures how difficult the lives of these women was.
Next on pg. 73, “S. realises that they too are prisoners without any individuality, without a face.” These women went from having identities and lives. Here came this horrid event and completely tears away any fragment of identity these women possessed. This shows the readers that war not only takes away from the soldiers but also the innocent civilians, they too lose who they are.
pg. 85 “…make-up enabled her to don a mask, she discovered that it was a way to gain power…” This paragraph captures the strength within S., the strength that remained even after the men tried to break her down. She learned that she could not be herself but must learn “what it means to be an actress” (Pg. 84) in order to survive and steal the power. She realized that she is only humiliated as long as she allows the men to humiliate her. She has become a different person.
pg. 132 “is one really utterly deprived of all choice in war?” This question really resonated with me. S. did not kill her child, regardless of what happened to her and the dark feelings she harvested. Again this really shows how she has power, control over the self. She chooses for herself as opposed to allowing war, the abusive soldiers and society chose for her.
This book really shows a strong woman who, regardless of everything she encounters rises on her two feet and makes her own decisions! She does not allow war to consumer her, war does not win.
and those were my two cents!
November 11th, 2010 at 1:12 am
I also was intrigued and wanter to further comment on that passage from page 132. The cause and effect process is evident in this scenario. Because of the soldiers’ violent and abusive actions towards these women, they are filled with hartred and pain and choose to absolve themselves from any responsibility or obligation to the children they bore. To think of the animosity these women feel that in this case, she has the baby murdered immediately after its birth. Her excuse is that the baby is better off this way.
As we discussed, S. continually refers to the baby as a creature growing inside her. She wants to see it as a seperate entity from herself. Considering how well known a mother’s instinctual habbits develop once her baby is born, it surprises me how disconnected S. still feels after the delivery. The first intimacy she shows towards the baby boy is when she picks him and breast feeds him to quite him down. But as she is doing this, tears fall down her cheeks. This shows how everything is always connected. She can never forget her past. Although the soldiers that raped her, may have “forgetten her, his victim…she must not forget him or her own past.” (p. 200-201). S. is convinced that once she bores the creature, gives it up for adoption, she can free herself from her past. However, S. realizes that her past has become a part of her and makes her who she currently is. S. has the recurring dream about killing the soldier that impregnated her. The war is inside her. She has lived it and survived it. She realizes that by not remembering the painful times she endured, she lets the soldiers free of their sins. Thus, S. finally becomes aware that despite having that child inside or outside of her, she most always remember the terror and abuse she survived, as well as many others.