Isabel Allende's method of communication largely revolves around her correspondence with family, her "tribe," as she calls it. She repeatedly credits her daily contact with her mother as the initial building blocks for the chapters of her memoir, The Sum of Our Days.
"Thanks to my mother's epistolary talent and my obligation to answer her, I have in my hands a voluminous correspondence in which events are kept fresh. That is how I have been able to write this memoir. The purpose of that methodical correspondence is to keep pulsing the cord that has joined us since the instant of my conception, but it is also an exercise to strengthen memory, that ephemeral mist in which recollections dissipate, change, and blend together; at the end of our days it turns out that we have lived only what we can evoke. What I don't write I forget; it is as if it never happened" (200).
Allende's writing and language primarily revolves around her clan and the life they so vibrantly live each day. She openly writes of her relationship with her husband, both the good times and the bad, ultimately allowing readers to discover just how unique and beautiful their marriage is-- but not without including the years of work and patience that they have tirelessly put forth.
While Allende's experiences leave readers with a beautifully descriptive image of two people who have managed to stand each other long enough to realize that they are soul mates, Louise Erdrich paints a very different scene with her novel's words. Erdrich's novel Shadow Tag is about a woman, Irene America, who is trapped in a loveless marriage. Her husband, an artist whose success stems from paintings of Irene in various poses, exhibits many of the self destructive traits that Sherman Alexie referred to in his texts.
"The portraits were everywhere. By remaining still, in one position or another, for her husband, she had released a double into the world. It was impossible, now, to withdraw that reflection. Gil owned it. He had stepped on her shadow." - Shadow Tag (40)
Irene spills her thoughts onto the pages of two diaries; one she knows her husband reads through when she isn't looking, and another which is locked away in a safety deposit box at the bank. Their bitter relationship and her resentment inspires her to leave entries about elaborate affairs and sexual escapades in her "fake" diary, all carefully designed to enrage him each time he reads it behind her back.
In a 2010 book review, the Washington Post said, "The man [Irene] hates is also the man she loves, and his passionate desperation to win her back is alternately endearing and repellent, eventually threatening. It's a devastating portrayal of the circular insanity of romantic obsession."
Some Discussion Questions to think about as you finish The Sum of Our Days and embark upon Shadow Tag:
1.) Gil seems to think that Irene struggles with reading and making sense of any significant works of literature, yet pours over her diary entries and accepts them at face value. Who (if anyone) is more at fault for the sneaky behavior? What does Irene hope to accomplish in each of her "blue" diary entries?
2.) In addition to Irene and Gil's marriage, consider Allende's "overbearing" personality and involvement in her own family... Is respect for privacy or bold truth more important in relationships?
3.) What kind of affect does this dysfunctional lifestyle seem to have on Gil and Irene's three children? Are they similar or different to Sherman Alexie's characters in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian?
Question 1 (about Gil and Irene's diary hijinks) - I think that Irene seems to be more interested in the stories that are involved in the readings, as opposed as the actual history being conveyed. Whereas, Gil is interested in the history and he sees his interest and resulting absorbtion of knowledge as superior since that is the apparent point of the works. It is interesting to imagine the actual placement of the books in the house by both people.
ReplyDeleteAs for who is at fault, I find both people's actions reprehensible. They are each being actively deceptive in their own way. Gil is making a point to read the obviously private writings of someone who trusts him. Irene is lying in print by writing untruths in a document that is supposed to be truthful. To say that Gil gets what he deserves is to punish one wrong by praising another.
Surely, they are each victims of the other one and Gil did do wrong first (in this specific matter), but that doesn't excuse Irene's actions. For her to be blameless, she should have confronted Gil in person or in writing, or simply changed the location of the diary or stopped keeping it. Once she knew the red diary was compromised, it was useless as a diary and became a weapon that she wielded against Gil. Gil, of course, should never have read his wife's diary.
- Japheth
I don’t think Gil takes Irene’s diary entries at face value. He contemplates them and tries to find any possible way in Irene’s movements and stories to solve the riddles. For the first entry alone, Gil thought about all of the possibilities surrounding just the last sentence of Irene’s entry.
ReplyDeleteAs Japheth noted, I also think it’s interesting to consider the placements of books by Gil and Irene. I find it strange that a person like Irene, who leaves her books lying all around the house is so concerned with the placement of her diary. Though it is personal to her, I would think that a person who prices one book would price all of the others in their possession. Gil seems to be more into the books he reads and therefore regards his books with much more care. (Like an English major would! Haha!) It seems to me like he would be hiding something in the books he cares for. It may be the content of the books or concepts the books promote, but each character seems to treat delicately that which they are trying to hide.
Again I agree with Japheth on where blame should be placed. If both Irene and Gil were completely open with each other then they would probably get a divorce and live happily separate lives in which their children would at least have a fighting chance at happiness too. The children are the number one concern for me in Irene and Gil’s relationship and I feel sorry for them and what they have to deal with on a daily basis.