The Heart

"How to Talk to Your Mother (Notes)" was one of the most interesting stories in this book, in my opinion. One interesting thing about it was how the narrator chose certain events each year to share, and these events seem quite random. However, some of these events came up multiple times, and one that stuck out to me was the progression of heart surgeries being performed.

Although heart transplants are significant accomplishments for humankind, there were also many other things going on in the world at the same time. So why does Ginnie choose to mention the progress of heart transplants throughout her life? My first guess was that it had something to do with her father, who died of some kind of heart problem. Chronologically, all of the mentions of heart surgeries comes after the death of her father, so Ginnie could be mentioning these events in thinking of her father, maybe wondering if one of these procedures could have saved him. Looking back, Ginnie also didn't have a very great relationship with her father, though, so maybe these heart references to her regretting how she and her father maybe didn't have as much of a connection as she wanted.

The heart idea could also have deeper symbolism, though, that are more specific to Ginnie and her mother. There are three mentions of heart surgery in the story, and all happen in the same year as a significant point in Ginnie's life. The first one (looking at it chronologically)  is in 1963, when Ginnie realizes that she doesn't like the man "you thought you'd spend the rest of your life with." She then comments, "People and places you think you love may be people and places you hate." Two lines later, she mentions that a temporary artificial heart is invented. I feel like these two events may have a connection, as the narrator seems to see her own heart as deceiving her, as she realizes that she hates something that she thought she loved. By then commenting on the idea of an artificial heart being invented, it seems more personal to her.

The second reference to heart surgery is in 1967, when Ginnie's mother moves in with her. This is a significant in Ginnie and her mother's lives, as the mother is sick and Ginnie must take care of her. This seems to be a rough time for Ginnie, as she says she feels "many different emptinesses." In the same year, it is mentioned that the first successful heart transplant is performed. Therefore, this could be some symbolism of Ginnie's heart changing towards her mother, as their relationship must change as Ginnie is taking care of her mother.

The final of these references (chronologically, though first in the narrative), was in 1982. Ginnie starts off this year with the words "Without her" and goes on to describe how she sometimes talks to the refrigerator without her mother there. I get the sense that this is when she is finally realizing that she isn't used to her mother being gone, or she is finally coming to terms with it. This lines up with her mentioning that the first polyurethane heart is surgically implanted. This seems to imply that Ginnie has to permanently adjust to the absence of her mother; she has to have another change of heart towards her mother, hence the reference to a permanent heart implant.

This is a lot of me speculating from just five or so sentences in the story, but the recurring idea of a heart must have some significance. What do you all think? Were there any heart references that I missed? Am I reading way to far into this?

Eric's Unborn Sibling(s)

Looking back on the story, "The Man Child," I realized that there was a crucial character in the story that I barely even noticed the first time I read it: Eric's unborn brother or sister. We touched on this a little bit in class, but the loss of this child and, presumably, the possibility of having more children, was very important in Jamie's role in the story.

When Eric's mother was still pregnant with Eric's younger brother or sister, we can already see that it is not quite as happy for Jamie as it is for Eric's parents. We get a glimpse of their life before Eric's mother gets "taken away" on Jamie's birthday. The conversation on that day keeps has to do with how Jamie is getting old, which, as we can imagine, doesn't make him very happy. However, the conversation soon turns to Jamie's failed marriage, and how Jamie is getting a bit old to start a life like that of Eric's father, who seems to have it all: wife, son, and land. Jamie gets particularly upset, when Eric's father mentions their next child:

         "--if it's a boy this time," his father said, "we'll name it after you."
         "That's touching," said Jamie, "but that really won't do me -- or the kid -- a hell of a lot of                     good."

Here, Jamie is definitely bitter because he probably feels that he doesn't have all of the good things that Eric's father has. It probably feels like the fact that they are having another kid just rubs this in, and by offering to name the kid after him, if probably feels like they're offering him some sort of consolation prize. This all could contribute towards Jamie's general bitterness towards the family.

After Eric's mother is taken away and they lose the baby, Jamie's role in the family seems to change. Although he spends more time at the house while Eric's mother is away, when she gets back, it is implied that the mother is in some way colder toward Jamie. It could be possible that Jamie had some sort of deeper connection to the child (perhaps he was even the father, but that would probably take up another blog post). Whatever that connection was, the loss of this child affected Jamie's relationship with the family.

The fact that Eric will not have a baby brother or sister, and probably not any more in the future, also makes the ending much more brutal. Though the murder of any child is a terrible thing, Jamie's murder of Eric seems to be even more intense because he is taking away the parents' only child that they will probably ever have. This means that he also takes away the possibility that anyone will inherit the land after Eric's father. From reading this story, there seem to be three very important things in life: wife, child, and land. By killing Eric, Jamie has basically taken away two of those three things, because the parents will never have another child or someone to inherit the land.

Anyway, I know these thoughts are a bit scattered, but I thought it was really interesting how pivotal a role Eric's unborn sibling plays in the story, even though it was silent and basically invisible.