Making Comparisons
"In recapturing the past, writers often try to go beyond mere representation. What other ideas seem to be on these writer's minds?"
Brent Staples writes about how difficult his childhood was. He had eight siblings, an alcoholic father, and an incompetent mother. Throughout the piece he describes the hardships that his family went through. His oldest sister left and so he became the oldest child. Therefore, his mother used him to keep control of all the children. It forced him to grow up quickly, though he doesn't explicitly state that in the piece. For the most part he just describes how he wanted to escape the oppressive household.
But something else is there. While he mentions how he enjoyed living alone, and never slept in a crowded bed again, there is some form of guilt. Staples states that Yvette, his youngest sister, accused him "of abandoning the family." He just touches on this and then continues as to why he carefully watches children who have strayed from their parents. Staples states that it's just an old habit. It could also be his guilt that he left his family and never really came back. By watching these children he may be trying to salve his conscience. Since he no longer keeps his siblings safe, he feels compelled to do this for other mothers.
Alexandra Fuller describes how her younger sister, Olivia, drowned in a pond. After this she blames herself, and her parents never recover from their "baby's" death. Throughout the piece, after Olivia dies, Fuller blames herself. Though they never blame actually say it, she feels her parents blame her as well. But tellingly, they never say that it wasn't her fault. Both of her parents become alcoholics and seemingly loose their will to live.
While Fuller blames herself for her sister's death, she is also blaming her parents. She doesn't blame them for the drowning, but for never trying to move on. She subtly ridicules them for becoming drunks, "Mum is fumbling-drunk and Dad, who is sharp-drunk, is getting angry." Her parents dove into the bottle and never came back out. In fact her father drives "...the way a man drives when he hopes he will slam into a tree...and he won't have to think anymore." Though she never comes out and says it, Fuller is disappointed in her parents. But at the end she blames it all on herself, because she let Olivia die. It could be read like that, but it could also be a condemnation of her parents. They never really try to reassure her, and she ridicules them for it.
Rick Moody discusses his sister Meredith's death. He describes all of her little habits and the small details of her life with her two children. At the end she dies after one of her heart valves fails. Moody wraps up by musing "...I should have a better ending, I shouldn't say her life was short and often sad, I shouldn't say she had her demons, as I do too."
So it seems that he simply regrets that his sister died and he couldn't do anything about it. But he alludes to himself at the end. He is wondering what he has done with his life, what would other people think about him after he died? He can't find an answer, and instead faces death head on by being "blunt" when describing the end of Meredith's life. Moody may be trying to find reassurance but he cannot. He still has his demons and his memories.
Essays are an interesting format, they allow the author to move from thought to thought and pull the reader along with them. It's a way to find some grain of thought, inspiration, or inner peace. Rather or not these writers have found any of these grains is left open to debate. However, they are certainly fine works.