In The Sea Oak by George Saunders, a family of two uneducated unemployed single mothers, a optismistic Aunt, and a quiet but hard working young man (brother to the single mothers) struggle to raise kids in a horrible neighborhood. The Aunt's although she has never had anything in her life remains positive until she dies.
The Aunt is scared to death (literally) from a burglar and is buried only to revive with powers allowing her to see the future. Falling apart by the limbs her attitude has changed from complete optimism in her former life to a planned no more b.s. style that involves the young man and the single mothers working harder so one of the young boys in the household does not die.
Two quotes seem to portray a great message in this short story, one comes from this families step father giving a diatribe to the derelict family, "Anybody can do anything, but first they gotta try. Its the freaking American way-you start out in a dangerous craphole and work hard so you can someday move up to a somewhat less dangerous craphole."
The second comes from the Aunt (Bernie) at the end of the story, dieing for the second time with her body parts all over the place she asks the young man, "Some people get everything and I got nothing, Why did this happen?" He replies, "I don't know."
So the question is, if you have everything or if you have nothing, should you sit iddly by or attempt to achieve something for future generations? The Aunt did this and was completely opptimistic in her first life, but when she died and saw the future, her whole outlook had changed. Had her optimism been selfish?
Also, why can't Americans seem to appreciate the crapholes they live in and realize that taking care of people is what its about, not one-upping all the time? The recession is changing this for the better and making some realize that talent is not equal across the board, but neither is effort. Anyone after selfish gain will die unhappy, and that is why the Aunt came back, to die peacefully knowing she saved a life in the future.
1 comment:
Interesting synopsis. I love that story. I think the Aunt is a marvel - she works three jobs and takes care of her nieces and nephews, all the while keeping a fantastically positive attitude. When she dies and comes back as her dead self, its clearly satirical, making fun of the possibility of zombies, however, there is a still more important aspect that you haven't touched on: the aunt in her dead self, is a representation of what she could have been like during her life. You see the misery and understand how she could have lived her life - selfish and unhappy. Somehow she was able to stay positive and, this is what im getting at, happy.
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