To be quite honest, I am having an incredibly terrible time with the readings from the last two weeks. I am finding them painful in opposition to profound. My life has been plagued by affairs and the knowledge of the havoc affairs create on the emotional, psychological, and physical being is excruciating. I should be comparing the works to other literary works, and considering affairs or women leaving is a strong commonality, I ought to have something here for you. Instead, trauma often blocks memory of anything that triggers said trauma. It is also the very reason I have dragged my feet in posting this past week. So today, I have my life story to offer you:
My parents were married twenty-four years when an affair caused my parents to divorce. It was not a prolonged affair; it had only lasted six weeks. It took six weeks for 27 years of being together, 25 of them married, to destroy a relationship. “No one will put up with him the way I do,” is something Molly stated and the answer is yes someone will (Joyce, 2020). To so willingly destroy a relationship is disgusting to me. Molly seems to think she will be making Bloom jealous, as though he is incapable of, or does not deserve, better. I also understand he engaged in affairs with other women, which would indeed mean that Molly also deserved better. Her inner monologue is interesting and forthcoming and reveals both what appears to be a lack of education and deep insight. Regardless, I cannot help but wonder how this storyline might be different if it were told from the perspective of a man. While Molly comes across as occasionally crude, “he might want to do it on the train by tipping the guard….usual idiots of men gaping at us,” she also displays an occasional bit of sympathy and doubt, clearly engaging in affairs almost out of spite (Joyce, 2020). I am quite honestly reminded of Ozark, a television show on Netflix, of Wendy. Wendy is the wife of Marty Byrde. Wendy was in a severe car accident that ultimately resulted in what is assumed, but not said to be, a miscarriage. She becomes depressed and seeks an outlet from her strained relationship with her husband. Thus, she delves into an affair with a man by the name of Gary. While Wendy is not nearly as self-centered as I believe Molly to be, Wendy is hurting similarly to Molly. I believe so often it is disappointment and deep hurt that launch humans into seeking relationships outside of the vows they have taken (Dubuque and Williams, 2017). To an extent, I admire Molly’s boldness. Having an affair as a woman during this time could have caused her to lose everything. And yet, I wish she had been caught. I wish Bloom had come clean. I wish honesty was more valuable than secrecy. Secrecy, though, harbors mystery and lust and disgust and shame. Honesty – Honesty is for those who are ready to be free and perhaps too often we are too busy loathing ourselves to believe we are worthy of the freedom the truth brings. Resources Joyce, J. (2020). Episode 18 - Penelope. Retrieved May 31, 2020, from http://www.online- literature.com/james_joyce/ulysses/18/ Dubuque, Bill and Williams, Mark, creators. Ozark. 2017. Netflix.
3 Comments
Mackenzie Eckley
5/31/2020 07:27:48 pm
I really appreciated this post. It is raw and real and I hope that people who have experienced affiars in their lives can read this post. I do agree with you, I think she should have come clean. It would be an interesting twist to the story as well and I feel as though it would completely change the course of the story. Your connections enhance understanding and provide a new view of the story. Again, great post.
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Julia S
6/7/2020 10:41:05 am
I find it rare that people are willing to express themselves fully to strangers, especially in their schoolwork. It's very admirable that you decided to tie your own personal experiences and thoughts into the story, as well as a well thought out analysis. Well done.
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Alex Tischer
6/7/2020 02:54:13 pm
Thank you for the deeply personal story, it shines light on another perspective of adultery, and seems to argue for both the cheater and the person being cheated on. Molly seems to be a liberated female for her time period, but looking at humans as a whole, it is still a deplorable action, regardless of gender or circumstance. Wonderful blog post, and I pray the coming blogs are easier to write for you.
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