sI really had a hard time understanding what was happening here. It seemed to jump all over the place.
I found that to be a good visual aid to show where this chapter made my mind go... ALL OVER THE PLACE!
It begins by talking about how Lena heard stories about how her great-great grandfather had sentenced a beggar to death in the worst way possible, jumping to how some evil man lived in her basement and how seeing him had made her see the death of people and such gruesome things because of that experience... The list goes on and on.
The most important section, I believe, is when it talks about how Lena's mother was going to have a baby, but the baby died. Her mother gets very emotional, talking about how she had given up her other son so easily and then she starts to lose it. Lena describes it as "falling apart, piece by piece."
Another interesting tidbit is the namesake of the chapter, "The Voice from the Wall". The chapter describes how Lena would listen to the voices on the other side of the wall at night, hearing a woman beat a small girl and how Lena thought it seemed like the girl would die a brutal death every night. One day, the girl comes into Lena's home and Lena has the realization that what she thought was a horrible shriek from dying was a really twisted and messed up way to show the really weird relationship between this girl and her mother.
The MOOD of this chapter seems to be one of gloom and doom. The whole time, Lena seems to be a Debbie Downer, presenting her mother as broken and falling apart and showing how her father has great misunderstanding of his wife. The following quote references the voices from the wall and shows how depressed as a child Lena really was: "In bed, with the blanket edge lying across my neck, I used to wonder which was worse, our side or theirs? And after thinking about this for a while, after feeling sorry for myself, it comforted me somewhat to think that this girl next door had a more unhappy life."
Wow. That speaks volumes. Lena uses someone else's misfortune to feel better about her own. She really has a rough life.
I don't know how anyone could raise a child in that kind of environment.
I like the use of the animation. It was a great way of trying to express something that's not expressible. I felt the exact same way when reading this chapter. I had to read it again in order to understand it. Great job on explaining it.
ReplyDeleteA confession I would like to make is that every time I read your blog, I loveeeee your pictures! Dont get me wrong, your explaining is great, but pictures speak louder than words, right? :)
ReplyDeleteI enjoy this animation. Thanks for putting it on here for my entertainment.
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