The Porch of Indecision

Where is the breaking point in toxic relationships? The simple answer: an exact point does not exist for every scenario; however, there are some pivotal breaking points that seem to be a trend among toxic relationships that depend on if it is a short-term or long-term relationship.  The complex answer: When people are involved in a relationship that is sadistic, abusive, and toxic they tend to stay with each other because there is a sense of safety that is associated with having an established relationship. However, there comes a point when the rose-colored glasses shatter and there is a realization that something has to change in this relationship. This can take many different forms depending on the person— one way may be the continuous lack of change within an abuser, another may be a physical barrier being broken.  To further explore this point, I will discuss it through the lens of the pieces we have read in class. In Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, Kya continues ...

I know what’s going to happen!  … wait a minute, why did they die?! This is what I am thinking when reading a book or watching a film. I start off thinking I am an expert at reading, just like Foster, who gave off a condescending attitude when he said it was obvious to any reader that such and such happened... spoiler alert, I was the one who did not figure that out. In my book club book: Where the Crawdads Sing , I am at a point where I expect everyone to leave Kya by the end because she lives alone and everyone in her life has left her at some point. I don’t know what that will entail, will she be alone for the entirety of her life? Or will someone come into her life and then leave after a good amount of time? I have my predictions that the color red will be important because it is the only prominent color that appears when the novel discusses Kya and Chase. I may be completely wrong, but I just have to read to find out. In other forms of literature, I was taken aback by how wron...

I read Educated by Tara Westover for the month of September and let me tell you, it was a whirlwind of a read.  The things that Westover experienced and had to endure is unimaginable – the constant battle between bringing pride to her family and living for herself was draining and unhealthy. I felt as though I had to be making these decisions with Westover, which was difficult because I would want to choose the western ideals of going to the hospital, whereas Westover would choose her mother’s herbs and essential oils.  I keep having to remind myself that this is a real person, checking the cover to ingrain the picture of Westover in my brain so that I know these things happened and are happening to people around the globe.  As for the writing style, I felt that at points Westover’s story outweighed her writing prowess. The memoir went in an order that helped make sense of her life and piece things together in chronological order, but at some points I felt that she discre...