Friday, February 20, 2015
"Two Friends"
Is Sarah more reliable on Abby? She seems so be in denial of Abby's illness from the start of the story when she tells Miss Dunbar "I never thought her cough was very bad anyhow, as far as I was concerned" (411). However you can see her stress just when Abby is gone for too long. The only thing I couldn't figure out was why she continued to push Abby to do her daily tasks. Especially since Abby's mother passed of the same cough. Was Sarah just overlooking the inevitable? Sarah was very frail and seemed more reliant on Abby's presence than vice versa. Not to say Abby did not love her equally. Sarah just seemed more needy. Was this due to the fact that she kept this secret from Abby all these years? When Abby did not care a bit about John Marshall one bit, I think this was Sarah's defining moment in their relationship. All this time Sarah felt she loved Abby more and would do anything to keep her for herself. Low and behold Abby did not hold anyone as close as Sarah. Was this a selfish act on Sarah's behalf?
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I believe Sarah pushing Abby was her way of ignoring the issue. If Abby was able to keep moving and do her work then she wouldn't be dying, or at least Sarah is trying to assure herself of this.
ReplyDeleteBased on our discussion today I would have to agree with what Alex said in the comment above. Sarah sees normalcy in her relationship with Abby based on their ability to complete their designated tasks. As soon as one of the two waivers, the whole institution comes crumbling down. I think Sarah is sensible in the fact that she knows Abby is dying, she merely does not want to come to terms with it and so she tries to keep the routine going.
ReplyDeleteSarah's denial of Abby's illness was both sweet and horrifying at the same time to me. She deeply cares for Abby and does not want to admit that she is dying, but I think that on an economic and a practical level, Sarah knows the world as she knows it will be destroyed if either her or Abby weren't there anymore. Sarah doesn't manage the money, do manual labor, pump water, start fires. Her world would be in ruins and she would be just as abandoned when all of her family died. This time she wouldn't have Abby to fall back on though. It was touching moments each time Sarah denied Abby being sick.
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