Grief, as familiar as it is, is also severely misunderstood. It has been boiled down into multiple stages, to better understand it. Anger, bargaining, denial, depression, and acceptance—it is assumed that every loss is processed in this way. This is not true; grief has been a unique experience for everyone through the ages. The two authors here are no strangers to narrating this inner conflict as well; the popular novel Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng reveals the gritty thinking behind grieving and the short story “Isabel Fish” by Julie Orringer highlights the uncomfortable intimacy with trauma. While both of these stories revolve around grief, Everything I Never Told You focuses on the darker aspects of attempting to process loss, worsened by confusion…show more content… She will begin to grow again. She will tell her mother: enough.She will stop holding the silent phone to her ear; she will stop pretending to be someone she’s not” (Ng 274). Finally, she accepted that this was not something she wanted and understood that only she could demand respect and uphold her own boundaries before anyone else would. After struggling through years of denying her own freedom, Lydia finally gains the confidence to move on from this situation, forgiving and accepting the circumstances. Now, the hope of turning over a new leaf shines through. Lydia’s parents, Marilyn and James, face the uncertainties of losing someone and the guilt of realizing there was much more to be said and done. After losing Lydia, Marilyn was depressed and would often return to Lydia’s room to comfort herself and try to find answers. Eventually, Marilyn realized that all her expectations and dreams were ones “which Lydia never wanted but had embraced anyway. Perhaps.that had dragged Lydia underwater at last” (Ng 247). Marilyn had never gotten to connect with Lydia for who she is. She never got to tell Lydia what she truly meant with all of these
