Seeing Em through their eyes
Always looking at her the way they are
What are their motivations for telling us this story
When they open the door -> moment of epiphany
Constructed em is not who she really was
How they might have contributed to the tragedy
Woman who has to kill him to stay with him
Homer’s death
Em is superior to themselves – a monument, idol
They construct her for their own needs, something that needs to be taken care of, something that needs to be worshipped
Not very intimate, always seeing her from a distance
How much do they contribute to the isolation
They exert control over her, so by killing Homer she is fighting back and showing that she has no control over here – act of rebellion – only thing she has control of in her life
They let her get away with stuff such as buying the poison
They unknowingly support her power moves and superiority over them -> the looks, the statements
Pastor was traumatized
They control her identity, because although she can vanquish them, maybe its because they have set her up as this powerful monumental idol
Lack of fear – no mailbox, no numbers, not paying taxes -> separation, isolation – never suffers consequences because they never come about
Doesn’t know the consequences of her actions -> does this contribute to killing homer because she cant imagine anything will happen to her
Drugstore -> sense of pride
Is she mentally ill? Mad?
No empathy or sympathy from the town – they rejoice when things go bad for her
There is reason for her isolation from them, they are not amicable
Father
He controls her identity
Keeps her away from people, doesn’t teach her how to develop healthy relationships – because he instills upon her idea that they are better than the other people
Em may be a victim, because the comm. has isolated her, and she has been victimized in the past
When he died, it wasn’t authentic sympathy it was “[their] custom”
They are really intimate, have a special bond
Dominant, the father is in the foreground – in between the comm. And her – he’s holding a whip aka violent – his stance is like standing his ground
That’s where the isolation stemmed from
Indicative of abusive behaviour
Pattern of behaviour – he dominates her, so then when he dies she becomes the dominatrix (replicates his behaviour) -> learned it from him
He doesn’t allow her grow, change, evolve as a person – doesn’t let her be who she is, instead he exerts control over her
She almost reverts to this childish, innocent girl after he dies -> showing that she stays stagnant
He’s preventing them from corrupting her innocence maybe, her father robs her of her freedom and chance to construct an independent identity and that’s why she clings to his body for 2 days because shes so dependent on him, she doesn’t know how to handle things on her own