Her Last Death (pages 1-40)

Summary:
A mother in the hospital bed in the Barbados, and any minute can be her last. Suzy receives a phone call from her aunt Irene, she says to Suzy that her mom, Daphne, might die. Suzy has not one clue on whether to go and visit her mom or not. Suzy lives in Montana, which is thousands of miles from her mom. Suzy has to two baby boys, Daniel and Jack, which she loves with her life and she treasures her children like gold. Suzy is married to Christopher, a very understanding and loving man. Even though Suzy and Christopher are not rich, the family has one strong bond. Penelope, Suzy's younger sister, ended up having a dispute with Suzy because Suzy does not want to go to see her mother. This is were the flashbacks begin. She begins by saying stories on how her mom would lie to get what she wanted. "Her sexual allure extended from bartenders and cabdrivers to rock stars, football heroes and anchormen" (Sonnenberg 5). This sentence that described Daphne, symbolized how her mother went from the less payed guy to the one that gets payed the most. It shows that Daphne's motives were money. "But you always knew you were loved. You always felt loved" (Sonnenberg 6). Daphne told Suzy that she always was loved and felt loved, which brought up that the mother had a space where she was missing love. "I stole them" (Sonnenberg 23). Daphne was telling Suzy that she stole the jackets and sleeping mats for the adventure they were going to because within a month Daphne was going to die of leukemia. Truth is they mixed the results and Daphne was fine. In the story, Suzy's parents, Daphne and Nat, got divorced and from there their lives took a whole turning point. "I drew a picture of a bench. My mother sat on one end, my father on the other. I drew tears falling out of their eyes and a cane for my father" (Sonnenberg 29). The narrator was symbolizing how the father was older than the mother by drawing a cane, also the narrator portrayed the tears as the enduring pain they are living each day without one another.


Quote:
"This is the moment in the story when the facts converge: the estranged daughter. the threat of death and the one last chance. All the tellings should coalesce into a mutual truth. I overcame trepidation and did the right thing. my mother woke from her coma erased her vulgar impulses and unable to lie, and my children admired my generosity and forbearance. Tragedy transformed us. But that's not me. In my story I do not go. No one in the family disputes that." (Sonnenberg 11).

Reaction:
My reaction to this quote is that it has such a variety of vocabulary that makes the reader acknowledge the depth she is putting on every sentence. The author used personification in this quote, "the threat of death..." the author is giving the word "death" human characteristics, it does not threat. "Tragedy transformed us..." this is also showing personification because they are saying that tragedy transformed them, it changed them when tragedy really can't do that. This quote shows how the protagonist began to talk to the reader and make the reader seem as though the protagonist is actually having a 101 conversation. This quotation is important to understand because it is the introduction of her past. It begins by saying the daughter is alienated and how she overcomes fear and how her mom lies and steals. This quote is the introduction to the flashbacks the author is about to talk about.