Sunday, December 5, 2010
ABANDONMENT
Abandonment is a leaving-behind, a moving-away, and a personal choice when performed by an agent (contrast this with the concept of forgetting). I abandon my car that keeps breaking down and walk to the nearest gas station for help. It sucks to have absolutely no support system in place for doing something, and in fact precisely when we're trying to do something about our situation is when we're abandoned, as this doing something is a prerequisite for abandonment in the first place (I'm being purposefully vague, here, but think it through) . We leave behind those who can't keep up just as they are finally asking for and counting on help. Abandonment always occurs at this very second. We empathize but leave them behind. We look back but this is only a half-measure and never counts as an actual going-back. The little bundle of metaphors of moving-away, leaving-behind, letting-alone, looking-back, not-looking-back, even running-away, dropping-a-load, giving up on something, are all very apt at letting us get into the meaning of abandonment. There's also the notion of isolation, which we should mention: the abandoned is purposely isolated or left-behind. I think this as I nap nervously.
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Read "The Forsaken" by Duncan Campbell Scott.
ReplyDeleteSo they abandoned her. Is this a double abandonment? She was not only abandoned by her family but then did she abandon herself as well? I would say yes, though of course this wouldn't be necesarily negative. So there's a double abandonment. Obviously in the context of her culture, I'm assuming, this might be a common, accepted practice. Contrasted with this would be a different type of abandonment that doesn't want to be abandoned, or doesn't accept it. What would give the poem it's whole force (emotional), then would be the contrast between a description between what we do and what "they" do. Or at least that's my reading of it: I would not accept such a thing; they would. I can simply recognize the difference without accepting or understanding it.
ReplyDeleteI think my abstract description gets most of it right though. "precisely when we're trying to do something about our situation is when we are abandoned"--this is different from the poem, because she's incapable of doing anything except accept her own inability to do anything. Which in a way, (maybe), is exactly right: when she's ready to accept abandonment she's actually abandoned. Precisely when that happens is she abandoned. I'm assuming things that the poem doesn't say about her though. So maybe I'm just excusing myself.
Great poem though I like it a lot!
Also: I've been thinking a lot about this poem all day. This is a great poem, thank you for mentioning it.
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