Mar
6
On the Missing Parents
March 6, 2013 | | 5 Comments
As we discussed in class today, one of the main thing that I noticed when reading this poem was the oddity that she was with her Aunt “Consuelo” at the dentist and not with her mother or her father. I began to wonder why Elizabeth Bishop would choose to put this detail into her poem, since as we discussed in class, she doesn’t have an Aunt Consuelo. So clearly she intentionally chose to fill the role many would assign to a parent. Why would she do this?
On a closer look I realized that maybe she did this because it simply is necessary. For the main paint of this poem is the pivotal moment where she opens the copy of National Geographic and sees the naked woman with the “horrifying” breasts and begins to think on how this image effects her. I believe that had she been with her mother or her father in this moment she wouldn’t have been allowed to experience this moment. For she would have been to terrified of her parent catching her to look at this image to truly have the opportunity to inspect how these images made her feel. Being the embodiment of the social norms which are pressing in on her and telling her what she can and can’t be, Elizabeth certainly wouldn’t have been able to explore her feelings at this sight and, in a small way, begin to discover her own sexuality. For such a concept as homosexuality was certainly culturally unacceptable in this time period and had a parent seen her at this moment they certainly would have punished her for such actions and potential thoughts. The parent wouldn’t even necessarily have had to catch Elizabeth to suppress her thoughts. A parents mere presence nearby could repress such feelings out of fear of being caught and punished.
Such an effect would not be created by the presence of an aunt. For an aunt does not possess the same role as a teacher of moral and social standards. Thus they are not responsible to correct any thoughts or actions which may be seen as inappropriate by society. Also, the aunt’s name being Consuelo would come into play in this situation because from this one may likely assume that she is a Hispanic woman and thus likely an outsider in the largely WASP population of Worcester, Massachusetts. Being an outsider who is suppressed and disliked by society Aunt Consuelo would be even less likely than an Aunt Ruth or Elizabeth to try and instruct the young Elizabeth in societal norms for these things have likely suppressed her as well. Therefore, the absence of a parent and the presence of an Aunt Consuelo in this story are crucial for they make the main event, Elizabeth’s own inspection of her reaction to the image of the naked woman, to happen.
Comments
5 Comments so far
I completely agree with your reading of the poem. It is certainly strange that the parents of such a young girl are not mentioned at all, and this glaring absence highlights the fact that the speaker feels alienated and alone, not only in the waiting room itself but also in life. Like we discussed in class, the whole issue of parenting is somewhat skewed, as not only are her parents missing, but the speaker sort of acts as a parent to her “foolish, timid” aunt. Her identity is then stuck between child and adult, which in part leads to her confusion. Good insights here!
I really can appreciate your reading of the necessity of excluding parents from the poem. It makes a lot of sense. I think there is a connotation in society of aunts being fun-loving and crazier than your actual parents. It would then make sense that Elizabeth would be acting in the role of parent instead. I think this forcers her to really grow up in this moment. Great post!
Mark: nice work here. I’m especially drawn to this post because it takes the absence of Bishop’s parents here seriously as a poetic detail, and not just a biographically-explicable one. That is: the easy answer here is that Bishop’s parents aren’t in this poem because they weren’t with her…2 questions: does your version of what the poem’s “main event” is square with Edelman’s? what does it mean to describe parents as agents of re/suppression?
I also agree with everyone about your reading of the poem. The absence of her parents allowed her to experience a moment that contributed to her overall process of starting to identify herself- and that’s very important. Sometimes what we learn or experience on our own is far more valuable than what we can experience in the presence of our parents or guardians.
Your post here actually reminds me of my first Literacy Narrative in which my parents left me alone in our house for the first time. I had a learning experience that I will never forget, and that is what Bishop also had in the absence of her parents.
Nice work.
I agree with the point you talked about with the presents of the narrators aunt versus her parents. It would be a completely different situation if she had been with her parents just because of the protectiveness that comes with that kind of relationship. Parents are usually more strict when it comes to the movies, tv shows, and magazines that their children get to see. It makes me understand another reason as to why she may have been exploring the magazine even when it was so horrifying to her.