Monday, September 14, 2009
Response to "In the Woods"
In her short creative narrative “In the Woods,” Leslie Rubinkowski introduces the reader to a unique form of writing by incorporating her grandfather’s fictional stories into her own creative nonfiction. While reading, I thought it was a very appealing how she combined autobiographical elements with fictional ones, and at the same time told us what she thought about her writing from an author’s perspective. Then, I felt engaged in her family life, especially in the relationship the narrator shared with the grandfather, “Most nights I would try to slink across the side yard into the house but my grandfather would always catch me. ‘Hey Farmer,’ he would holler. ‘Come here I got to tell you somethin’’”. Despite the fact that the stories the narrator’s grandfather told her were fictional, they influenced her so much that she incorporates them into her own nonfiction writing. For instance, after listening to her grandfather’s cat story, she hears something coming from the woods which seemed to be her own cat. It is also quite interesting to think about the ambiguous feelings she expresses about her grandfather’s lies, “I hated my grandfather’s lies but I love a good story even more.” Evidently, the lies were the essence of the story, but could also be the greater truth she seeks and becomes depressed when she doesn’t find it. Additionally, she admits the talents in her grandfather’s lies by saying, “[my grandfather,] a coal miner who could barely sign his own name was one of the best writers I’ll ever know.” Even if she somehow admits hating all the lies, she realizes they are necessary to capture the reader’s attention, and tells the reader, “As I am writing, I realize that I am lying to you.” This is an example of how the author tells us about the process of writing, while, at the same time, dealing with one of the story’s main dilemmas, lies. However, even if the narrator seems to like her profession as a writer, waking up at five am to write poems, and memorizing “soliloquies from Hamlet and the lyrics of Barry White songs,” she seems depressed when she realizes that she lies because she is in search for a happier truth.
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I would disagree with your statement that the narrator feels depressed. I would say that she comes off as more frustrated than depressed as she struggles to separate the lies from the truth and determine the level to which the lies have affected her life and created her struggle for truth. She does not seem like she is saddened by the effect her grandfather has had on her, but rather desperate to figure out where this connection begins and ends.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the author’s writing style allowed the reader to feel engaged in the family life. The anecdotal stories were written with a lot of emotional detail and excellent imagery, particularly the account of the grandfather and his fake teeth. The emotional detail allows the reader to become attached to the grandfather, making us feel the narrator’s struggle even more, as we must decide whether the man described would ever lie for the sake of lying rather than to reveal greater truths. The emotional connection to the grandfather allows the author to create the idea of the happier truth revealed in her thesis, because we get to connect with a character who is not lying for the sake of lying, but for the sake of a story. He reveals his character through the stories, as well as create a sense of wonder in the narrator and ultimately his stories help the grand-daughter to a successful career.
I would say that the narrator isn't even frustrated with the lies (or at least, isn't now, though perhaps she was in her younger years). Now, she is used to the lies and even enjoys them. For example, on page 324, she describes: "Nothing feels like the feeling I get when I am being lied to, that hot whine behind the eyes, that cold pressure beneath the bridge of the nose. I love that feeling: not surprise or shock but a wash of comfort and relief. People lie. You can count on it."
ReplyDeleteThe narrator is a creative writer, and therefore necessarily lives in a world of lies. She recognizes them, even revels in them, because she knows them for what they are. At the same time, however, she wants to believe, and this is the internal character conflict: the passage on page 324 describes when she heard about the Hee Haw Honey, but the next few pages, she tries to confirm the story. She knows right from the start that it's a lie, but she still wants it to be true. Perhaps this is because she, as a writer, needs to believe that some stories really are true.
This story reminded me a lot of the movie called Big Fish which I think might have been based on a book or a short story. In the movie, the main character's father is dying and the main character is trying to find out more about his father. He feels resentful because his entire life, everything his father told him was a lie or "story." This kind of seemed like the case in this story as well. Because of her grandfather, the narrator is a very good judge of when she is being lied to but on the other hand it seems like this makes her overly suspicious and it seems like she is slightly obsessive about proving to herself that people are lying, like when she calls over and over about that Hee Haw honey woman. Not being able to let things go like that would drive me crazy but it seems like it is kind of therapeutic for the narrator.
ReplyDeleteI believe Leslie Rubinkowski sums up the short story “In the Woods” with the two sentences on pg 328 “So maybe what I’m looking for aren’t lies at all. Maybe what I’m looking for – hoping for – is a happier truth.” Throughout the story she is constantly telling the reader things like “I am lying to you” or “He [her grandfather]lied to me because he loved me.” These sentences make the reader realize that the narrator is struggling with self identity and the difference between reality and an alternate truth. She wishes her memories were different and this is the reason why she is “telling stories that [she] know[s] to be untrue.” She wishes her grandfather hadn’t lied to her, so it would be easier for her to identify with him. Ultimately, she wishes that the reality of her own life was better than it actually was.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the narrator is upset that her profession largely deals in lying to her readers, but I disagree that it make sher depressed. She understands, as you said, that lying is an integral part of storytelling; without it, there would never be any skepticism to keep the reader attached to the story, trying to figure out what actually is going on. Her disdain for it, then, seems suspect to me, as if it were another lie she is making up in order to have a story. It makes sense to me, too, for if you think about it, it's the ultimate story to tell: The narrator lies about being upset over lies in order to have a great story about lying. It would be the epitome of what her grandfather taught her. Since she does spend the story talking about her grandfather's lies (I thought the expectation of a naked woman running out of the forest with pie in hand was hilarious) and how they taught her that every story needs a lie, it makes me suspicious at how real her discontent is with lying, and makes me wonder whether or not she is lying in order to make the story exist.
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