SSRJ #4:Minot

The story Lust, by Susan Minot, made me feel a little put off and bored at first. I felt put off because of the narrator’s promiscuous lifestyle and her lack of self respect. I was also bored of the story because I simply wasn’t interested in her “love” life, or lack thereof. I didn’t really care to know who she had been with, what they did together or what they looked like. Then towards the end when the narrator discusses how the experiences make her feel, I felt relieved. Relieved to know that she can be honest with herself and hopefully make better decisions in the future.
The only element that stood out particularly interesting to me was when the narrator finally comes to grips with the reality and consequences of sleeping around before she is married. “After sex, you curl up like a shrimp, something deep inside you ruined, slammed in a place that sickens at slamming, and slowly you fill up with an overwhelming sadness, an elusive gaping worry. You don’t try to explain it, filled with the knowledge that it’s nothing after all, everything filling up finally and absolutely with death. After the briskness of loving, loving stops. And you roll over with death stretched out alongside you like a feather boa, or a snake, light as air, and you…you don’t even ask for anything or try to say something to him because it’s obviously your own damn fault. You haven’t been able to-to what? To open your heart. You open your legs but can’t or don’t dare anymore, to open your heart.” This paragraph makes the point that teenage “love” is simply lust. There is no lasting love or a future together.
The situation in my life that this story made me think of is when I was in high school. A few of the classmates I knew very well always slept with their boyfriends and then they would eventually break up. Of course they were heartbroken and regretted what they did. A lot of them were hurt and thought that they would be together forever. I tried my best to listen and empathize.
The literary element that I chose and was used by the author to support and build meaning to their work is tone. Reading the first few paragraphs I clearly noticed that the tone of the story was few monotonous. The way the narrator describes each “lover,” one right after other, shows that the narrator is less enthused. “Roger was fast. In his illegal car, we drove to the reservoir, the radio blaring, talking fast, fast, fast. He was always going for my zipper. He got kicked out sophomore year. By the time the band got around to playing ‘Wild Horses,’ I had tasted Bruce’s tongue. We were clicking in the shadows on the other side of the amplifier, out of Mrs. Donovan’s line of vision. It tasted like salt, with my neck bent back, because we had been dancing so hard before.” The tone is also set at the end when the narrator discusses how she is lured into these “relationships,” which sets the tone of helplessness. “You stare into their eyes. They flash like all the stars are out. They look at you seriously, their eyes at a low burn and their hands no matter what starting off shy and with such a gentle touch that the only thing you can do is take that tenderness and let yourself be swept away. When, with one attentive finger they tuck the hair behind your ear, you-You do everything they want.”
Should the reader feel sympathy for the narrator? Do you think the theme of the story would appeal to most readers?