While I was reading through "Cold Heart" one of the passages that stuck me the most was Lucy's description of the interactions between Mr. Thomas and Myrna. I was taken aback by the line
"she would stand in the dark, fully clothed but without her panties, and he would put his middle finger up insider her" (104).
This line fascinated me in a way that I had to figure out why it was at all necessary to include it. So looking back at what I had read so far, I came up with this explanation:
Lucy is so obsessed with the idea of anything related to the sexual interactions between men and women. She is constantly reflecting on the sexual intercourses she has had in the past. But then I have to think of why she is so fixated on these encounters. I have come to the conclusion that it has something to do with the notion that she has not seen an intimate relationship last. The relationship between her mother and father was always being threatened by other women chasing after her father. Lucy has also recently seen Mariah and Lewis break up after Lewis has an affair with Mariah's best friend. Although, Mariah is completely oblivious to this whole affair. These broken relationships scare Lucy to the point that she can never have a relationship for more than just pleasure. Therefore, she has become so obsessed with the idea of sex and how much pleasure she can get out of it that she focuses on the interactions between Myrna and Mr. Thomas. She questions why this had not happened to her; she believes she is so much better than Myrna. With this in mind, I have been able to make more sense of an otherwise awkward description.
4 comments:
Your theory makes a lot of sense, Ashlynd. As I've read "Lucy" I too wondered why she is so fixated on sex. I think your evaluation makes sense out of Lucy's obsession and is well supported by her parents' relationship and Mariah and Lewis'.
You raise an important question. I'd add onto it, by asking why this story of Myrna and Mr. Thomas appears *when* it does--i.e. directly after she meets Paul at the party.
I agree that Lucy has a skewed view of relationships and intercourse because she has only seen relationships fail. It is sad to me that she would put herself through such situations because of that though.
This could also be part of the explanation for why she seems to cherish relationships with women so much more.
I feel that one of the reasons this is such a great novel is because we are constantly presented with stories that require a lot of thought and reasoning. The story that you are referring to is one of the many that represents Lucy's issues with intimacy. I also believe that Lucy's experiences and observations have an effect on her outlook on relationship and sex, but I do not feel that she is scared of them. I think that she chooses to sleep with the men as an act of free will. I see her reluctance to enter a relationship as a choice. As soon as she lets go of her inhibitions, I believe she will form a relationship.
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