How I Contemplated Metanarrative from my House
For nearly as much time as the plot of “How I Contemplated The World…” takes place over, the unnamed narrator is obsessed with crime. She insists that the motivations to her kleptomania and were ‘none’ and that it was simply her character, but it is made evident that she was always striving to break away, for an adventure of sorts. Her whole life she could be given anything she asked for by her immensely well-off family, yet what she may not have realized was that less than wanting the thing, what she wanted was to take the thing. Her whole life she was given anything she wanted, and thus wanted even more to stand out. She eventually went beyond stealing to running away to Simon, and a life of prostitution. Though these two actions are not the same, the same longing to stand away from suburbia fuels them. One thing also, eventually, stops them.
The narrator’s view on life, suburbia, and crime, is turned over in one night. At first content, and arguably glad to be in her Detroit “Correction Facility,” she refuses to do anything that may help in her release. This all changes after two fellow inmates assault her in the bathroom of the facility. The reasons for the assault, most probably, were her high standing in society and the wealth that her family possessed, or appeared to posses.
After this moment, the narrator completely changes her view on her suburban life. By the end of the story she is shamelessly declaring her love for all the extravagant comforts of her family’s home. It seems that she has decided that her previous desire for crime and rebellion were dreams of a life that simply wasn’t hers. She knows that her manic dream of change was not without reason, but she has grown to accepting and appreciating the comforts with which she is privileged. She still dreams of self-expression and individuality, but, possibly through the help of her psychologist, simply displays herself through writing and art as opposed to crime and rebellion.
The narrator’s view on life, suburbia, and crime, is turned over in one night. At first content, and arguably glad to be in her Detroit “Correction Facility,” she refuses to do anything that may help in her release. This all changes after two fellow inmates assault her in the bathroom of the facility. The reasons for the assault, most probably, were her high standing in society and the wealth that her family possessed, or appeared to posses.
After this moment, the narrator completely changes her view on her suburban life. By the end of the story she is shamelessly declaring her love for all the extravagant comforts of her family’s home. It seems that she has decided that her previous desire for crime and rebellion were dreams of a life that simply wasn’t hers. She knows that her manic dream of change was not without reason, but she has grown to accepting and appreciating the comforts with which she is privileged. She still dreams of self-expression and individuality, but, possibly through the help of her psychologist, simply displays herself through writing and art as opposed to crime and rebellion.