Sorry to Disrupt the Peace - Staring into the Abyss


           Through Patty Yumi Cottrell’s character Helen, we see a portrayal of starring into the abyss. Because of the suicide of her brother, Cottrell paints us a picture by using both emotional and informational forms of the narrative structure to move the plot of the book along. She writes in an almost crass form and fashion about how her brother’s suicide affected her life in a monumental way. Throughout the book, Cottrell guides the reader through different perceptions of herself coming from her family and friends. Therefore outlining the type of person that she is. One example we get from this is her nickname at the Youth Center she works at for troubled youth in Manhattan, NYC. In that youth center Helen is called Sister Reliability, because of her dedication and also because that is a part of the culture of the youth she works with, to give her a nickname. Even though she references feeling as though she is in the same position they are in, all living and dying in NYC. Cottrell juxtaposes this with the way that her parents see her. She is not really seen as “sister reliability” by her parents who raised her, we can see this through their reaction to her return to their home, Helen’s childhood home. As Helen’s parents did not expect to see her. The parents even commentating disbelief in the children giving her that moniker once Helen tells them that is her nickname. Our main character is both confused and hurt by their reaction. After, to a degree, expecting that she will immediately be taken in to their home (her old house) as an esteemed guest. We know this because Helen is upset by their reaction to her arrival to her childhood home, unannounced. “Instead of greeting me pleasantly, they were whispering to each other.” (Cottrell).
            Throughout the book, Helen is a detective, trying to uncover the mysteries of her brother’s suicide. She moves back home, at an inopportune time for herself because her job is investigating her. Something she laughs off as ridiculous because she sees herself as the most ethical person at her job. Helen does this to try and figure out the mystery of the phone call she gets from her estranged Uncle who tells her of her brother’s suicide. A reoccurring motif of staring into the abyss is used to try and uncover the mysteries. Because somewhere in there, in that abyss, are the clues to her brother’s suicide. This is another use of the emotional layer of the narrative structure that moves this autobiographical story. Nietzsche, is famously quoted; “If you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back into you” – Frederick Nietzsche. As our main character Helen is figuring out the mysteries she herself is then painted as a character stricken by the tragedy of her brother’s suicide as the abyss seems to stare back into her. Helen is trying to figure out the pieces her brother left behind in their hometown. And forced to solve a puzzle that others would try to close the door on and maybe even “wipe their hands clean of” (Cottrell).
Another layer of the narrative structure we see outlined in this book is the informational. This story is not told in an exactly linear fashion. As there are moments when our narrator switches into memories of the past, in order to illicit emotion from the reader. We have the example of Chad, who is the family’s counselor. Helen flashes to memories of Chad, at first feeling bad that she could not remember him. And then remembering him in full. Once the reader understands who Chad is, there is an emotional reaction. The same we get when, near the end of the book, Cottrell comes to some terms about suicide and about why her brother made the decision to commit it.
Cottrell reuses the word ‘adoptive’ when talking about her family throughout the book. This creates an atmosphere of disconnection when it comes to her family members. It also paints a picture of who Helen is, and what her relationship is to the rest of her family. There is a disconnect, a chasm that exists in the word adoptive that is an informational message to the reader. As if Cottrell is constantly reminding the reader: these are not my real parents. As it would be assumed that, even through adoption, one would drop the word adopted and just reference the familial relation, if the relationship was good. This unspoken tension is another mystery it seems Helen undertakes in solving when it comes to the suicide of her brother and the advancing of the book.



--Duane Horton

Comments

  1. Lila KSeptember 11, 2017 at 10:52 PM

    I found your final point about the narrator's use of the word 'adoptive' especially poignant. I noticed this repetition too, and felt like it was particularly important for Helen's character development, and for the characterization of her relationship with her adopted family. It's almost as if it's an insult every time you read it! I liked how the author used these subtle touches to build tension, and it does add to the heighten sensory feelings the reader experiences, as you mentioned here.

    I also appreciated the point you made about the "abyss" and the Nietzsche quote you referenced. Cottrell's genius here was taking the audience from this huge nebulous idea of the abyss to the pin point of every nerve ending, crevice and cranny of the narrator's experience. Your blog helped me remember that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 12, 2017 at 2:26 PM

    Duane, I really like your point that the abyss is related to Helen's emotional disconnection from her emotions and her family. I could definitely see in the book that Helen was emotionally disconnected, but I didn't relate that to the recurring abyss motif - I mostly associated "the abyss" with Helen's brother and his suicidal feelings. There's a part near the end of the novel where Helen is driving to her brother's grave in the cemetery and describes it as going "toward the abyss." Helen makes her brother's suicide in a mystery so much, I think, as a way of emotionally disconnecting from it and preventing herself from grieving her brother, to the extent that she is unable to enter her brother's bedroom for most of the novel. It makes me wonder if for Helen, going into the abyss means connecting with her emotions, and to do this she needs to go into the abyss to properly grieve her brother.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"The Stuff That Dream Are Made Of" and "Death of a Mannequin"

The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of             Before anything else, I just have to say – wow. Azar Nafisi is one hell of an inspirational writer. She starts off talking about her sense of home. That Iran had always been the home that she wanted to go back to when she was studying abroad and that classic novels and poetry became a sort of home for her. Then she tells us that she finally did go home to Iran only to find that it was not the home she remembered. She arrived to witness the stripping of rights and freedom, of creativity and imagination. Lastly, Nafisi challenges her readers to ponder our own humanity.             Her words are eloquent and impactful. They’re the type of words you’d expect to hear from a great leader. She started slow and worked her way up to a profound ending. I didn’t expect the beginning, where Nafisi describes herself as a spoiled brat running...
Read more

"Death of a Mannequin" and "The Stuff that Dreams are Made of" Response

Arya Samuelson Both stories challenge the idea of a “singular historical moment.” Nafisi makes it clear that every action of the regime pointed backwards. Ayatollah Khomeini claimed to be “restoring women’s dignity and rescuing them from the degrading and diabolical ideas that had been thrust upon them by Western imperialists and their agents, who had conspired for decades to destroy Iranian culture and traditions” (3). In other words, Ayatollah Khomeini insisted that he was trying to make Iran great again. As Nafisi counters, “in formulating this claim, the Islamic regime not only robbed the Iranian people of their rights, it robbed them of their history” (3). She goes on to discuss the powerful “process of self-questioning and transformation” that comprised the acquisition of rights for women throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century.   By the time of the revolution, “women were active in all areas of life in Iran.” This section prompted me to consider the distin...
Read more

"My Sister, Guard Your Veil; My Brother, Guard Your Eyes" Response

By Lila Kalick "The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of" and "Death of a Mannequin" I thought a lot this week about the role of artists and writers in society and about the notion that the things these individuals make can last beyond their historical moment. With all that is happening these days -- in the news, in the world -- it can be hard to keep perspective beyond the present day. It seems me that there is a hard question that we need to ask ourselves as artists: Can we live in our imaginations exploring the space of what things "can be?" Should we? A lot of what I'm learning is that we don't have to disengage fully with the world in order to make things that last, but it is somewhat helpful. Ultimately, if we disengage enough in the current moment, ignore minutia, and focus on the bigger picture, I think we'll (or at least I'll) be more effective at making art that is transformative and that creates the change we want to see in the ...
Read more