What qualifies as a memorable life moment and why is it so hard to appreciate it as its happening?
Amy Tan's "Two Kinds"
We tend to focus on our very temporary difficulties in the present moment. Reflecting back at the grand scheme of things with gained experience and wisdom gives profoundness to a time remembered.
"In any reflected life, there will be clarifying moments in which you travel to the edge of the shore. Art, at its best, does this mimetically, challenging us to see things differently by offering a set of open questions, rather than a verdict delivered from on high: a field of view that speaks to the times we live in, rather than turning its back to them.”
The best way to determine one of life’s greatest moments resides in the process of reflecting back on them, and utilizing the lessons gained to make something beautiful out of it. similar to how amy reminices the oldpiano her mother once bought her, and with these realizations gave her clarity.
“A few weeks later Old Chong and my mother conspired to have me play in a talent show that was to be held in the church hall. By then my parents had saved up enough to buy me a secondhand piano, a black Wurlitzer spinet with a scarred bench..”.
the narrator is reflecting back on these hard moments with her mother in adolescence, with fondness and gratitude. At the time, she feared her mothers expectations of her. she didnt find herself worthy of the talent show, and had no enthusiasm for it. ("conspired"). Now she's an adult and realizes after her mother's death the oppertunity in the piano that she never saw while growing up, (the word "richer" implies her growing fondness of something that she didnt realize when she was young)
“After I had the piano tuned, I opened the lid and touched the keys. It sounded even richer than I remembered. Really, it was a very good piano..”
“How Do I Find Meaning and Beauty in My Life?”(New York Times)
What are the key moments the story suggests you experience as you mature?
"Half A Day" by Naguib mahfouz
The narrator is dropped off at "school" in the early morning by his father, metaphorical for the transition into adolescence. Once he leaves his half-day school in a timeskip he realizes that his father isn't waiting for him at the end of the road, and he is now a very old man.
At school, the narrator is met with a new world of friendship, play, and learning. However, life isn't always so smooth.
"As our path revealed itself to us, however, we did not find it as sweet and unclouded as we had presumed." This is a moment of maturity, realizing the perseverance that must be maintained to get along in life. Enemies would make themselves clear, the seemingly nice lady would beat the kids as a punishment, they no longer could believe in what they wanted to according to religion.“The time for changing one's mind was over, and there was no question of ever returning home. Nothing lay ahead of us but exertion, struggle, and perseverance.” The narrator realizes he wont be able to return home again, and must succeed moving forward, thus being a moment of maturity.
From Psychology today, "If we expect events to unfold a certain way, we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment. But if we lower our expectations, we also lower our attachment to a particular outcome. As a result, we suffer less. So when life throws us the unexpected, rather than say, “This shouldn’t be happening,” we’re able to say, “Oh, this is just happening” without the additional commentary about how things should have been." IN connection to this short story the narrator also determined that he wont fight back to inevitable consequences that happen in life and because of this mindset he was able to persevere through it and leave school at the end of the day. In relation to Marquez's short story the villagers collectively mature in a certain way that since they have changed from their encounter with Esteban they've evolved their sense of love and beauty from within. In the same way that letting Esteban go was a sad event for them, they carried on with their new profound meaning of life.
"Be a man," he said. "Today you truly begin life. You will find me waiting for you when it's time to leave."I took a few steps, then stopped and looked but saw nothing. Then the faces of boys and girls came into view. I did not know a single one of them, and none of them knew me. I felt I was a stranger who had lost his way..."
In this first moment of leaving home and arriving at school to unknown territory for the first time with no choice whatsoever, it suggests that this universal experience in which everyone is met with a moment of leaving the comfort of home and being faced with society.
In response to the EQ, "How do we maintain a sense of fairness even when we are forced to struggle through deeply unfair consequences" The young boy in the beginning of the story is confused on why he must submit to growing up and leaving the security and safety of his home. He has never up until this point actually been put out of his home without his parents. When his father says, “School’s not a punishment. It’s the factory that makes men out of boys. Don’t you want to be like your father and brothers? ”, the boy decides that he will make his father proud even though hes uncertain about his future at school. Maybe we maintain a sense of fairness in unfavorable circumstances if it means that we will impress someone or become stronger.
The Handsomest Drowned man in The World by Gabriel Marquez
“Why is this a memorable moment for the adult character(s) and what insight does this give us into their personality and desires?"
From the arrival of the extraordinary dead man in the story, The villagers, especially the women, accept this sensation as a commodity of their own and as a result enlightens them. We see a before and after transformation in the village seeing how they choose to live after they encounter this dead but phenominal person.
The small coastline village with the population of a few families live contently, being isolated and empty like, barren almost. The arrival of this phenomenal and huge body of unordinary proportions and greatness made the villagers really think about the "the desolation of their streets, the dryness of their courtyards, the narrowness of their dreams" (12). The presence of this strange entity inspired them to think about how he must have lived, and their own lives with a new meaning. As a response to this realization they honor the arrival of the dead man with a name and a funeral with many flowers from neighboring villages, as they did not have flowers of their own. With the proper funeral of this man the village also rebirths as something new and whole, as everyone has united and enlightened to their personal creativity. with the following quote, the story ends with a vision of the future.
"But they also knew that everything would be different from then on, that their houses would have wider doors, higher ceilings, and stronger floors so that Esteban's memory could go everywhere […], because they were going to paint their house fronts gay colors to make Esteban's memory eternal and they were going to break their backs digging for springs among the stones and planting flowers on the cliffs. (12) Before they had never even thought of painting their house and planting flowers, which shows the inspiration Esteban had brought upon them. This moment encouraged the villagers to look at their oppertunities and possibilities with a new perspective through a door opened by Esteban. We see that they aspire to be special and wonderful and achieve greatness together as a village in honor of Esteban by attuning to their individual creativity.
In connection to Amy Tan's "two kinds" the narrator similarly embraces her past, present in future where she realizes the possibility of living differently with a developed sense of gratitude and self worth.