As I read through the essays for this weeks class it became increasingly evident to me that the point of the essay is to make the reader feel something. An essay does not have to be one hundred percent truthful, but the feeling it generates must be authentic. The reading that struck me most this week was the essay written by Susan Griffin. In her essay “Red Shoes” Griffin reflects on the a pair of red shoes that her grandmother may or may not have bought her. As the essay progresses, these red shoes come to represent so much more than just a pair of shoes to Griffin. Mostly, these shoes whether real or fictional give the author a way to connect with her grandmother.
What I enjoyed most about Griffin’s essay was that she goes back and forth from the past to the present. The “Red Shoes” allow Griffin to connect to her memories of the past and to interweave these memory in to present. Thinking about these shoes allows Griffin to remember sitting on her grandmother’s bed at twenty one while her grandmother pulls the black robe from the closet and gives it to her( Griffin 304). This robe also become a symbol to Griffin. The robe, at least the way I read it, comes to represent that little rebellious side of all of us. As the shoes allow Griffin to rebel, the robe in a sense lets her grandmother do the same. Griffin states in her essays that the shoes ” gave me a secret sustenance, the liberatory feeling of rebellion conspired by my grandmother and me” (305). Thus, the shoes were not just shoes to Griffin, they were a bond she shared with her grandmother.
The way that Griffin goes back and forth from memory to reflection give the feeling that she is in essence telling two stories. The reader must then follow the story of the shoes while simultaneously weaving together the authors’ reflections about writing. I really like the way that Griffin does this. This approach is something that I am now considering doing for my first essay in this class. Through interweaving her memories within the essay I as the reader felt like I got a fuller story than I would if the memories were not there. According to Griffin, “any really good story includes both pain and pleasure, sorrow and joy in infinite complexities. And any imagined world, if it is to be believed, will soon be replete with its own requirements, consequences and limitations, just like this world” (310). Thus, is the power of the essay; it can capture real world emotions without being one hundred percent grounded in actual experience.
Leave a Reply