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Memoir on Indian Discrimination in Education
Memoir Analysis
The chosen memoirs for current essay are The Year of Magical Thinking by Didion and Peace From Broken Pieces: How to Get Through What You Are Going Through by Vanzant. Both of these memoirs entail significant social, cultural, and environmental aspects that highlight the authors journey toward healing. Specifically, Didions memoir focuses on her mourning after her husbands death. On the other hand, Vanzants memoir involves a recount of a bitter divorce she faced after her 37-year long relationship and her daughters death from cancer. The authors personal life experience gives the memoirs a personal feel, and makes them more realistic. Notably, the losses suffered by both authors play a vital role in driving the story through grief and the healing process that gives them toward hope in their lives. Environmental factors also come into play, especially in Vanzants memoir where she highlights her rise as a TV celebrity on Iyanla and Oprah.
Current essay reflects on Didions and Vanzants memoirs in line with the cultural, social, and environmental aspects of the memorists journey toward healing. The authors personal voice in both stories played a significant role in the development of the overall story. A personal voice helped in developing the story by facilitating effective narration of events that touch the individual feelings of each other. A personal feel to the story boosted its development and narration, as it was coming directly from the affected individual. The authors personal voice impacted on my emotions as I read the story. I was able to empathize with the authors, as they personally narrated events that affected their lives massively.
The driving issue of Didions memoir was the death of her husband, Dunne, in 2003 after suffering cardiac arrest. Didion (2005) admits that another significant issue driving this memoir was hospitalization of her daughter who was suffering from pneumonia. Notably, this story met the universal concepts of loss because it entailed the death of an important person in Didions life, hence leading to unending grief in most parts of her life. On the other hand, one of the significant driving issues of Vanzants story was the sudden termination of her 37-year-old marriage. Vanzants story was also driven by the demise of her daughter who lost a battle to cancer. This story also met the universal concepts of loss because it entailed two painful losses that had not been anticipated. These losses led to continuous grieving for the author.
It is worth noting that Didion addressed social issues associated with her loss. The social issue was addressed through her reflection of the relationship she had with her husband, and the steps she would have taken to save him from his imminent death. Similarly, Vanzant (2010) addressed social issues associated with the loss of her marriage. She addressed social issues with reference to men and money, love and work, and death. Social issues leading to the loss of her 37-year marriage were narrated through the experiences she underwent during her marriage, and the acceptance of the fact that it was ultimately over. Vanzant explains how her longing for an ever-absent father led to the choice of a wrong husband and the inability to sustain the fairy-tale marriage she entered.
Eckl (2013) opines that the environmental aspects that come into play in both memoirs are the interactions that both memoirists have with other people in the society. For instance, Vanzants environmental aspects emanate from her interactions with other people at the workplace. She emphasizes that this environment gives her the hope to live again and move forward. Didions environmental aspects emanate from the medical and psychological research aimed at healing the pains she had suffered because of loss.
There was a time when life changed at an instant in Didions life. The life-altering event occurred after the death of her husband, Dunne. She was not ready for this loss and the subsequent illness of her daughter. It is crucial to acknowledge that Didion learned a lot from the death of her husband. She learned through magical thinking where she came to believe that hope could prevent the occurrence of an unavoidable event. She was able to give herself the courage to move forward and take care of her ailing daughter effectively, even after the death of her beloved husband.
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Didion (2005) found meaning of loss and grieving through a series of medical and psychological research on grief and healing. This was enhanced by magical thinking and the development of a new pattern of living aimed at forgetting the lost husband. However, the worsening state of her daughters health seemed to interfere with her natural process of recovering from the loss she had suffered. This was crucial in helping her reflect on the life she had lived and the new direction that she wanted to move toward.
Admittedly, Didion travelled the journey to healing alone in line with the medical and psychological healing researches she tried to conduct toward her healing process. She owned the grieving and wanted to redeem her hope through a revaluation of the life without her husband. However, her daughters worsening condition disrupted her healing process. On the other hand, Vanzant (2010) was supported by some of her family members and workmates through her healing process. They played the role of motivators in her life, hence helping her come over the losses she had suffered. Specifically, they gave her hope about the future and the need to focus on the upcoming events. This was significant in her healing process and the promotion of a comeback in her life.
Vanzant transitioned to healing through taking a positive approach to life and developing spiritually. She affirms that she became more spiritual and prayed for a breakthrough in her life. This was after her continuous interactions with people on popular television shows such as Tyra, which boosted her morale and the need to recover. Specifically, she could not accept the breakdown and resolved to spirituality as the only option to securing hope in life. Losing hope was not an option for Vanzant. I think the healing occurred because of the new touch she gave to her life. She put her past behind and decided to focus on the future, which holds more hope. Vanzant reached a resolution to heal completely. This is reflected through her insistence that the new you could get you far. This reiterates the new personality she embraced in her life for personal growth and recovery.
Vanzant (2010) evaluated the past with reference to it as the gone days. She emphasized the view that the past represents her old image and she could not stick to it because it was the shortest way of giving up in life. Vanzant evaluated the past as stressful with her divorce, loss of a daughter, and bankruptcy. Therefore, she purposed to move forward with a new attitude full of spirituality and hope for the future.
In conclusion, this essay focused on evaluation of Didions and Vanzants memoirs relating to the losses they had in their lives. Didion experienced another tragedy as she tried to pick up the pieces. This was the worsening of her daughters condition after the death of her husband. On the other hand, Vanzant recounts a series of problems she experienced, including loss of a long-term marriage, loss of a daughter, and bankruptcy. However, they both had a forward-looking focus despite these problems, hence healing systematically.
