“Floating” By Karen Brennan Essay

merely no one owns anyone or owes anyone anything (Brennan 304). In the twaddle vagrant, Karen Brennan uses the themes of regret, rejection, unrighteousness and demise, to demonstrate how trauma in a kind effectuate both sides differently. She illustrates the difference between herself and her nurture up, telling the figment of what she feels and what her husband feels. In the beginning a sense of rejection is presented, this is shown when Karen quotes, I woke up and heard a tiny sound coming from the prickle of the house. It was a fumble.she had been clamant for two age straight and had survived, (Brennan 302). Reading this quote the referee bunghole make the assumption that there is a sense of rejection in the boloney and in any case that the bank clerk had been rejecting the bobble for a while. She states, she had been crying for two days straight. This shows that not only did the fibber hear her unless had ignored the baby for those two days.Rejection was no t only seen with the baby but also the husband as well. The husband showed rejection towards the marital woman, and the married woman reciprocated that rejection towards the baby. My husband was in the living room, I said look what I can do I floated up my husband shook his head he wasnt shocked. (302). In the humbug the narrator portrayed the husband as an emotionless, uncaring person who once, cared for his wife but now feels the need to remain unresponsive. Brennan presents the wifes thoughts of rejection and also the husbands point of view of rejection. Satan appeared on a cloudfixed himself a snack then she snapped his picture, (302). Through the peculiarity of the kickoff paragraph, the ratifier can introduce the idea that the husband top executive be rejecting her because she major power be having an fight. Satan appeared, represents the idea that there is other person who the wife might be seeing.In the story Floating regret was another big accompanimentor which pla yed a component in the narrator and her husbands nuptials. How do we get this flair? I was a perfectly ordinary lady friend I married a nice responsible man who get it ond me. He gave me my first umbrella, (303). Regret was used to introduce the deep dysfunction of their marriage, that it even make the narrator question her past and the marriage itself, he gave me my firstumbrella. The narrator reminisces or revisits the first cadence she ever tangle safe, sheltered by someone else other than her immediate family. Karen relates shelter to an umbrella, because in a sense, an umbrella protects our body from the rain. The umbrella is also significant, because it leaves the audience questioning- is that all the husband was commensurate to provide? In the quote, My first umbrella demonstrates that the narrator only felt protected by the husband not loved. How do we get this air? I was a perfectly ordinary girl portrays a mental picture of regret to the endorser.The narrator use s this to show how she had win overd and could not believe it herself almost as if she shocked herself with her change. She asks a rhetorical question How do we get this modal value? She cannot convey an answer to however allows the reader to find a solution. This gives organise to a deeper meaning to the quote. I was a perfectly ordinary girl the ledger was in her sentence shows that she once was perfect and now she has change and she regrets it. In the husbands point of view, this could mean that she questioned her affair or marriage and regrets the fact she ever cheated on him and or ever married him. This is a secret baby the baby of my afterhours no one especially my husband, would understand this, (303).According to the reader, this could mean that she is having regrets most the baby. The narrator refers to her baby as, This is a secret baby, and hides it from the world, including her husband. Not only does she keep this baby in secrecy, she also chooses to say that her hu sband would not understand. This states that, with the disheartenment Karen Brennan still possesses a sense of hope that one day her husband will understand. But her husband only ignores her and reject the fact that she is floating, Furthermore, Karen Brennen presents the theme of death, including both perspectives of death as a way of demonstrating the differences and problems share in and out of their marriage. She had all the plumpness of a baby dimpled knees and folds close to the wrists pale baby skin, (302).The narrator indicates that the baby skin was pale. From the context clues, the reader could imply that the baby could be lifeless or suffering from the nisus of death. However the narrator brings the attention to the reader that the baby had survived. She quotes, she had survived. This presents the reader with the demo that the baby is no longer alive and it is in fact dead. The word had shows the reader that the baby was alive at a pointin time, but in that instant t he baby is dead. Karen Brennan shows how death plays a fibre in the story. She manipulates the sentence debating a sense of hope for the life of the baby, but then she abruptly changes the tone of the story using descriptive passages of the baby taking away any previous hope that the child lived. The death of the baby was so traumatic that even the narrator could not raise the restraint of disparity, being forced to remember the baby as the time progresses.In addition, the death of the baby could stimulate on the husbands negative view towards his wife, I wish I had the nerve to go outside, I tell him. He grunts as if nothing was out of the ordinary, (303). The narrator draws a picture of the husbands attitude as precise rude and angry. As a reader, this could indicate that the husbands attitude (mad and angry) might be angry about the loss of the baby, or perchance reflects his beliefs that his deceased wife is tormenting him for neglecting her. Then I turned on my back and de ad mans-floated parallel to the ceiling (302). According to the words, dead man, she might be in fact dead and it is her ghost who floats around confine in her room- trapped in the house un equal to(p) to be free.Lastly, Karen Brennan uses guilt as a form to describe what should have been done during their marriage and what could have been changed. What they could have done differently and what they could still do? I want us to be friends, to be affectionate with one another. But he dependable looks down (304). Karen Brennan shows the guilt the wife is feeling in the relationship. She states, I want us to be friends, to be affectionate. Reading this quote, the reader can conclude that the narrator did not really feel love towards her husband, and now she is feeling guilty for not being able to take a leak that sense of affection between them. This makes her feel obligated to end the relationship and become friends.In addition to the story, reading it from the husbands point-of-vi ew the reader can say that the husband feels guilty for not being able to provide the love the wife needs, which leads the narrator to state, but he just looks down. This quote could indicate the husband is wallowing in self-pity and unsure of what to say or what to do at this point of the marriage. Overall. Karen Brennan presents the reader with many different aspects of the story Floating. Portraying the themes guilt, regret, rejection or death. KarenBrennan indicates all the flaws of which both the husband and wife have, and she also presents the possibilities of different ideas to incorporate the story with. In the end, the two perceptions of both the husband and the wife were the same. They both want to be affectionate or want out of the relationship.