The Years of My Birth
Colin Watts
Professor Thomas
English 106
August 22, 2013
Assignment for Writing #2
Louise Erdrich “The Years of My Birth”
In “The Years of My Birth” by Louise Erdrich it is critical to understand the symbolic meaning of the presence connected to white room and the main character Linda, who is also known as Tuffy. Being that Linda is the main character and the narrator in the story we learn that she retells the story fifty years later. Erdrich invest much effort in explaining the earlier years that links an indescribable phantom presence, which comes to Linda at other moments in her life. “ That presence would come to me again other moments in my life. Its return is partly what this story is about.” (Erdrich page 1)
Linda’s description of her birth present a setting that is harsh and unpleasant. Born with a deformity at birth caused by her twin who crushed her while in the womb, neglected and left to die by her birth mother she grew to be unattached to things to avoid pain. “Mrs. Lasher I have something important to say. Your other child has a congenital deformity and may die. Shall we use extraordinary means to salvage it? She looked at the doctor with utter incomprehension at first, then cried, “NO!”. (Erdrich Page 1)
We can all imagine the pain and hardship a child has to deal with growing up knowing your birth mother rejected you. Just the thought alone is painful, not to mention born a twin. You may begin to feel hopeless like something or someone is missing and that is what Linda began to feel at an early age. “Around the age of two, I was taken away for the first time and placed in a room. I remember the smell of disinfectant and what I would now call despair. Into this disinfectant despair, there came a presence, someone or something, who grieved with me and held my hand”. (Erdrich Page 1) This presence comes back to Linda the night she receives a random phone call from Mrs. Lasher her birth mother, who
Professor Thomas
English 106
August 22, 2013
Assignment for Writing #2
Louise Erdrich “The Years of My Birth”
In “The Years of My Birth” by Louise Erdrich it is critical to understand the symbolic meaning of the presence connected to white room and the main character Linda, who is also known as Tuffy. Being that Linda is the main character and the narrator in the story we learn that she retells the story fifty years later. Erdrich invest much effort in explaining the earlier years that links an indescribable phantom presence, which comes to Linda at other moments in her life. “ That presence would come to me again other moments in my life. Its return is partly what this story is about.” (Erdrich page 1)
Linda’s description of her birth present a setting that is harsh and unpleasant. Born with a deformity at birth caused by her twin who crushed her while in the womb, neglected and left to die by her birth mother she grew to be unattached to things to avoid pain. “Mrs. Lasher I have something important to say. Your other child has a congenital deformity and may die. Shall we use extraordinary means to salvage it? She looked at the doctor with utter incomprehension at first, then cried, “NO!”. (Erdrich Page 1)
We can all imagine the pain and hardship a child has to deal with growing up knowing your birth mother rejected you. Just the thought alone is painful, not to mention born a twin. You may begin to feel hopeless like something or someone is missing and that is what Linda began to feel at an early age. “Around the age of two, I was taken away for the first time and placed in a room. I remember the smell of disinfectant and what I would now call despair. Into this disinfectant despair, there came a presence, someone or something, who grieved with me and held my hand”. (Erdrich Page 1) This presence comes back to Linda the night she receives a random phone call from Mrs. Lasher her birth mother, who