“I understood that knowledge was a dwarfing, obliterating, all-consuming thing, and to have it was to both be grateful and to suffer greatly.”
The narrator is an aspiring writer who lives inside her head in that she is an introspective individual who is highly self-aware. This self-awareness makes her overthink both mundane and complex matters that mold her viewpoint or consciousness. She is aware that she is different from people around her and has to deal with the pressures of conforming to the tropes expected of her. The assertion refers to the notion that too much awareness is as much of an ordeal as it is a gift to be thankful for. Thus, it demonstrates the narrator confronting her own identity and accepting herself for who she is.
“Brides never fare well in stories. Stories can sense happiness and snuff it out like a candle.”
The narratives primarily have women as the protagonists particularly those in distress due to either physical or psychological jeopardy. The quotation from the first story prepares the reader for what is to come from the story and those to follow. In that, the women in these narratives either have trouble expressing themselves or lack control over their lives because of an obstacle. For instance in “The Husband Stitch” the narrator has a ribbon around her neck that holds her head. In the end, the husband unties the ribbon and her head falls off, a literal proof of the assertion.
“If there were any justice in the world, this oyster would grab hold of my tongue and choke me dead.”
The stories entail a common motif which is physical harm in that the characters are either exposed to it or suffered it. In “Eight Bites” the narrator goes through a surgical procedure to reduce her stomach size in order to solve her eating disorder. The narrative handles the issues of body image and eating disorders among women in our current society. The assertion shows how these pressures can bring forth self-hatred and moreover self-harm.
