September 26Pam called Greenway for billionth time today. No progress. I told her give them time to do their job.
Pam calls again.
Pam: Hi, I just wanted to check for any--
Greenway rep: Please, miss. We'll let you know if we find anything.
Greenway rep hangs up. No one wants to help. Greenway think we = fools for buying SGs and fools for releasing them. At this point, I am thinking they only want our money. Greenway never intended to find them.
We are lost cause.
Eva in room drawing, very sad. Knock and ask if can come in. Drawing of SGs in yard. Five of them. Point to fifth SG, a little smaller than others.
Me: Who's the fifth SG?
Eva: Me.
Was shocked. Why Eva draw herself as SG? Did not know how to respond.
Me: Eva, you're not a SG.
Eva does not reply. Look closer at paper and see little faces. Three girls and two boys. SG boys? Realize those are not our SGs. Eva drew us as SG family.
Felt like giving Eva hug, telling her she is wrong, we are not SG family, nowhere near, we will never be like SGs, ripping paper into pieces.
Instead cried.
Eva saw and cried too.
Later went outside and stood where SGs once hung. Was a windy day. Imagined SGs as if still here: swinging in silence, side by side, waiting for man in truck to come with food.
Pam: Come back inside, it's cold out.
Did not respond.
Think to myself, why we buy SGs anyways? Everyday we feel poor. SGs will not change anything. Why are we so unlucky?
Poor SGs. Taken advantage of by evil company and rich people. All of their problems caused by money. SGs unnoticed before they came to America. Unnoticed until rich people decided to notice them. Can imagine them swinging on the line waiting to be noticed. Sacrificing everything just to be acknowledged as the same.
Or maybe they'll never be noticed. Maybe SGs will forever remain in the background. On racks in rich people's yards.
Looked up and imagined myself as SG boy.
Empty rack in yard, looking strange in moonlight.
Note to self: Call Greenway, have them take ugly thing anyway.
__________________
After realizing the SGs escaped, the narrator and his wife are desperate to find them-- fearing that they'll lose all of their money. In the original ending, the narrator reflects on how the SGs will survive on their own and how they'll provide for their families. Ironically, although they come from entirely different backgrounds and socioeconomic classes, both the SGs and the narrator's family struggle with providing for their families due to a lack of money.
Eva's SG drawing of her family represents their lives as a materialistic display of wealth. Eva's family is constantly attempting to impress others through their outside appearance. The narrator's shocked reaction shows that he refuses to see himself as "lower class" because he believes he is better than them, much like how the wealthier families in "The Semplica Girls" condescendingly look down on his own family. Despite the differences in wealth, the narrator is no better than the people he despises in terms of attitude.
While the paragraph about being "unnoticed" seems to be written about SGs, upon further inspection, the narrator is actually talking about himself. SGs don't necessarily want to be noticed so much as make money for their families. Meanwhile, the narrator has spent his entire life wanting to fit in and be accepted by the wealthier community. His family was scarcely acknowledged until his garden renovation. Here, he is expressing his own socioeconomic insecurities by pretending to take pity on the SGs.
In the original story, the narrator's last lines are: "Empty rack in yard, looking strange in moonlight. Note to self: Call Greenway, have them take ugly thing away." These lines could be interpreted as the narrator feeling disgusted by his return back to where he started-- emphasizing his unchanged mentality. I wanted to utilize the same lines in my ending but alter the original meaning. The narrator finally acknowledges the similarities between himself and the SGs after seeing Eva's drawing and imagining himself in their place. His struggles are rooted in his desire to be accepted by his wealthier neighbors and acquaintances, and the rack is a constant reminder of his place as a struggling middle-class individual.
Works cited
Saunders, George. "The Semplica-Girl Diaries." The New
Yorker, 8 Oct. 2012, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/10/15/the-semplica-girl-diaries. Accessed 13 Mar. 2020.
While reading this short story all I could think about was how similar the narrator and the Semplica girls are. He’s been keeping both an emotional and physical distance from them throughout the story, but when he begins to think about their home countries and lifestyles, he begins to realize that they are more similar than he thought. They’re both willing to make sacrifices for their family. He spent excessive amounts of money on his daughters to ensure that they had comfortable lives. On the other hand, the Semplica girls were willing to sell their bodies and their pride to provide for their families in impoverished countries. Both the narrator and the Semplica girls have an aspiration and a desire to better the lives of those around them. The only difference being that the dad was born to a life of privilege. I believe the reason that he blocked himself from any relation to the Semplica girls was because he saw too much of himself in their reflections. I feel like your new ending seems more satisfying and we see more development of character within the narrator.
ReplyDelete