Sarah Tate

LU '23

[Sarah Tate @state2151]

#luawl Me reading about Babette's dinner, with the lemonade, Blinis Demidoff, grapes, peaches, and figs:

[Sarah Tate @state2151]

@king_renee50564 #luawl Yes! Along with knowledge, I think art changes vision as well, sharpening it in a way: "The vain illusions of this earth had dissolved before their eyes like smoke, and they had seen the universe as it really is" (54).

[Sarah Tate @state2151]

@KatherineRB19 #luawl I do love the water buffalo, but this makes me sad: "The women would feed [Balram's father] after they fed the buffalo" (22).

[Sarah Tate @state2151]

#luawl
Balram every time he sees a lizard:

[Sarah Tate @state2151]

#luawl
Marji becoming an aerobics instructor after returning to Iran to meet her new destiny (275):

[Sarah Tate @state2151]

@KatherineRB19 #luawl Yes! I felt this too earlier in the book, when Marji doesn't understand why her family is laughing about a cadaver being used as a martyr (32).

[Sarah Tate @state2151]

#luawl I love the idea that the "private life" of Marji and her family, with their parties and interest in Western things, is both a form of resistance and one of survival - "... the parties went on. 'Without them, it wouldn't be psychologically bearable'" (106).

[Sarah Tate @state2151]

@SwoodieB #luawl I know right! That's why I found it so strange and sad that her father was so adamant about social classes with Mehri's situation (37). Quite the contradiction there 🤔🤔

[Sadie Barham @SwoodieB]

I'm continually surprised by how relaxed Marjane's parents are. She's right about the one-dimensional view that Americans have about Iranians (at least in my case). Her book subverts all kinds of stereotypes. #luawl

[Sarah Tate @state2151]

#luawl "And then the house will be occupied by strangers, and there will be no trace that they were ever there" (299). This statement would be a sad one without Ashima's thoughts on home. Despite leaving the house, she'll take the memories of being there with her.

[Sarah Tate @state2151]

@KatherineRB19 #luawl I know right! I wonder if this lack of movement has to do with him being stuck between his Gogol and Nikhil identities. Like he's stuck, not either, so really, he's unable to move or function in the physical sense too.

[Sarah Tate @state2151]

#luawl Vladek and Anja's ending reunion really crystallizes the tragedy of Anja's later suicide. To me, Vladek's escapist idea of "happily ever after" is overshadowed by the dark reality - I wonder if this is some of the burden he feels at the end.

[Sarah Tate @state2151]

@LeahBetter #luawl Yes, I felt this too! While I do believe that Art was a bit short with his father at times, he really became the middleman between his father and step-mom 🫣

[Sarah Tate @state2151]

#luawl The scene where Vladek admits to burning Anja's diaries is so powerful and sad. While Art is trying to make sense of tragedy through remembering, it seems that Vladek is trying the opposite approach by intentionally forgetting. Powerful stuff.

[Sarah Tate @state2151]

@mydubiousfacts #luawl Ohhhh didn't notice this the first time. Good catch. It really shows his comfortability in his own world through language.

[Aurora Brande @mydubiousfacts]

I love how when Vladek is speaking English, his words are choppy, but when he's speaking "Polish" in the past, his grammar is perfect. It's an excellent way to emphasize his intelligence while simultaneously representing him accurately as a person. #luawl

[Sarah Tate @state2151]

#luawl no one:
Almásy in the desert:

[Sarah Tate @state2151]

@LeahBetter #luawl Kip is the best! This is my favorite Kip moment: "He held her with the same strength of love he felt for those three strange English people, eating at the same table with them..." (197) 🥹🥹