Sunday, November 22, 2009
Replacements: an afterthought
I neglected to mention Poe's "The Black Cat" and how I noticed it's similarities to "Replacements". A very obvious similaritiy is the husband's urge to hurt-even kill-his wife's pet. But what is different is that in "The Black Cat" the husband hurts the cat out of twisted thoughts of alcohol-fueled madness, whereas in "Replacements" the husband's contempt for the creature is simply because it doesn't seem normal. It doesn't fit with the world he grew up in. There has to be something wrong with it. And it is pulling him away from his wife. Her mothering instincts appear to take over and dominate her entire existence. Strangely enough, other women who own these creatures appear to behave in the same way. What kind of hypnotic hold do these creatures hold over their "owners"? Could they somehow be related to infertility?
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I really like what you had to say. I agree that isolation is simialr to death, but I think there is just one more theme to this story which is gender roles. In the beginning, the creature was defenseless like any little baby. As it grows older, it needs it's mother's attention more and more. Over time, the two become insepratable. Espically in the one part where Jenny feeds her pet her own blood can parallel a mother breast feeding. Finally, when Stuart saw the creature in the window, he noticed how large he had gotten and how he just wanted to spread his wings and be free. Kinda like the longing young adults have when they are ready to leave thier nest because they are not a not a kid anymore. When the wife becomes a mother she loses focus on the marriage. This leaves her husband feeling insecure and hopeless. The wife takes the roll as a caretaker as Stuart wants to be the successful provider. Once he realized that she does not need him anymore, he felt that he was not good enough and alone. If he just accpected his wife's independance than maybe they could of saved thier marriage. Gender roles were also mentioned in the other stories we read, such as, "Death in the Woods," and "The Yellow Wallpaper." All in all, you did a really good job.
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