Fear Of Loss In Barbara Kingsolver's Work
We all fear loss. An example of this is in “Fault Lines” a story in which Barbara Kingsolver displays the trauma of losing someone we love. Grace, the main character, experiences distress and anxiety after she loses her husband. Kingsolver (discovered) loss scares us so much because it is permanent, and we realize that we have very little control in this world.
People handle loss differently. For some people, the loss is taken to the extreme and that is why Grace will wake up in the morning to “check on the boys, who are breathing” (Kingsolver 456). It shows how Grace was scared to lose any more to the universe. This is a result of the fear of loss. Furthermore, when her friend, Fiona set her up on a date, Grace was too afraid to go because she was scared of losing what she had with her late husband. “She doesn’t want to drive to U.C. Berkeley and fall in love tonight. She wants to go home and find Randall in the driveway”(Kingsolver 458). This conveys how Grace was frightened of letting go of what she once had. She is still mourning the loss of her husband, so she is too frightened to move on. Hence, Grace has become worrisome, and doubtful due to the fear of loss.
Since loss is permanent, Grace believes change is not real either. According to Grace “Everything that happens to (her) is like a tattoo, . . . It might not show on the outside, but it’s permanent” (Kingsolver 460). This evidence shows symbolism because the word tattoo to Grace represents a symbol of nothing will ever change. This is symbolism because Grace sees everything that happens in her life is there forever. Grace's husband died and she believes that she can’t make it better so she is always worried.
Grace feels that she has little control over her life. According to Kingsolver “Grace considers it a freak accident that anyone ever makes it through life in one piece”(456). The mood of this quote is gloomy and depressing. This situation shows how negative grace is. Grace believes going through life is a freak accident. She views life as an accident due to the loss of her husband. Based on how depressed Grace was about how the universe failed her husband despite “ . . . Randall (her husband) always trusted the universe.(But) he ended up with a drill bit in his femoral artery. Grace wipes her eyes on his shirtsleeve.” (457). The evidence depicts a depressing mood by illustrating how Grace feels about universe. Grace is distrustful of the universe because it took away someone very dear to her. After all, she knows that her husband Randall trusted the universe but he died so it is scary to just trust the universe. Finnaly Grace knows that she has little control over her life because her husband is gone, taken by the universe and she could not control it.
Overall, Since loss is permanent, it allows us to feel powerless because we cannot control it so it scares us. After the loss of her husband, Grace felt powerless and it scared her on how little she can be able to change. Going through loss is scaring and painful but moving on is harder.
