In "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut", the dysfunctional relationship between Eloise and Ramona and their individual lives is a sad but eye-opening topic to flesh out. Both characters suffer from a lackluster life, and develop coping mechanisms in a depressing attempt to escape from their emotions.
As we're introduced to Eloise, it becomes immediately clear that her life's been going downhill ever since she was evicted from college. Despite putting on a smiling front for gossip with her friend, her constant smoking and drinking habits are implied to be a common occurrence, not just to celebrate reuniting with a friend. Her life is just a mess; she despises her mother-in-law, feels trapped in her marriage to Lew, and sees her daughter as a nuisance. It's only when she's gossiping to Mary Jane about old friends and reminiscing about her past exploits that she seems truly happy, or at least energetic. She feels that she peaked in the past and is now past her prime, tied down with marriage and family and unable to go out and party and gossip anymore. Unlike people who dream of settling down and raising a family, to Eloise her family is a burden that she doesn't feel a part of. She laments to Mary Jane that her daughter looks like Lew and that she wants a cocker spaniel, or at least "somebody that looks like me." She proceeds to demonstrates her dislike for her family when the Mary Jane meets Ramona, treating her own daughter almost contempt, snapping at her around and talking about her derisively right in front of her with no regard for her feelings. While she breaks down at the end of the story and shows some love to Ramona, it's pretty apparent that that's a pretty rare occurrence.
The lack of love from Eloise sincerely hurts Ramona as it would any child, and as a result Ramona resorts to an endless string of imaginary friends, who give her the attention and love her mother would not. But even further than that, Ramona uses her imaginary friends to try and improve her reality, instead of solely looking for an escape like Eloise. She appears to constantly talk to her mom about her imaginary friends, how they look and feel and what they've done together, in an attempt to just get some attention from her uncaring mother. I believe she even kills off "Jimmy Jimmereeno" as an attention-seeking ploy, just as any kid who wants attention would do. But her pleas for attention fall on deaf ears time and time again, resulting in more and more imaginary friend antics since to her, they're the only "people" who truly care about her.
While this is admittedly a very grim topic, there is the possibility that we witness the turning point for Eloise in the last paragraph. Her moment of compassion for her daughter fully exposes her inner conflict, while showing that despite her open frustration with her life, she realizes that she's lacking as a mother and makes an effort, however small, to change that. But whether or not she continues living in the past or tries facing reality and loving her family, no one but Salinger can say for sure.
As we're introduced to Eloise, it becomes immediately clear that her life's been going downhill ever since she was evicted from college. Despite putting on a smiling front for gossip with her friend, her constant smoking and drinking habits are implied to be a common occurrence, not just to celebrate reuniting with a friend. Her life is just a mess; she despises her mother-in-law, feels trapped in her marriage to Lew, and sees her daughter as a nuisance. It's only when she's gossiping to Mary Jane about old friends and reminiscing about her past exploits that she seems truly happy, or at least energetic. She feels that she peaked in the past and is now past her prime, tied down with marriage and family and unable to go out and party and gossip anymore. Unlike people who dream of settling down and raising a family, to Eloise her family is a burden that she doesn't feel a part of. She laments to Mary Jane that her daughter looks like Lew and that she wants a cocker spaniel, or at least "somebody that looks like me." She proceeds to demonstrates her dislike for her family when the Mary Jane meets Ramona, treating her own daughter almost contempt, snapping at her around and talking about her derisively right in front of her with no regard for her feelings. While she breaks down at the end of the story and shows some love to Ramona, it's pretty apparent that that's a pretty rare occurrence.
The lack of love from Eloise sincerely hurts Ramona as it would any child, and as a result Ramona resorts to an endless string of imaginary friends, who give her the attention and love her mother would not. But even further than that, Ramona uses her imaginary friends to try and improve her reality, instead of solely looking for an escape like Eloise. She appears to constantly talk to her mom about her imaginary friends, how they look and feel and what they've done together, in an attempt to just get some attention from her uncaring mother. I believe she even kills off "Jimmy Jimmereeno" as an attention-seeking ploy, just as any kid who wants attention would do. But her pleas for attention fall on deaf ears time and time again, resulting in more and more imaginary friend antics since to her, they're the only "people" who truly care about her.
While this is admittedly a very grim topic, there is the possibility that we witness the turning point for Eloise in the last paragraph. Her moment of compassion for her daughter fully exposes her inner conflict, while showing that despite her open frustration with her life, she realizes that she's lacking as a mother and makes an effort, however small, to change that. But whether or not she continues living in the past or tries facing reality and loving her family, no one but Salinger can say for sure.
I think another interesting thing about Ramona is the idea that see's through the phoniness of Eloise and her attempts at making her life seem better. Like you mentioned, it is clear Eloise considers her past life with Walt the time when she had the greatest experiences. It seems like she tries to remedy this by reconnecting with the past (mainly bringing up old stories, gossip, memories of Walt, all with Mary Jane). Ramona is quite different in that she seems content in her own world and could really care less about their stories or Mary Jane's numerous attempts at being the friendly Aunt figure and inquiring about her imaginary friend.
ReplyDeleteI also thought that the saddest part about this story was how little Eloise seems to love Ramona: she cares a lot more about outer appearances than making sure her daughter is a mentally healthy person. However, I think Ramona is fairly well-adjusted for what a terrible mother she has. Lots of kids have imaginary friends, it's just a phase of childhood. I guess this doesn't excuse having a bad mother, but I think she could be worse off.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Eloise was a terrible mother and overall a terrible person also I think that the minimal effort that she makes at the end of the story is not genuine at all. I do not think that this is turning point either. Throughout the story she had plenty of opportunities to make amends and try to be a better person, but only when she sees her daughter in bed and lashes out does she feel "bad". I think rather than an act of compassion it is an act of self pity. Nice POst!
ReplyDeleteRamona's loneliness is partly a reflection of Eloise's extreme detachment as a mother, but it's also--perhaps surprisingly--a reflection of "Connecticut" as a culturally desolate and isolating setting, much as Eloise herself experiences it. We're told that there are no other children anywhere in Ramona's neighborhood, so she mainly plays by herself and indulges this complex imaginative world with an invisible friend (not an uncommon trope in early childhood). Just as Eloise feels distant and isolated from the city out in Connecticut, Ramona is depicted as living a solitary child's life. Compare this picture to how Salinger depicts growing up in the city, in "The Happy Man"--a literal gang of kids getting into adventures and playing sports with each other every day after school. While we might associate the suburbs with children and families, in the postwar period Salinger is depicting, it seems to be mainly a "bedroom community" for people who work in New York.
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