I have to say that I thought the beginning of this next section started off pretty nicely. David leaves his job at the university, and travels to live with his daughter Lucy. She greets him warmly, and they talk about her life at the farm that she’s been living on. They actually seem like a father and daughter. I think my favorite line is on page 61 where he says, “Curious that he and her mother, cityfolk, intellectuals, should have produced this throwback, this sturdy young settler. But perhaps it was not they who produced her: perhaps history had the larger share.” I thought that this was an interesting line because David feels that even though he and her mother were from the city, knew nothing but city-life, they were still able to produce a child who took to the land and left the city behind. History’s pull on people to work the land and to expand to new lands was too strong on her, and their life was not what called to her to stay.
So it started off all nice and happy the first couple of pages. But, I kept myself wary because I knew that bad stuff was coming. Then, we finally got to the rape scene. I don’t know if it was just me, but I was sketched out by the three men from the very beginning. Why Lucy went inside with one of them really confused me. She seems so smart after living on the farm by herself for so long. So it surprised me that she would let her guard down like that. Maybe she just didn’t pick up on the bad vibe I was getting. The entire scene was a little confusing to me. Everything seemed to happen at once, and then all of a sudden David’s hair was on fire. I was just like, wow, how did that happen?
This whole section made me very sad. After the rape, Lucy seemed to retreat into herself, and I don’t blame her after what she was put through. I was upset with David for not understanding why she wouldn’t tell anyone about it. I feel like the men took her power from her, and the only way for her to retain any sense of her former power, she needs to keep what happened inside of her. I obviously cannot say how she feels because I don’t know, but I understand that she is scared and scarred from what has happened to her and does not need to relive it by talking about it.
I agree with you here. I thought that the men were odd from the beginning as well. As for the rape scene, I thought it was horrible. I still am not sure why Lucy acts like it’s something that doesn’t even phase her, but maybe it’s becasue she is a lesbian and she would expect that from a “male.” This is just one of thoughts that my group has come up with. I guess we will never really know why it seems like it doesn’t bother her. I kind of wish that there were a part two to this so that our questions could be answered!!