This last post of the semester corresponds to the last 48.5 pages of Naked by David Sedaris. His random phases of his life storytelling are displayed once again in this reading. My reading started out at the wedding for his sister as his mother is dying of cancer and ends when he is leaving a nudist colony where he discovers much about himself, hence the name “Naked.” David is happy for the last part of his book and near the end he seemed determined to show us he realized his flaws as a youth. His mother is dying and, at the time, he was too selfish to recognize her pain. Mrs. Sedaris is recognized at the end as his hero as she was a great woman and she did everything she could do for her family. He realizes her quiet pain, “I myself tend to dwell on the stupidity of pacing the cemetery while she sat, frightened and alone, staring at the tip of her cigarette and envisioning her self, clearly now, in ashes” (250). His mom is in every happy moment in the book and now that she is dying, the reader can see how she made him happy and gave him a good life. The nudist colony part leads him to self discovery. Something about the nakedness let him be okay with himself, and with self-acceptance came his ability to accept others. The people that would have bothered him before the nudist colony he now talks to and can even be friends with them.
The themes in the book stay the same throughout the book and the ideas stay the same. The topic of cats is prominent through to the end. They reappear in this reading when he meets a woman and her husband and they tell him about their twenty eight cats. She, Roberta, talks about her cats, and there are, frankly, too many curse words in a row to quote it. I have to talk about it because she talks about the cats like they disappoint her. They breed super fast in her house and she doesn’t have the cash to keep them all. Women are also a topic David writes about. Women are his mystery and the learning in his life. When he meets Roberta she is very sad, “‘…I love the sun… don’t you?’ I looked up at the sky and saw mostly clouds. How could she see only the sun and I couldn’t?” Women can do things he can’t and they know things he doesn’t and for that the women that come into his life bring in learning.
3 comments:
It seems as if the book would make for an interesting story. I never really thought that nudist colonies could open your eyes to the world and help you understand yourself. Also his mother sounds flawless by trying to make him have a perfect life.
You seem to have really understood this book. I like how the theme of this book, which sounds like it's very deep, is cats. I don't think I ever suspected cats to be a theme in an autobiography. But, it seems very relevant and well thought out. I might actually consider reading this book, it sounds interesting.
The book you read sounds very interesting, and I am intrigued by the idea of him finding himself before being able to accept others. I didn't quite see how cats were a topic though. Overall a nice post that shows your understanding.
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