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Essay / Seeing the Reality of Adulthood: Ocular Symbolism in The Member of The Wedding
The Member of the Wedding, by Carson McCullers, is about the life of a 12-year-old girl, Frankie, who is passing from childhood to adulthood. Frankie feels disconnected from the rest of the world, having lost her mother at birth and having a distant father who is barely spoken about. In the novel, she spends much of her time with her housekeeper, Berenice, and her cousin, John Henry West, as she realizes that she is not a member of anything. When she learns that her brother is getting married, she desperately clings to the idea of participating in the wedding and attempts to transition into adulthood. However, she realizes that adulthood is not as great as she had imagined and discovers the dangers of growing up. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay McCullers uses the symbol of eyes to illustrate the inner conflicts that the characters face throughout the novel about the realities of adulthood. Bérénice's glass eye symbolizes her desire to remain young. Berenice is described at the beginning of the novel as having "a left eye made of bright blue glass." His calm, colorful face looked fixed and wild, and that was why she wanted a blue eye that no one would ever know about. His right eye was dark and sad” (McCullers 5). Berenice's natural eye color is dark, but she chose to have a bright blue glass eye. The fact that she chose the color blue is significant because blue is usually associated with clarity and vision, but she cannot see through the eye because it is not a true eye. The contrast between the two colors of her eyes illustrates the contradiction that Bérénice faces in her decision to stay young or settle down. While discussing Frankie's obsession and jealousy over marriage, Berenice tells him that what "she needs to start thinking about is a boyfriend" (McCullers 82). Having a boyfriend, or a boyfriend, is a task generally associated with young adulthood. However, Bérénice, an elderly woman, has her own boyfriend named TT Williams. When Frankie asks Berenice why she isn't settling down, she quickly responds by saying, "I'm not going to marry him" (McCullers 95). Berenice's quick response to this suggestion indicates her fear of marrying TT Williams. Bérénice is afraid of marrying TT and moving in with him because she is unsure of her future and what it might entail. She will have to abandon her youthful image if she wants to marry TT Williams. Likewise, her fake blue eye represents the clarity she claims to see in her life. She acts like she's sure she won't settle down or get married. On the other hand, her dark eye illustrates the fear she has of moving on in life and settling down with her boyfriend. Frankie's eyes symbolize his confusion about maturity and adulthood. While talking to Frankie about her obsession with marriage, Berenice tells Frankie that “she could see through his two gray eyes like they were glass. And what she saw was the saddest stupidity she had ever known” (McCullers 107). Frankie's eyes are gray, a color that is a combination of black and white. Black is a color commonly associated with fear and the unknown, while white is associated with purity and innocence. These two colors contrast, giving him a grayish eye color, depicting his struggles related to coming of age. She is determined to become an adult, but she still has a sense of innocence holding her back. His innocence was illustrated when his father asked him: "Who is this big twelve-year-old blunderbuss with long legs who still wants to have sex?".