A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara by Amy Nguyen https://padlet.com/Ameighnguyen/ty1risnpkaspvv3c Book Project: Fiction Reading Response Choice Board en-us 2022-04-22 13:33:37 UTC 2022-04-26 15:54:19 UTC hello@padlet.com "It was impossible to explain to the healthy the logic of the sick, and he didn’t have the energy to try." - Yanagihara (pg. 273) Ameighnguyen https://padlet.com/Ameighnguyen/ty1risnpkaspvv3c/wish/2153632355 When Willem, one of Jude's best friends becomes irritated and questions why Jude didn't call for assistance, this quotation illustrates Jude's internal perspective. The quotation happens shortly after Jude injures himself severely while carrying himself up the steps to his Lispenard Street apartment after the elevator breaks down. When Willem learns what transpired, he starts to question why Jude didn't call for help, and Jude is unable to explain his reasoning and inner workings. Despite the fact that Jude and Willem are quite close and share some characteristics of a similar upbringing because Willem, too, has no family, Willem is healthy and able-bodied, but Jude is not. Willem is reliant on his fit and responsive physique, as well as his ability to manipulate it, as an actor. The quotation demonstrates Jude's isolation, as none of the healthy individuals around him can really comprehend his agony and precariousness. It also demonstrates Jude's hesitation to share his experiences with others. Willem cherishes him and would do everything in his power to understand and sympathize with him. Jude is so engrossed in the story that he doesn't even attempt to explain what his life is like. Jude is limiting the range of relationships in his life by doing so.


]]> 2022-04-22 13:58:23 UTC https://padlet.com/Ameighnguyen/ty1risnpkaspvv3c/wish/2153632355 But what is he willing to do to feel less alone? Could he destroy everything he's built and protected so diligently for intimacy? How much humiliation is he willing to endure? He doesn't know; he is afraid of discovering the answer. - Yanagihara (pg. 348) Ameighnguyen https://padlet.com/Ameighnguyen/ty1risnpkaspvv3c/wish/2153641309 When Jude is around 40 years old, he is eternally unmarried, and he is considering the fact that he is solitary. The quotation appears just before Jude encounters Caleb for the first time, and their abusive and catastrophic interaction begins. Many people around Jude at this stage in his life are remarking on the fact that he has never been in a romantic relationship. They are concerned that Jude is missing out on an opportunity that could offer him immense happiness since they care about him. Jude appears to be adamant on the surface, but he admits that he is curious about what it's like to be in a relationship. Jude is reluctant and ambivalent, as this quotation demonstrates. He is concerned about what would be expected of him if he pursued a love relationship; he understands that, as a result of his friendship with Harold and his companions, he would be expected to share his emotions and his past. In particular,  he would most likely have to show his body, a love partner would want even more intimacy from him. Jude's willingness to give himself up to a relationship shows how much he wants to be loved.


]]> 2022-04-22 14:05:05 UTC https://padlet.com/Ameighnguyen/ty1risnpkaspvv3c/wish/2153641309 What he knew, he knew from books, and books lied, they made things prettier. - Yanagihara (pg. 750) Ameighnguyen https://padlet.com/Ameighnguyen/ty1risnpkaspvv3c/wish/2154258302 This quotation occurs when Jude reflects on a hurtful remark Malcolm made about Jude's absence of a family; it demonstrates Jude's knowledge that Malcolm does not understand Jude's orphan experience. Malcolm's only knowledge of the experience of growing up without a family comes from books. Jude's remark about novels showing someone without a family being wrong is ironic because it appears in a book about someone without a family. The quotation also elucidates what the author's motivations might be. Many stories about orphans and people who have had rough childhoods have ended with them becoming affluent, finding happiness, and being content. Yanagihara defies tradition by portraying a story about a character who would never be able to recover from childhood trauma and lack of love. Unlike previous works in which an orphan or abandoned child's fate is "made prettier" by depicting them living a happy life, Yanagihara's novel takes a harsh and unapologetic stance on the truth that early trauma may never be overcome.

]]> 2022-04-23 01:03:46 UTC https://padlet.com/Ameighnguyen/ty1risnpkaspvv3c/wish/2154258302 For Jude, it is as if these things have not even happened.It isn't only that he died, or how he died; it is what he died believing. And so I try to be kind to everything I see, and in everything I see, I see him. - Yanagihara (pg. 814) Ameighnguyen https://padlet.com/Ameighnguyen/ty1risnpkaspvv3c/wish/2154264643 Harold participates in a hypothetical dialogue with Willem and thinks on what he has learned from Jude's death at the end of the novel, when he quotes this passage. Harold laments Jude's unexpected death; he has now lived longer than two of his children, which is a tragic and dreadful situation. He's also disturbed that Jude came to believe that suicide was his only option after so many people spent so much time trying to help him. Jude's note to Harold after his death, on the other hand, revealed that Jude died believing he was a horrible and despicable person who deserved to be loved. This belief, according to Harold, is what makes Jude's death so tragic. Jude was a clever, caring, and remarkable person, in Harold's opinion, who made the world a better place. Unfortunately, Harold was never able to persuade Jude that this was the case. All Harold can do now is try to infuse the world with as much kindness as he can. He hopes that by doing so, he would be able to pay tribute to Jude's memory.


]]> 2022-04-23 01:17:38 UTC https://padlet.com/Ameighnguyen/ty1risnpkaspvv3c/wish/2154264643 "But what Andy never understood about him was this: he was an optimist. Every month, every week, he chose to open his eyes, to live another day in the world." - Yanagihara (pg. 164) Ameighnguyen https://padlet.com/Ameighnguyen/ty1risnpkaspvv3c/wish/2154265372 This quote is taken from a moment in which Andy is evaluating Jude's leg wound and decides to believe Jude's optimistic assertion that his health is improving. Although the narrator implies that Jude's optimism regarding his situation is misplaced, this is an essential moment in comprehending Jude's attitude and character. Jude appears to be fixated on the unpleasant aspects of his life and has a negative self-perception. However, the narrator makes it apparent in this passage that Jude is actively pushing himself to be positive, given how much suffering he is in. Many individuals would have fallen to hopelessness understanding that their physical health would never change and that they would always be plagued by traumatic memories. Jude's success has come at a heavy cost to him psychologically, yet he continues to fight regardless. Given that Jude commits suicide at the end of the story, this quote is especially poignant. This move occurs only after he has fought for decades to be hopeful and to focus on the positive aspects of his life.


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