The Book of Susannah 1
by Link, KellyThe chapter opens with Susannah waking up in her sister Laura’s bed, a place she feels she shouldn’t be. The absence of Laura, who has been gone for eleven months, looms heavily over Susannah’s thoughts. She wrestles with restless dreams that fail to bring comfort or reunion with those she longs for. The disarray of the room and the missing presence of their mother, Ruth, who works in a demanding NICU environment, amplify Susannah’s sense of isolation and uncertainty. The moonlight becomes her only confidant as she voices her frustration with the darkness and solitude enveloping her life.
Susannah’s reflections reveal a deep yearning for normalcy and the restoration of what has been lost. She attempts to impose order by meticulously arranging Laura’s belongings, hoping that placing each item “exactly where it ought to be” might somehow mend the fractured reality. The chapter highlights the contrast between the romanticized ideals found in Laura’s novels and Susannah’s pragmatic, even cynical, view of life’s demands. While Laura’s world was filled with love and fantasy, Susannah confronts the harsher truths of growing up and the pressure to find a meaningful place in the world, despite her resistance to conventional paths like college.
The narrative delves into Laura’s character through the remnants she left behind—her guitar, clothes, and personal treasures—each symbolizing a connection to the sister Susannah desperately misses. Susannah’s interactions with these objects are tinged with a mix of reverence, longing, and rebellion. She imagines conversations with Laura, borrowing her clothes and possessions in an attempt to inhabit a shared space that now feels painfully empty. The jadeite mug filled with guitar picks and fortunes serves as a poignant symbol of hope, irony, and the elusive promises of change and beauty.
In a moment of intense emotion, Susannah’s frustration culminates in the destruction of Laura’s cherished guitar, an act that embodies her struggle to cope with loss and the impossibility of restoring the past. This act of breaking the guitar also symbolizes her breaking point—caught between holding on to memories and the need to move forward alone. The chapter closes on this raw, turbulent note, emphasizing Susannah’s solitary journey through grief, identity, and the search for meaning in a changed and uncertain world.
FAQs
1. How does Susannah’s relationship with her sister Laura influence her actions and emotions in this chapter?
Answer:
Susannah’s relationship with Laura is central to her emotional state and behavior throughout the chapter. Laura’s absence leaves a profound void; Susannah wakes up in Laura’s bed, feeling dislocated and alone, highlighting her longing for her sister’s presence. She attempts to maintain Laura’s world by tidying up Laura’s belongings exactly as they were, reflecting a desire to restore order and perhaps bring Laura back. Susannah’s actions, such as borrowing Laura’s clothes and handling her guitar, symbolize her attempt to connect with Laura’s identity and fill the gap left by her sister. The emotional weight of Laura’s absence manifests in Susannah’s frustration and despair, culminating in the violent destruction of the guitar, expressing her deep pain and helplessness.2. What role do the objects in Laura’s room (e.g., guitar, stuffed animals, romance novels) play in understanding Susannah’s feelings and the chapter’s themes?
Answer:
The objects in Laura’s room serve as tangible connections to Laura and represent Susannah’s memories, grief, and longing. The stuffed animals, such as the sky-blue owl and the secret-named dog, evoke childhood innocence and secrecy, highlighting what Susannah feels she has lost. Laura’s romance novels, meticulously arranged and described with wistful humor, symbolize idealized love and emotional escape, contrasting with Susannah’s harsher reality. The guitar, an instrument Laura “made talk,” embodies her sister’s voice and feelings; Susannah’s destruction of it reveals her frustration and inability to cope with absence and silence. Collectively, these objects underscore themes of loss, memory, and the struggle to reclaim or hold onto the past.3. Analyze how the chapter uses imagery and symbolism related to light and darkness to reflect Susannah’s internal state.
Answer:
The chapter employs imagery of light and darkness to mirror Susannah’s emotional turmoil and isolation. She wakes in the middle of the night, a time traditionally associated with uncertainty and fear, emphasizing her feeling of being “alone in the dark.” The full moon outside the window symbolizes a distant, unchanging presence—something constant yet unreachable—paralleling Susannah’s hope and despair regarding Laura’s return. The ultraviolet light in the NICU, where their mother works, contrasts with the darkness at home, suggesting a world of care and life that Susannah is currently removed from. This interplay of light and dark imagery highlights Susannah’s struggle between hope and resignation, presence and absence.4. Considering Susannah’s reflections on romance novels and community college brochures, what does this reveal about her perspective on her future and societal expectations?
Answer:
Susannah’s reflections reveal a tension between societal expectations and her personal feelings of disconnection and resistance. The romance novels, with their idealized and formulaic portrayals of love, seem distant and somewhat mocking to Susannah, who notes that such stories emphasize falling in love rather than practical achievements like finding a good job. Her disdain for the community college brochures—kept by her mother but discarded by Susannah—suggests reluctance or fear about following a conventional path to adulthood and success. This indicates Susannah’s uncertainty about her future and a struggle to find motivation or hope in the face of her grief and loss, highlighting a broader theme of adolescent alienation and the search for identity.5. How does the chapter portray the theme of silence and communication, particularly through Susannah’s interactions with Laura’s absence and the environment around her?
Answer:
Silence and communication are poignantly portrayed through Susannah’s attempts to reach out to Laura and the stark absence of any response. Susannah talks aloud to the empty room, the moon, and even to Laura’s guitar, seeking connection but receiving only silence, which is described as “typical of Laura.” This silence symbolizes the emotional barrier and the void left by Laura’s disappearance. The environment itself—the messy bed, the undisturbed belongings, the quiet house—echoes this lack of communication. Susannah’s destructive act against the guitar may be interpreted as a response to the unbearable silence, a physical manifestation of her frustration and desire to break through the void. The chapter thus explores how silence can both isolate and express deep emotional pain.
Quotes
1. “I’m tired of this,” the girl says to the moon in the window, because no one else is there to talk to. “Not knowing. Being in the dark. Being alone in the dark. Don’t you ever get tired of it?”
This quote captures Susannah’s profound loneliness and uncertainty after her sister Laura’s disappearance. It sets the emotional tone of the chapter, revealing her struggle with absence and the human need for connection and answers.
2. “If Susannah puts each of Laura’s things back exactly where it ought to be, then everything will go back to the way it should be.”
This passage encapsulates Susannah’s desperate attempt to restore order and normalcy through ritual and control, highlighting the theme of coping with loss by clinging to the familiar and the hope that reassembling the past can heal the present.
3. “There are so many novels about falling in love and so few about finding a really good and rewarding job. Not that Susannah has read a book in a long time. Books are for kids who go to college. Her mother keeps leaving community college brochures on the kitchen counter. Susannah keeps throwing them away.”
This quote underscores Susannah’s internal conflict and resistance to societal expectations about her future. It reflects themes of class, aspiration, and the limited narratives available to young women like her, contrasting romantic fantasies with harsh realities.
4. “If Daniel were here, he would help her figure out how to live without Laura. If Laura were here, she and Susannah could figure out together how to live without Daniel. But it’s only Susannah. It will only ever be Susannah again, which means that Susannah can’t be Susannah. She doesn’t know how.”
Here, Susannah voices the core of her identity crisis provoked by loss and separation. The quote poignantly expresses her isolation and the fracturing of her sense of self, a key emotional turning point in the chapter.
5. “Susannah lifts the Harmony over her head and brings it down hard on the corner of Laura’s desk. When this isn’t hard enough, she brings it down again and again until she has smashed what she can into pieces.”
This climactic action symbolizes Susannah’s frustration, anger, and grief. Destroying the guitar—an object tied to Laura and their shared past—represents a breaking point, an outward manifestation of inner turmoil and the struggle to move forward.
Quotes
1. “I’m tired of this,” the girl says to the moon in the window, because no one else is there to talk to. “Not knowing. Being in the dark. Being alone in the dark. Don’t you ever get tired of it?”
This quote captures Susannah’s profound loneliness and uncertainty after her sister Laura’s disappearance. It sets the emotional tone of the chapter, revealing her struggle with absence and the human need for connection and answers.
2. “If Susannah puts each of Laura’s things back exactly where it ought to be, then everything will go back to the way it should be.”
This passage encapsulates Susannah’s desperate attempt to restore order and normalcy through ritual and control, highlighting the theme of coping with loss by clinging to the familiar and the hope that reassembling the past can heal the present.
3. “There are so many novels about falling in love and so few about finding a really good and rewarding job. Not that Susannah has read a book in a long time. Books are for kids who go to college. Her mother keeps leaving community college brochures on the kitchen counter. Susannah keeps throwing them away.”
This quote underscores Susannah’s internal conflict and resistance to societal expectations about her future. It reflects themes of class, aspiration, and the limited narratives available to young women like her, contrasting romantic fantasies with harsh realities.
4. “If Daniel were here, he would help her figure out how to live without Laura. If Laura were here, she and Susannah could figure out together how to live without Daniel. But it’s only Susannah. It will only ever be Susannah again, which means that Susannah can’t be Susannah. She doesn’t know how.”
Here, Susannah voices the core of her identity crisis provoked by loss and separation. The quote poignantly expresses her isolation and the fracturing of her sense of self, a key emotional turning point in the chapter.
5. “Susannah lifts the Harmony over her head and brings it down hard on the corner of Laura’s desk. When this isn’t hard enough, she brings it down again and again until she has smashed what she can into pieces.”
This climactic action symbolizes Susannah’s frustration, anger, and grief. Destroying the guitar
— an object tied to Laura and their shared past—represents a breaking point, an outward manifestation of inner turmoil and the struggle to move forward.
FAQs
1. How does Susannah’s relationship with her sister Laura influence her actions and emotions in this chapter?
Answer:
Susannah’s relationship with Laura is central to her emotional state and behavior throughout the chapter. Laura’s absence leaves a profound void; Susannah wakes up in Laura’s bed, feeling dislocated and alone, highlighting her longing for her sister’s presence. She attempts to maintain Laura’s world by tidying up Laura’s belongings exactly as they were, reflecting a desire to restore order and perhaps bring Laura back. Susannah’s actions, such as borrowing Laura’s clothes and handling her guitar, symbolize her attempt to connect with Laura’s identity and fill the gap left by her sister. The emotional weight of Laura’s absence manifests in Susannah’s frustration and despair, culminating in the violent destruction of the guitar, expressing her deep pain and helplessness.
2. What role do the objects in Laura’s room (e.g., guitar, stuffed animals, romance novels) play in understanding Susannah’s feelings and the chapter’s themes?
Answer:
The objects in Laura’s room serve as tangible connections to Laura and represent Susannah’s memories, grief, and longing. The stuffed animals, such as the sky-blue owl and the secret-named dog, evoke childhood innocence and secrecy, highlighting what Susannah feels she has lost. Laura’s romance novels, meticulously arranged and described with wistful humor, symbolize idealized love and emotional escape, contrasting with Susannah’s harsher reality. The guitar, an instrument Laura “made talk,” embodies her sister’s voice and feelings; Susannah’s destruction of it reveals her frustration and inability to cope with absence and silence. Collectively, these objects underscore themes of loss, memory, and the struggle to reclaim or hold onto the past.
3. Analyze how the chapter uses imagery and symbolism related to light and darkness to reflect Susannah’s internal state.
Answer:
The chapter employs imagery of light and darkness to mirror Susannah’s emotional turmoil and isolation. She wakes in the middle of the night, a time traditionally associated with uncertainty and fear, emphasizing her feeling of being “alone in the dark.” The full moon outside the window symbolizes a distant, unchanging presence—something constant yet unreachable—paralleling Susannah’s hope and despair regarding Laura’s return. The ultraviolet light in the NICU, where their mother works, contrasts with the darkness at home, suggesting a world of care and life that Susannah is currently removed from. This interplay of light and dark imagery highlights Susannah’s struggle between hope and resignation, presence and absence.
4. Considering Susannah’s reflections on romance novels and community college brochures, what does this reveal about her perspective on her future and societal expectations?
Answer:
Susannah’s reflections reveal a tension between societal expectations and her personal feelings of disconnection and resistance. The romance novels, with their idealized and formulaic portrayals of love, seem distant and somewhat mocking to Susannah, who notes that such stories emphasize falling in love rather than practical achievements like finding a good job. Her disdain for the community college brochures—kept by her mother but discarded by Susannah—suggests reluctance or fear about following a conventional path to adulthood and success. This indicates Susannah’s uncertainty about her future and a struggle to find motivation or hope in the face of her grief and loss, highlighting a broader theme of adolescent alienation and the search for identity.
5. How does the chapter portray the theme of silence and communication, particularly through Susannah’s interactions with Laura’s absence and the environment around her?
Answer:
Silence and communication are poignantly portrayed through Susannah’s attempts to reach out to Laura and the stark absence of any response. Susannah talks aloud to the empty room, the moon, and even to Laura’s guitar, seeking connection but receiving only silence, which is described as “typical of Laura.” This silence symbolizes the emotional barrier and the void left by Laura’s disappearance. The environment itself—the messy bed, the undisturbed belongings, the quiet house—echoes this lack of communication. Susannah’s destructive act against the guitar may be interpreted as a response to the unbearable silence, a physical manifestation of her frustration and desire to break through the void. The chapter thus explores how silence can both isolate and express deep emotional pain.
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