As I sat down to write this post I was trying to figure out what topic to write about as a lot happened in this section. The alternate future she connected to, the death of jackrabbit, the war she imagined she was a part of in the future, her change in behavior once they removed the device from her head, or the brother who fills me with anger. All of these could bring solid discussion, but I have to go with the moment that has stuck with me since i read it, the ending.
When we first met Connie she was a very simple woman, trying to survive every day and carrying all the pain and suffering she was dealt with. She was jobless, living on welfare, a person with no reason to exist. When she was put into the mental institution, she became another reject of society. She was a person I did not want to see a book written about. That changed as i began reading this last section.
Connie became a strong character the moment they removed the device from her head. She was filled with the burning desire to fight against those who were oppressing her.
“War, she thought, I’m at war. No more fantasies, no more hopes. War.” (Piercy, 332)
This change in her was surprising and pleasant. Finally Connie know what she wants to do, what she has to do. She will no longer accept the situation she has been given and will do what she can to get out of it. Her attempts failed and she is left with no choice, but to fight the establishment directly. When Connie had taken the poison from her brothers workplace I was unsure what her motivations were. As she poured the poison into the coffee, it became clear that she was literally at war and was killing her enemy, the doctors.
As Connie sat down on her bed to await the consequences of her actions, Connie’s story ends with no explanation as to what will become of her. The next chapter opens up with the text from the doctors notes detailing from their view what we have been told over the course of the book. Its not until the last line that we learn what happened to her.
“There were one hundred thirteen more pages. They all followed Connie back to Rockover.” (Piercy, 376)
It is after this line that I Realized that Connie is one of the bravest characters I have ever read about. Connie knew what would happen and she accepted it. She knew that she would be unable to connect with Luciente, yet she accepted what she had to do. Connie was prepared to spend the rest of her life with no freedom in order to protect those she loved. She selflessly sacrificed herself for the good of everyone else. It takes an incredible amount of strength in order to commit oneself to a lifetime of imprisonment. I respect Connie for her courage, for doing what was right. Everyone will see her as that crazy woman who murdered the doctors that were trying to help her. They will probably mistreat her and give no thoughts to a psychopath. Connie accepted this and became the hero of her time.
How exactly does she become a hero? I assume what you’re getting it is that the doctors will not be able to mess with anybody else? Hadn’t the doctors already gotten to everyone she cared about though? And if her act was meant to be heroic wouldn’t she have spent her time planning a way to kill the doctors instead of escaping?
Just as he said, I mean that she saved the future. I don’t think the doctors did get to those she loved as the only one she really cared about was Sybil. Everyone else was another patient in the same situation. I thought of that too, but I felt that even though it was her last choice, it was a selfless act to sacrifice her life for the future she believed in protecting.
shes a hero in a time that exixts but doesnt, (the future she created) i think he means it like that.
Great point about her strength, that’s something i didn’t think about. It takes a strong individual to do that. But at the same time, i can’t help but think that it is also a sign of having something wrong with you if you can kill without any recourse. It does fall under a sign of being schizophrenic, emotional flatness.