So this is it, our final “blog” posts. I have to admit, this book gets much better towards the end. The final chapter pretty much sums up my thinking throughout this reading; She’s crazy. In reading the official report of Consuelo Camacho Ramos, the proof is finally shown. She is schizophrenic. This document explains every one of her actions. Throughout the book, we’ve seen Connie portrayed as a woman being oppressed and the world seems to be against her. I think this can be interpreted in different ways. We can look at it as if no one understands her, and she really is a time traveler, or you can look at it how i see it. She is nuts. Everything that she has said and done has been to justify her actions. When she is “traveling” she falls into a catatonic state.

Maybe i’m just looking at this with an chauvinistic perspective, where i don’t believe she can be this weak, but everything that she has done can be explained by these simple signs of a schizophrenic:

• Hallucinations.
• Delusions.
• Disorganized speech.
• Disorganized or catatonic behavior.
• Negative symptoms (emotional flatness, apathy, lack of speech)

Chapter 17 deals with the war that has been hinted at throughout the book. In this war, Connie sees the weapons that are used by the enemy. When she sees the enemy, she hallucinates that it is Dr. Redding and the rest of the hospital staff. (Piercy 330) Upon waking from her hallucination, she is rushed to hospital to remove the electrodes, but she felt that “they were not done with her.” (Piercy 329)

At the end of chapter 17, Connie declares war on the doctors. (Piercy 332) The war she experienced in “the future” has inspired her to fight her war in the present. Is this future war just a metaphor for her internal struggle with her own sanity? Or is it just more justification as to why she is a victim?

A theme that I have noticed throughout the book was the number 3. Connie refers to herself as 3 women. She is the third patient to receive the surgery. The future has families with 3 parents. In Chapter 18, Connie is given furlough to visit her brother. While cleaning up after dinner, Molly, Luis’s new wife Adele, and Connie are all standing in the kitchen. Connie refers to them as “not three women.”  An interesting point is that they were all on some sort of drug. The sane and the insane all together in a place where they can be easily interchanged with each other. Even her description of them sounds as if they are all on something; “We are ups and downs and heavy tranks, meeting in the all-electric kitchen and bouncing off each other’s opaque sides like shiny pills colliding. ” (Piercy 353)

On another note, i noticed an interesting point. In the future people refer to learning as “redded” or redding, the same name as the Dr. who is conducting the experiment on Connie. (Piercy 328) This adds to my idea/theory that her mind is not normal as in some way it is telling her that what is going on in the real world is the norm.

Despite all of the problems and oppression that Connie is going through, the fact that she is willing to kill the doctors makes me completely lose any sympathy for her. I understand that what was happening was inhuman, and borderline torture, but the doctors were within their rights. Knowing now that Connie truly is crazy, i find myself questioning every interaction in which she was the victim. I guess it should be considered a twist, but it seemed pretty obvious from the start.

My previous posts have been focused on giving examples as to why this future world is a creation of Connie’s mind. I still feel that this is a possibility, but there are some circumstances that just seem too complicated to be created for her mind to make up. However, the first few chapters of this reading help to keep the reader believing that this is all made up.

As Connie dozes in bed, “Groggy on drugs,” (Piercy 186) she calls out to Luciente. We see that the more she goes to this world, the easier it becomes for her. Like anything, the more someone practices, the easier the job becomes, even if that job is escaping to a world of her own creation. In response to her telling the group that they exist (Piercy 189), Luciente tells her with a smile, and sad eyes, “Maybe, Maybe not.” and “It’s not clear. We’re still struggling to exist.” Could this be her mind telling her that they exist solely because of her? A few lines later, Bee tells her that “We must fight to come to exist, to remain in existence, to be the future that happens. That’s why we reached you.” (Piercy 190) Now i might be taking this out of context, but from what we’ve read so far, to me, this just adds to the evidence that this isn’t real!

At the meeting in the future we meet Parra, a female who is very similar to Connie… except she isn’t crazy! Like everyone else in this world, she bears a striking resemblance to someone. To me, she comes off as a version of Connie that might have been if she made better life choices. As they talk to each other, particularly about punishment for crimes, she tells Connie that it is up to the person who committed the the crime to choose their punishment. Is this Connie’s subconsciousness telling her that everything that she has done is okay.

In Chapter 12, something very interesting happens to Connie. (Piercy 245) She a dream where she become a mother, along with Sojourner, and Jackrabbit. She is woken by Luciente to find out that it was a dream. Even while on the run, her mind (dreams) somehow goes back to this future world. At this point, i start to question if maybe this future could be a real thing. I don’t see how Connie could come up with all of the survival skills that Luciente teaches her, having spent most of her life in cities.

Connie is told about “The Enemy.” In this section we see some things that we normally think of when we think about science fiction. The Enemy are the remaining rich people in this future, and they are made up of “androids, robots, cybernauts, partially automated humans.” (Piercy 261) The procedure that Connie is being subjected to would actually make her just like one of these creatures. I wonder if the doctors performing the surgery are the basis for the creation of the enemy in her mind? Its scary to think what can become of Connie after seeing that Skip cuts his own throat. (Piercy 280)

As i write this post, i find myself struggling to find something about this story that i like. In general, i enjoy the ideas presented by the future generation. It is almost a communist state, but the ideas are held by all and remains uncorrupted. It seems that almost every problem that we face as a society has been solved. The more i read however, the more i feel like this lady is full on crazy! Throughout these chapters, each new character reminds Connie of someone from her past. It really makes me think that this is all just a world that she is imagining to help alleviate her pain while in this asylum. The longer she is locked up and subject to the tests and medication, the stronger her made up world becomes.

One of the most important people in Connie’s life was Claud. In Chapter 9, she see’s the character Bee (Piercy 179) as a archetype of Claud. His big strong hands, yet soft touch touches her just how Claud used to before his death. He could even see her “with his hands” (Piercy 180) the same as how blind Claud was able to. Their “interactions” lead me to believe that its in her head, just as how she see’s her daughter Angeline in the little girl, Dawn. Each of these characters bear some similarity towards those around her.

The raising of the children is done with the care of 3 mothers. Connie describes herself to Luciente as having 3 names; Consuelo who was “a Mexican woman, a servant of servants,” Connie, a more educated woman, and Conchita, the bad part of her. (Piercy 114) Everything about this future is in some way the better version of Connie’s life. Could the idea of 3 mothers represent the three sides of Connie? I think maybe this idea of the mothers is Connie’s way of dealing with the loss of her child.

While watching 2 children attempt sex, we get another glimpse into the messed up life of this woman. (Piercy 130) It is revealed that as a child, her brother molested her, and she even fooled around with her younger, nicer brother. These are not the actions of a healthy individual. It seems that her life just gets worse and worse.

The people of this world have no problem flaunting their flaws, something that Connie is incapable of doing. They describe healing mental issues as worming, which to me makes me think of something burrowing into their heads… just like how a doctor uses electroshock therapy to bury the issues that people suffer from.

At the end of chapter 8, Nurse Wright awakens Connie by slapping her repeatedly. Nurse Wright told her that she  “thought you’d… withdrawn” (Piercy 155). Her “traveling” leaves her in a state where she looks as if she is no longer there. Often people who are put in situations withdraw into their own minds to a world where they don’t have to deal with what is going on in the real world. These points that i have addressed really make me think that Connie is not really going to the future, but is making this all up to cope with her issues and her circumstances.

So. I don’t know what it is about this book, Woman On The Edge Of Time by Marge Piercy, but the first chapter took me hours to read. I find it very hard to dislike a book, but after reading the first few chapters, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is better to read chapter 2 first as the pacing is just better and reading it in that order will allow it to flow better for the reader. The events of the first chapter are written better in the following 2 chapters. Its almost as if the writing gets better over time. I understand that it is to help show the reader how bad Consuela has it, but again, it is better expressed in the following chapters. The title is interesting as the first chapter takes place after the second chapter.

Connie ( Consuela) has been falsely locked up in a psychiatric hospital. This poor woman has struggled most of her life. Her parents made it clear early on that she should know her place in life, and that even going to college is a dream she should give up on. (Piercy 38) She has been married a few times, and in each instance it seems that she is worse off. When she actually does get a comfortable job as a “secretary-mistress-errand girl-laundress-maid-research assistant” (Piercy 42) we see that she really is not that special and is just being used yet again, by a man. This isn’t that surprising, as during this time period, most women were raised to be like this. Thankfully this archaic thinking is disappearing in our current era, but it sets the mindset of Connie, and why she makes mistake after mistake.

As i read these first four chapters, i keep asking myself if she really is crazy. (Piercy 85) When she is being moved to a new ward, she is questioned by the doctors, and we become aware of the fact that she has been hit in the head multiple times throughout her life. Early on, its established that she is has used drugs in the past as well, so i find myself questioning as to whether her meeting with Luciente is real? Since it only seems to happen when no one is around, it is easy to assume that its all an affect of the medication they are forcing upon her.

But if this is really happening, the future seems like an interesting place. Humanity has evolved into an androgynous race, where everyone lives in simple dwellings working together to better themselves. As the future is described, i can’t help but think back to the exhibit we went to see on the changing world. Humans living in harmony with nature and recycling everything is what we can hope for. I enjoyed that early on Luciente talks about how eating in pill form turns out bad, something that growing up, was a staple of media describing the future. Cities are no longer a thing, and everyone has their own space. Its a very interesting idea, and sounds ideal.

Piercy, Marge. Woman on the Edge of Time. New York: Knopf, 1976. Print.