Intertwinings

In Cha's Dictee, in the section called Love Poetry, she uses the pages in an interesting way in that the story doesn't read straightforward but jumps across pages. This may create some confusion but it also creates a story for itself. I believe what Cha was trying to do was to show that each story has layers. Just as each person does.

Writing can be flat. It can lack depth. A writer can tell a story but if it isn't layered it isn't as interesting. If a character is only shown in one light it seems to cheapen that characters ability to be understood. In this section of the book, Cha takes a woman watching a show at the theater and shows her becoming part of the movie as if she is watching herself on screen. This is one story, but she intertwines this story with a woman who was unseen.  This woman was married through an arrangement her parents made. She struggles to love a husband that she didn't select for herself.  There is no indication that these women are one and the same but it provides a look at two very different scenarios in which a woman can be viewed.

In some ways these two women seem to be juxtaposed in that one is seen while the other is unseen. I am sure many women can identify with both. In many ways America affords us the ability to have more equality with men but there are those who are still unseen - whether through culture or abuse or choice. Although I believe not many women would choose to be unseen.

I appreciate what Cha does with the story as it creates an interesting read when trying to piece it together. I believe this effect does something more than what words can really say. It tells a deeper story still.