The part in Trauma Plate that really stuck out to me as a narrative of parenting was the part where Ruth is talking with the pizza delivery boy and Bill discovers that she isn’t wearing the trauma plate. He asks her “where’s your protection”. This is very reminiscent of two things a parent would hassle their child about. The first is like telling a child to wear a coat when it is cold outside. Though the stakes are a lot higher in this story, the same theme of parental care and supervision are there.
The other is a bit more obvious in that she is talking to a member of the opposite sex and the text makes it clear that the pizza boy is physically attracted to her. The same comment about “where’s your protection” holds true, this time referencing parents who talk to their children about sexual protection. It is easy to see why a parent would get upset over this. They try to teach their children and hope they listen, but they find themselves constantly reminding them of their guidance. So in this world that Adam Johnson has crafted, we see that the circumstances are different, but all in all human nature remains the same.
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Excellent! When I was reading the story it didn't occur to me that the comment "Where's your protection" could be interpreted as a reference to sex. I blankly read this part in the story and thought too about a parent reminding a child to wear something, like a coat, to protect them. Thank you for pointing this out. I appreciate reading your response, for it enlightened my reading of Trauma Plate.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Lindsay on this one, I'm pretty happy that you put a sexual spin on the story - because I did too.
ReplyDeleteFalling right in line with Historicism, I feel like, perhaps largely in thanks to Freudian theory, society, today, lives and breathes sex. It wasn't until the mother began narrating that I realized what the story was coming back around to, but when Ruth added in her perspective, it all made sense. I loved the way Johnson depicted the different societal roles we all play, how teenagers learn to be adults, and the open interpretation he left of what each of our own "trauma plates" may be. Even hours after reading the story, the last few lines still dazzle my imagination: "Hector has his father's gun, you your mother's, and you will ask the boy you love to break the plate guarding your heart. ... The line must be crossed. He's ten feet from you, a parking space away. You hand him your mother's silver little number. It will knock you down, you know, there will be that smell, but soon there will be no more vests, no more fears, only Hector's fingers on the bruise he's made, on your sternum, and the line will be crossed, the event set in motion, at the highest of speeds."
On a complete side note, did anyone notice that the name "Hector," usually an indicator of Latin descent, was in fact Filipino? Is this perhaps because the Latin races were those running the gangs and doing the killing, hence the father wanted his son to be in one of those prominent positions? Just throwing that out there...
I agree with kris who said that the charactor Bill when saying "Where's your protection?" was not only talking about the trauma plate in her vest, but also her careless actions, which include intimimate encounters with boys. I find it interesting that the story is called trauma plate. It seems to me that the trauma referred to isn't just trauma of protection from a bullet, but of fear in of their current situation or relationships. Jane was afraid of Bill finding out that she went to "the enemy" which was the emporitum, to try on jackets there. She said it made her feel safe though she knew that she would never purchase one. The jackets seem to be an icony for safety, not only from bullets but from all of their fears as well. At the end of the story Ruthe was so tired of the fear, she had hector shoot her in the vest, so that she no longer had to live with the anticipation and wonder of what it might feel like to be shot.
ReplyDeleteI agree with kris. I actually did put a sexual spin on it when I was reading it. Especially because the story talks so much of the girl having sex in the old Kmart building. When Bill said "Where's your protection?" I also took it as a parent getting upset at a child for putting their guard down. Many teenagers let their morals or "protection" slide when they are with friends. It seemed as if the girl not only physically took the trauma plate out and by doing so was unprotected physically, but she emotionally let her guard down by her carelessness with the boy.
ReplyDeleteGoing along with the idea that parenting never changes, I think this is an example of how the pressures of being a teenager never change either. Ruth is going through the same things that teenagers deal with on a daily basis. She doesn't understand her parents, and has a hard time relating to them. At first she is embarassed by the vest that her father makes her wear, saying that "...no one wears their vests to school. I'm a total outcast". But she gets to the point where she won't take it off for anything. Her mother, Jane, cheats when Bill isn't around by taking it off for a few minutes. However Ruth, the teenager, leaves hers on all of the time because when it's off, such as during her swim meets, she feels too vulnerable, and even quits the team because of it. Even though he text states that Ruth is no longer a virgin, I think the vest is still symbolic of her virginity. At first, she is annoyed about the fact she is still a virgin because 'every one else isn't'. But once it gets to the point where she's comfortable with it, she is unwilling to let it go. She claims to be in love with Hector, and that is when she finally is ready to be rid of the vest.
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