Crow Lake Empathy Essay

In Mary Lawsons Crow Lake, Kate Morrison is go apart emotionally stunted after a series of events leave her thwart and sorrow. When Kate is only seven, her p arnts are killed in a tragic car accident. fortunately for Kate, she could find condolence in her older brother categorical and the pond, a bond shared between the two. Kate idolizes Matt so it crushes her when he impregnates their inhabit and can no longer continue with his education. Kate sees this as a Brobdingnagian disappointment. Shes afraid of love and emotion due to her unresolved conflicts in the past. Kate has been left incapable of empathy in idolatry of becoming close to anyone again.From a young age Kate has been unfamiliar with others and her own emotions. The Morrison household preferred to take drama to a minimum. Kate refers to this as the Eleventh Commandment Understatement was the rule in our house. Emotions, even positive ones, were kept firmly under control. It was the Eleventh Commandment, mold o n its very own tablet of stone and presented specifically to those of Presbyterian position Thou Shall Not Emote (p. 9). Being a stranger to emotion, Kate finds it uncorrectable to identify and feel what another person is feeling.Exposure to emotional outbursts makes Kate anxious as she cannot find a proper way to deal with others due to her softness to fully understand and empathize. When Kate is approached by one of her students after class she assumes it is because of reasons colligate to her studies. I guess Im not the sympathetic emblem she admits, sympathy and empathy are linked, after all (p. 236). The student is struggling to find wrangling when Kate suggests that if it isnt connected to your work, then I may not be the best person (p. 237).When her student confirms its just about her studies Kate begins with a generic wine authoritive response to Fionas problem, encouraging her to go on with her work alternatively than leave university but when she is faced w ith the raw emotion of Fionas part Kate shys away, reminding herself that despite both growing up in a verdant area, their situations were nothing alike. Rather than trying to relate, Kate pushes herself away. The Eleventh Commandment sticks with her throughout her spirit The return to Crow Lake unearthed feelings that had been buried for too long.For Matts wife, Marie, these feelings were defeat with Kates attitude toward Matt. Marie quite clearly sees how Kates judgements negatively reckon him and finally decides to lecture Kate on her ruseness to Matts gaiety with his life and her lack of forgiveness towards him. Kate was completely stunned by Maries words of how her disappointment is the heaviest weight on his shoulders to Kate it seemed that her accusations made no comprehend (p. 279). Kate, unable to see things from Maries eyes, is unnerved and puzzled by what happened. She was convinced that she had been protecting Matt. Here am I, with my tremendous career, and her e is my boyfriend with his wonderful career, and look at all of you (p. 260). She felt as if she would have been gasconade to talk about anything in her current life, rubbing Matts face in her big city endeavours. Her lack of empathy made her blind towards Maries attempt at displaying Matts want to convalesce the bond they had once had. If Kate was able to empathize, she would have been able to forgive Matt. Matt was only seventeen when he had to give up life as a normal teenage boy to be a guardian to his younger sisters.Not only did he have school to worry about but also the well being of his siblings and financial stability. For a second base Kate is almost able to empathize with Matt on why he became close with Marie. She excuses Matt because he was eighteen, and when he put his arms nearly her he would have felt how soft she was (p. 248). But she quickly refuses to acquiesce what Matt had done, unable to completely understand why he threw away what meant so much to him. Ka te feels as though Matt is still grieving over his loss of opportunity when in reality he travel on. If Kate could only see things through Matts eyes she would know.Her incapability of letting go obstructs her empathy skills and vice versa. Kates inability to empathize stems from the fear of being left disappointed. After the incident with Matt she doesnt countenance herself to become close. Empathizing requires openness, expression and a certain degree of intimacy, all of which are foreign to Kate. Although Kate is incapable of empathy, that doesnt mean she doesnt have style to grow. Lawson leaves the ending quite open but hints at Kates avidity to finally let go. Works Cited Lawson, Mary. Crow Lake. Toronto Vintage Canada, 2002.