It Will Look Like A Sunset By Kelly Sundberg Summary

The National Coalition against Domestic Violence found that twenty people fall victim to physical violence every minute in the United States , illustrating the severity of this growing issue across the country. Unfortunately, over half of the people involved in domestic violence cases do not even recognize the fact that they are in unhealthy relationships because the love that they have for their abusers often overpowers their judgement, leading victims to endure countless years of pain and suffering in hopes their loved ones will one day change. Over the years, thousands of victims have spoken up about their experiences in an effort to raise awareness about this national epidemic, including Kelly Sundberg who is the author of the short story

Although it is hard to completely depict a situation that few have ever been in themselves, Kelly Sundberg’s “It Will Look Like a Sunset” helps readers understand why she, as well as why other domestic abuse victims have trouble leaving the people responsible for their suffering. Throughout the narrative, Sundberg’s paragraphs are written in unchronological order and bounce back and forth between instances of cruel abuse and happy times to show the confusing world in which she lived in. Kelly describes how her abuser Caleb had the ability to bring her a lot of joy in addition to pain. For a majority of the narrative, Sundberg describes the times in which Caleb did charity work for others, made her laugh until she couldn’t breathe, took her on adventures, and loved the family they shared unconditionally. Through the other paragraphs in the essay, she mixes in feelings of loneliness and intimidation that she felt by documenting the nights of verbal and physical abuse. By weaving these two counteracting experiences together, she is displaying how she could still think the thought, “I still loved him. I told myself he would get better” even through the abuse. It is unimaginably difficult for someone to forget the love they have for someone just because something goes wrong. When

By talking about these positive characteristics in detail every other paragraph, we are constantly reminded of the good Caleb brought to the life of Kelly rather than just the bad. Therefore, it is hard for the reader to despise him because Sundberg forces them to feel sympathy for the two people that they could not make the love they once shared last forever. If Kelly had quickly gone over the goodness in Caleb’s heart at the beginning of the story, and then filled the last few pages with the bad, feeling hatred towards Caleb for ruining the life of such a great woman would be a lot easier. It is very clear that Kelly was not trying to evoke sympathy through telling this story, but speak for the millions of domestic abuse victims that are constantly criticized for staying in relationships that are harmful to their