Pauline's Twilight Love: The Role Of Pain In Twilight Sleep

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There is a bed of hot coals in front of you, at the end of the burning path there is a piece of decadent chocolate cake. There is a choice: you can walk across the coals and retrieve the cake or you can take a detour and avoid the pain that accompanies the burns, all while still getting to the cake. Your choice would probably be an easy one, one that the majority of humans would make; you would avoid the pain and embark on the second path. It’s an innate part of the human condition to avoid pain when possible. Nonetheless, after the intense pain the cake might taste all the more sweet. Pain exists as a natural part of life and exposure to it is necessary in order to live a healthy life. Pain and suffering is everywhere in Twilight Sleep; the …show more content…

Pauline’s mannerisms properly show how far the idea of pain is removed from its true definition in her daily life. The majority of the time the words, pain or suffering, are directly used by Pauline it is in relation to phenomena that are not considered truly painful. Pauline’s use of the words is almost strictly meant in a way that aligns pain with uncomfortable topics or feelings. This is best embodied by the quote, “…in fact, as you know, I always take particular pains to avoid hearing anything painful or offensive.” During which, Pauline is trying to convince Dexter not to take a case against her current healer. Pauline is expressing her distaste of involving herself in situations that are not ideal, thus implying that coming to him is an extremely painful thing for her to do. The ability for Pauline to so closely relate a matter that most would not gage as more than uncomfortable shows that Pauline has removed herself so far from pain that she no longer can acquaint it with herself unless it is caused by trivial matters. This idea is further reinforced by Pauline’s belief that suffering can be created. This response, which comes to light during her and Nona’s discussion of Mrs. Bruss and her cancer, depicts a belief that pain can be refused and in fact, should be. Pauline’s avoidance of pain and suffering has occurred

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