Judy, a Modern Girl.

In a world with an over abundant population, the lives of many are overlooked and cast away in to the norm. In A Sentimental Education, Jane Unjoo Yang’s use of repetition and a sporadic writing style, emphasized by a second person view, reveal Judy to be a symbol of life in the modern generation and the tragedies that have developed with it; Tragedies such as lack of purpose and the horrible habits that have become ordinary in everyday life.

There are certain tendencies that people, as a generation, continue to allow to dictate their lives in an unhealthy manner; whether it is hereditary, habitual, or a result from trauma. The main character, Judy, is an extremely shy and passive woman, making her a prime target for the most common habits in the younger generations: herd mentalities, identity crisis, and more. In the case of Judy, the reader sees the main cause of her troubles as an early loss of her father; and any sort of guidance available to her.

Throughout the work, Yang lets the reader in to the mind of Judy with a series of techniques; starting off with repetition. A series of list persist throughout the piece. The most prominent one being: “Mom Vanishes Every Monday, Judy Stays Up, Needing Papa” (Yang 2). Simply because it shocks the reader by its blunt twisting of innocent elementary school teachings to reveal a certain tragedy. Eventually the whole sentence goes down to “Pluto” (Yang 11),but still the idea comes up whenever Judy is feeling particularly lost. She identifies with Pluto, ever orbiting on the outskirts of the universe; too far from the sun’s light. Without the guidance that would have been provided by a loving father, Judy is sucked in to the ever-present ways of herd mentalities during middle ...

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...er use of repetition tells readers that Judy is vulnerable at this moment. They are able to feel the loneliness and frustration at the end, when life is figured out and cut short.

It is at that last revelation, “Judy, oh, Judy, is that all I have left, Judy” (Yang 11), that the connection between the reader and Judy herself can be established. Judy is a symbol for the countless people of her generation, empty and unhappy for a lifetime. The reader is able to grasp this concept by analyzing the purpose of a second person view and by subconsciously recognizing repeated words as a trigger in to a particular emotion Judy is feeling. The thought that many people end up like this, lost without guidance and dying with only their name, is engaged in a personal and intense atmosphere. An Atmosphere that leaves the reader wondering just how close their life is to Judy’s.