Rose Mellie Rose Part 2

“I walk as if I were in a dream. I no longer recognize the path or the forest.”

This passage occurred when Mellie was leaving her baby in the grotto. It is after she left her baby with her gifts. I found it surprising that Mellie would leave her baby in the grotto and leave it up to someone else to take care of Rose. Mellie does show compassion and love for Rose when she leaves gifts such as jewelry but I feel as if Mellie feels an obligation to leave her baby at the grotto; almost as if it is a cultural norm or of religious importance. I think that the passage shows how Mellie does not want to leave Rose at the grotto because she almost looses a sense of reality and the ability to discriminate between things such as a path and forest.

Rose Mellie Rose Part 2

"Beyond the Dance Palace, the Continental is completely dark. It has just closed indefinitely."

Change seems to be a prevalent theme in this novel. Her life is constantly changing, with her transitioning from a child in Rose's house to a wife and mother in Oât. She's doesn't fight change, a lot of the time she favors it, such as when the square is painted pink or when she loses her virginity. Things change for Mellie constantly, and she just goes along with it, as all the other characters seem to. They don't mourn the loss of the fishermen's homes, nor do they seem to care if all the people move to Ot. Change in this books constant, but not important to the characters.

Rose Mellie Rose 2

"I spend my Sundays in the Buick. I go to Seagull Beach more for the Buick than for Cob, who acts as if I did not exist. He didn't care about the Buick now. He is letting it rust and get filled in with sand everywhere."

Mellie seems lost at this point in the book. I think she re-visits the Buick so she has some sense of connection to her past. It reminds her of a time when she was surrounded by people she loved. It makes her feel closer to Yem while he is gone. Her life seems to go in chapters that do not over lap. When people leave her life- they don't come back. Cob was in the last chapter of her life and now she doesn't really talk to him. She seems alone.

Also, I find it interesting that all of the characters have short, simple names: Cob, Yem, Nem, Pim- All very simplistic and similar. In a way, it makes all of the characters seem the same and not unique in any way.

Rose Mellie Rose - Part 2

"The blood is still flowing. It's bad to lose so much blood. What a state the Buick is in."

This is the thing that really kills me about Mellie - she's infuriatingly apathetic about everything she experiences. She comes across as distant and disinterested, even when facing her own death. Does the fact that Mellie still knows so little about the world render her incapable of feeling anything for her own situation? She goes through all of these things that most girls her age don't experience, but there's a distinct lack of believable emotion in this book because the narrator refuses to feel anything for herself.

Rose Mellie Rose part 2

"For my delivery, I will go to the Hermitage."

This story seems very circuitous. Mellie was found as a baby in the grotto and is now leaving her own baby their to be found. I am confused as to why citizens of this society think it's acceptable to leave their babies at the grotto, leaving responsibilities to other people to take care of the baby. It does not make sense to me that Mellie would take matters into her own hands instead of using her resources at the hospital. And throughout this whole process, she has no doubts whatsoever. Her views on the world and what's right or acceptable is alarming.

"This is the first time I have been pregnant. It is much more improtant than the first time I had my period."

Duh, it's more important! The language in this book honestly drives me nuts because she seems so monotone and these are huge life circumstances! What girl would think 'Oh being pregnant is more important than my first period.' I'm sure most girls would have a bigger reaction that Mellie's. Mellie also is a detached character which makes it more disturbing because as a reader, I feel like I'm experiencing all the emotions that she should be having, but the book simply doesn't say it. I'll admit that I felt like this book was incomplete and had an ending that made me feel uneasy. I suppose it was an interesting read, but I think for me, once it enough

Rose Mellie Rose 2

"Rose is sheltered in the grotto. Nothing bad can happen to her" (107).

The grotto in this book seems to be a sacred, almost magical place. Mellie is discovered here by Rose the very day she arrives at the Hermitage, and Rose goes there to die at the beginning of the book. Rose feels a mysterious pull toward the Hermitage and the grotto right before she gives birth to Rose. The grotto is a place for beginnings and endings. The middle happens elsewhere, but the three female characters: Rose, Mellie, and the baby Rose all end up in the same place. The book seems to be a cycle which can first be seen through the title, Rose Mellie Rose. We only get insight into one of the women's lives, but you get the sense that the other to did or will have similar stories to Mellie's.