"Disappearing"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how the short story, "Disappearing", by Monica Wood, is more than one woman's account of losing weight and how it is a glimpse into the mind of an individual who achieves power from an act of self-destructive behavior. It looks at how the story is a journey from fat to thin, from powerless to powerful, from invisible to invisible and from unhealthy to unhealthy. It is only at the end of the story we realize that what we are reading is the narrator's transition from a healthy ambition to an obsessive behavior, each self-destructive in its own way.

From the Paper:

"The third stage of her process comes after the narrator becomes a certified swimmer, when several things are different. She notices that the blondes ignore her because she does not splash the water when she gets into the pool and she can lower herself "silently" (2). Also, when she swims, she can "cut the water cleanly" (2). This is significant to the character's development because she tells us, "For one hour a day I am thin, thin as water, transparent, invisible" (2). Even her friend Lettie does not talk to her anymore because she is now smaller than Lettie. Lettie even accuses her of being "uppity" (2). The narrator's home life changes significantly during this process as well."

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