Ageism In Retrospect

It is possible that it was not Knisley’s intention to portray her grandparents as such, but it does not change the fact that throughout the story they are often only seen in her company. Therefore, their dependence on their granddaughter leaves themselves “transformed into passive objects”, enabling her to portray them unconsciously into one-dimensional characters rather than actual people (Biggs 4). While a comic may intend to hold certain elements fictitious, it is hard to decipher Knisley’s goal when she places a picture of her grandparents and herself to validate that they are real (Knisley 116). In retrospect, through her narrative she imposes a perspective of her grandparents, which is the stereotypical view of elderly characters. Following Biggs’ idea, Knisley also then applies in her story the “recognition of respect and stigma of lost personal control” in the way she handles her grandparents (Biggs 10). She, out of love for them, accepts to join them on their trip, and faces numerous obstacles after realizing their dependency. Nonetheless, there is another reason as to how she can fictionalize her grandparents. Part of the ability in …show more content…
She recognizes in one instance of the travelogue that she is being “selfish” by wanting to go at her pace rather than her grandparents (Knisley 74). She worries constantly throughout the story about them due to their “declining physical abilities”. Yet this attitude she adopts, of becoming frustrated by their inability to keep up with her shows how society views elders. As Andrews describes “older people are seen as alienated from mainstream society, to a large extent detached from a world in which they no longer have an active role” (Andrew 57). Kinsley’s frustration suggests how her grandparents aren’t fit to partake in the ‘real world’, even needing accompaniment in a cruise with other