Can You Ever Really Know
Swan Huntley’s mesmerizing and psychological thriller, We Could Be Beautiful, describes the story of a Manhattan elite trapped in a gilded cage of her own creation. Catherine West had it all: “[She] was rich… owned a small business… was toned enough and pretty enough… had been to all the countries [she] wanted to see… was also a really good person” (Huntley 3). However, even with all this she still feels incomplete, and always has. She wants a family and wants to be loved, even saying “the point, of course, is love” (19). Catherine has this preconception that without love and without a family, she will never truly feel complete. She also thinks that “having money makes the incompleteness sharper” (4). This thought …show more content…
Without love, so many feel incomplete; so many people feel as if they are missing something. Consequently, many are ignorant when it comes to being in love, as in ‘how could this beautiful, breathtaking person be anything other than what they say they are?’ How could the person you have given your heart to, not be the one who deserves it? Huntley explores this idea of how well we can ever really know anyone, through the characters of Catherine and the educated, elegant William Stockton. They meet one night at an art opening and Catherine is immediately drawn to him, thinking: “There is something about this guy, there is some kind of electricity between us. It was big, enormous, unavoidable… a current pulling me blissfully toward a whirlpool. Before you drown, the spinning just feels like a dance” (5). This “blissful” state Huntley describes is the initial stage of romantic attraction in all relationships. Attraction and desire are what lead people to become couples and lovers. The “drowning” is the inevitable heartbreak after the culmination of lies and denial, and the “spinning just feels like a dance,” because you are too consumed by love to understand you are really just dizzy. Catherine recalls this “electricity” as being “big, enormous, unavoidable,” acknowledging that she will fall in love with him but also recognizing that their love will be flashy and brilliant. However, flashes are simply that, …show more content…
Many people are simply struggling to discover who they are and to simultaneously “know” who the person they love is, is a completely different battle. Furthermore, Huntley highlights the conflict of wanting to believe what you are hearing but knowing deep down you may simply be conjuring up what you want. Though Catherine may come off as haughty and ungrateful, many readers can relate to her and see a bit of their own struggle to recognize love in her
Swan Huntley’s mesmerizing and psychological thriller, We Could Be Beautiful, describes the story of a Manhattan elite trapped in a gilded cage of her own creation. Catherine West had it all: “[She] was rich… owned a small business… was toned enough and pretty enough… had been to all the countries [she] wanted to see… was also a really good person” (Huntley 3). However, even with all this she still feels incomplete, and always has. She wants a family and wants to be loved, even saying “the point, of course, is love” (19). Catherine has this preconception that without love and without a family, she will never truly feel complete. She also thinks that “having money makes the incompleteness sharper” (4). This thought …show more content…
Without love, so many feel incomplete; so many people feel as if they are missing something. Consequently, many are ignorant when it comes to being in love, as in ‘how could this beautiful, breathtaking person be anything other than what they say they are?’ How could the person you have given your heart to, not be the one who deserves it? Huntley explores this idea of how well we can ever really know anyone, through the characters of Catherine and the educated, elegant William Stockton. They meet one night at an art opening and Catherine is immediately drawn to him, thinking: “There is something about this guy, there is some kind of electricity between us. It was big, enormous, unavoidable… a current pulling me blissfully toward a whirlpool. Before you drown, the spinning just feels like a dance” (5). This “blissful” state Huntley describes is the initial stage of romantic attraction in all relationships. Attraction and desire are what lead people to become couples and lovers. The “drowning” is the inevitable heartbreak after the culmination of lies and denial, and the “spinning just feels like a dance,” because you are too consumed by love to understand you are really just dizzy. Catherine recalls this “electricity” as being “big, enormous, unavoidable,” acknowledging that she will fall in love with him but also recognizing that their love will be flashy and brilliant. However, flashes are simply that, …show more content…
Many people are simply struggling to discover who they are and to simultaneously “know” who the person they love is, is a completely different battle. Furthermore, Huntley highlights the conflict of wanting to believe what you are hearing but knowing deep down you may simply be conjuring up what you want. Though Catherine may come off as haughty and ungrateful, many readers can relate to her and see a bit of their own struggle to recognize love in her