Until Death Do us Part
Everybody has a time in their life when they just need to be alone. Whether it's to think about life, or free themselves from their daily stress, isolation from the world may well be a necessary thing. In To Room Nineteen by Doris Lessing, the character Susan craves freedom from the bondage of her responsibilities. Her role as a mother and wife is so demanding that it is literally constant in her presence, and follows her wherever she travels. With Susan's duties to enslave her, the supposed contentment from living the ideal life eventually leads to her suicide from the failure to be happy.Although Susan was thought to have the perfect life, it seems that it has turned out to be anything but that. Susan married Matthew Rawlings in a wedding that everyone believed was the perfect match. After having four beautiful kids together; a boy, a girl, then twins, and living in the house of her childhood dreams, one would think that Susan would have all the necessary elements for her happiness. Yet, she needed more. She believed she needed to find her identity after signing away her life to helping other people. But it wasn't that she needed to learn to be herself, rather that she needed to be alone. The
Susan did what she thought was necessary in order to fulfill her quest. Although not morally correct, in a sense, she did do the best thing. With an unfaithful husband and a foreign exchange student already taking her place, her freedom was awaiting her. She took a drastic step where it was needed, and as a result, she was better for it. When one has burdens of their life upon them, especially in the extreme case of Susan where they trailed behind her wherever she went as a demonic force, it is hard to ever be content. Susan felt that she could not be what the family wanted, a motivated worker continuously giving their all for the sake of others. She was a lonely soul that could only be fueled by her passion for freedom. Ironically, in the end, the source of her freedom came from exactly opposite of what her dreams may have been. Contrastingly, it wasn't the nice house, the family, or handsome husband, but the broken down shabby hotel room used for the sexual purposes of others. Without her role and identity as just a wife and mother, she left the world, committing suicide in the one place that she treasured as her safe haven. In death she was finally set free. As soon as Susan found her resting
Some common words found in the essay are:
Matthew Rawlings, Doris Lessing, , mother wife, role mother wife, role mother, lonely soul, matthew rawlings,
Approximate Word count = 820
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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