Someone Has A Crisis
"The Terrors of Basket-Weaving" unfolds as the sad account of a woman named Diane. Throughout the short story she is unsure of her identity. She realizes her uncertainty after she repairs this basket that she found on a beach. The basket gives her psychological troubles that she is too afraid to bring up with her husband Reg. These troubles, that strongly bother her, relate to the fact that they never had children. And this is what causes her to question her identity. The basket reminds her of not having children, because the shape of the basket resembles the shape of a baby's cradle.When the characters are first introduced to the story, the author points out that the married couple does not have children. The author also states that they do things that most married couple do together, on their own. For example, Diane and Reg took long walks on the beach. After that the author would state that they are alone. That could only mean one thing for a couple, no kids. It seems that being alone was to show the reader, that Diane is lonely, and needs someone else to enjoy her company, like children. A sign of her loneliness can be due to the fact that she collects shells and puts them in bottles every time she goes to the be
By the burning of the basket Diane felt as if she would be able to forget about it altogether, and move on with her life. In the end of the story she realizes that she had grasped onto something and thrown it away- purposely. Although the basket does not exist any more it still troubles her. Through these troubles, she still feels she cannot say anything to Reg. Just like she chose not to bring up her ideas of having a baby. So Diane chooses to keep her desires bottled up inside, and live with her baggage. Thoughts of the basket will remain with her until she dies. It was clear that Diane was bothered by the basket when it started to cause her to question her own identity. "Diane felt that she had lost herself. Since repairing that basket, she wasn't any longer Diane Clark, not completely, anyway. Neither was anybody else, of coarse" (56 The Black House). Since these thoughts, Diane did not perform tasks that she usually strived in, such as her work. She was contemplating taking off time from work because she was so upset and confused. These emotions were all released and made tangible from the presence of the basket, and Diane started to treat it as a child. When Reg wou
Some common words found in the essay are:
Black House, House Diane, Diane Throughout, Diane Reg, Diane Clark, Terrors Basket-Weaving, basket diane, author married couple, basket started, baby's cradle, married couple, author married, black house,
Approximate Word count = 803
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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