The Member Of The Wedding Essay

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Eric Carr Oct. 13, 2001 AP Eng, Block 1 The Member of the Wedding Becoming a Member The discomforts of adolescence are revealed throughout Carson McCullers' The Member of the Wedding. The state of "becoming"� is the most obvious theme in this novel. Frankie Adams strives to become a member; however, she is always unsuccessful.

During the beginning of the novel, Carson McCullers makes this obvious by stating "She belonged to no club and was a member of nothing in the world."�(p 1) Frankie never stops trying to become a member. At first she attempts to become a member of the girls clubhouse behind her house, but she is unsuccessful. Later Frankie tries to become a member of the army, and is rejected again. She is not even accepted when she attempts to donate blood.

All of these rejections confuse Frankie. Here is one of her conversations with Berenice.

"'Listen,' F. Jasmine said. 'What I've been trying to say is this. Doesn't it strike you as strange that I am I, and you are you? I am F. Jasmine Addams. And you are Berenice Sadie Brown. And we can look at each other, and touch each other, and stay together year in and year out in the same room. Yet always I am I, and you are you. And I can't ever be anything else but me, and you can't ever be anything else but you. Have you ever thought of that? And does it seem to you strange?'" (p 109) In this passage, F. Jasmine describes how she is confused. The results of her not being a member of anything are also revealed. Frankie hints that she would like to be someone other than herself. She plays out this fantasy of being someone else by dressing up in...