Reading log #5

Reading log #5

Title: Alphabetical Destiny from ' Tomorrow all will be beautiful ' 

Text type: Short story

Author: Brigid Lowry

Alphabetical destiny is one of the short texts in Brigid Lowry's book 'Tomorrow all will be beautiful'. Alphabetical destiny is written as an anonymous letter from a girl to someone she admired most: her best friend. 

The letter focus's on a photograph the girl stole from her best friend. The girl looks at it fondly , to her it is the only photograph of that time that they both looked lovely. " We look good. We're laughing. World's out oyster, sky's the limit, best of friends. " She also speaks of how it was deceiving. " What cannot be seen: Our crumpled childhoods, our Scarred Wrists  , How we hated our bodies, How we tried , Hour needle marks , My envy. " I think by this she means that at first glance they seemed happy , but if you really think about it there was so much going on that wasn't happy at all.

I felt this short text had a theme of Envy. We see this as in the letter the girl speaks about her  friend so beautifully " You wore silk nightgowns. Stole decent perfume from flash department stores. Summertime crime. You were bad and daring. Your legs were brown and muscular. Your hair was like the movies. I always wanted to be like you" but when I read the authors own description of herself then , she came off as really disappointed with her self "My daggy flannel nightgowns, my loneliness, my collection of wonderful hats that I was too shy to wear. Me with all those unsuitable boyfriends. those clumsy strangers. Me reading till morning. Me getting by." The author of the letter even wrote " I wanted so many things. Mainly to be you. Right from the day we meet." But as the author turns from a teenager into a women , she accepted who she is "I've stopped trying to be you and I don't need to steal from you anymore."

While reading this , I thought of a quote I once read 'Another women's beauty doesn't mean the absence of your own' and I think if she thought of herself in a more positive light , she would see that she too is beautiful. Which she finally did as an adult.

I thought this was a interesting letter to an old friend , like a goodbye love letter.