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There’s a moment (or maybe multiple moments) where a history between two people – all the hurt and affection and fractured growth – needs to reconciled. This is not always a 2-sided conversation. In fact I’d argue it’s usually best to work these things out on your own and not involve the person you’ve wronged at all, unless they’ve asked for an apology. Breaching the subject can be a selfish act. It’s a search for an answer that you can’t get, not in a way that isn’t a little coercive. Luckily for Hanna, Will increasingly has the strength for this kind of intrusion. |
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I was originally sad at how hard Hanna was trying to be hated up until someone pointed out how egotistical it is to assume you have that much influence over people. Makes a lot more sense for Hanna, honestly.
I think I agree, but I'm a little confused by your statement. Are you saying that Hanna is being extremely egotistical because she assumes that she can decide the course of someone else's life?
Yeah, Hanna doesn't allow for the idea that something other than her could've made Will leave college. She's a lot like a kid whose world doesn't extend that far outside of herself.
Well put. I totally agree!
This is, more or less, exactly Hanna's modus operandi, and could be argued is the main theme of her developmental arc.
Hanna thrives off others around her being in crisis, so she can be the relied-upon calm foil (which is strongly facilitated by pot). Marigold, Eve, and to a lesser extent, Will, go through their respective breakups and/or life disruptions, and Hanna is most at peace when she can bring these people down to earth through a kind of stoned, laissez-faire bravado. Her patterns – and self-delusions – are shattered when Marek and her break up. She is agitated by the thought of Marigold taking care of her instead of the other way around. Then she's absolutely enraged when she witnesses Marigold transforming her life via healthy, positive growth: changing her life in ways which Hanna cannot, held back in a kind of depressed stasis.
Her disdain and condescension for anything even remotely approaching authentic vulnerability and earnest self-improvement is a defense mechanism to hide her awareness of her own inferiority.
That TOTALLY makes sense! Thank you 🙂
Totally unrelated but my girlfriend and I sit on this exact bench and pet dogs while we eat our ice cream.
I like this as an element of how the people around Will don't GET that he wasn't born middle class. Will straightforwardly saying that he simply could not afford school is not just doubted, but dismissed, by Hannah.