The Pale of Settlement” by Margot Singer Overview

There were several elements of writing that stuck with me as I read the passage but the most prominent one I believe to be the character element. At times, this story was hard to follow as the author jumps back and forth in time, from her being a little girl and then being older and having a love affair with a married man. Susan is the main character in the story and is trying to piece together her family’s history through bedtime stories from her mother. Susan always seems to have a very young, innocent and naïve mindset and it is even noticed by the married Australian man James as he says to her “Maybe you’re the one that can’t let go of being their little girl” (Singer 209). This was very relevant throughout the story as she speaks very lovingly and loved the caress of her mother’s touch at night and trying to get the most bedtime stories out of her mother as possible. I see this character element being very important to the story because of the role that Susan plays trying to figure out who she really is and her self esteem lacks in relationships because of the limited information she has about her family’s history and it seems to be a very troubled one. She has middle eastern roots where she is still worried about some of her family still living there with the active terrorism, introduces her parents to an Australian man which she immediately regrets even though her parents seem to love him. She has a complicated relationship with this man but the two can’t stay away from each other.

Reference:

Singer, Margot. Pale of Settlement, University of Georgia Press, 2007. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/lib/apus/detail.action?docID=3038919.