Cruelty and Insanity in Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys Essay -- Wide S

stiffness and Insanity in Wide Sargasso Sea by dungaree RhysWide Sargasso Sea provides unique insight into the gradual deadening of the human mind and spirit. On examining Antoinetteand her m otherwise Annette, the reader gains a untested perspective ofinsanity. One realizes that these two women are mentally perturbed asa result of numerous external factors that are beyond their control.The cruelty of vivification and people drive Annette and her daughter tolunacy. Neither mother nor daughter moderate a genetical predisposition tomadness, and their downfall is an inevitable result of the actions ofthose around them and the unbearable nature of their living situation.Antoinettes condition owes its beginnings to the solitude of herchildhood, thus the cold, unfeeling treatment she receives from her maintain does non create her mental instability, and exacerbates it.At the beginning of the novel, it becomes apparent that solitude is aprimary cause of theCosway women?s insanity. Antoinette?s narrationreveals that her mother is not accepted by other white people inJamaica because she originated from Martinique, and the Jamaicanladies in particular ? neer approved? of her mother ?because shepretty like pretty self?. Her only friend, Mr. Luttrell, commitssuicide after he tires of waiting for monetary compensation for the issue of his slaves. Annette is left with no one of her colour or classto abetter _or_ abettor with. In describing her childhood, Antoinette only speaksof one friend, a Negro girl named Tia, that this was an ephemeralfriendship. Antoinette had no one belonging to her age group or classthat she could associate with. For the most part, the young girl isvery separate and alone, quite like her mother. Utter lon... ...umstances of thelives that Annette and her daughter lead in Coulibri table service as thefoundation for their insanity. The reader cannot attribute theirdownfall to a genetic trait, but must instead understand that theprocess of going crackbrained would not have started if their life at thebeginning of the novel was not so lonely and miserable. Fate is cruelto these two individuals, and the cruelty of the Negroes is the onlyhuman cruelty inflicted on Annette and Antoinette at Coulibri, thustheir lunacy begins as a result of both sources. Antoinette?schildhood leaves her with emotional scars and prohibits correct mentaland personal growth, thus she marries her husband with these alreadyestablished problems, and her husband?s actions only serve to developthe existing unstable tendencies. educate CitedRhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. New York Norton, 1982.