In this text, the author shines light on a concept that I never thought of consciously but often do subconsciously in writing: Finding a problem and then writing about it. In creating writing pieces, I can be proud of, I have found that the spark that drives me to write about any particular thing is because I have a question, and I am missing an answer. Take for example one of my favorite stories, “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison. I’ve read this story many times but about three months ago, I got that spark again.
In this novel, she writes about a character called Soaphead Church. Without giving too much of the story or its characters away, let’s just say Soaphead is a misanthropic who had the privilege of marrying a kind, intelligent beam of a woman, Velma.
Her time with Soaphead was short and one can attribute her departure from Soaphead to his misery and misanthropic outlook on life, but that ignorance created a question within me, a problem. I began to “notice,” as Savini mentioned. I began to wonder what thoughts and opinions Velma secretly she had as listened to, spent time with and engaged with a man like Soaphead Church. I wondered who she turned into when she finally noticed who she married, when she found herself in her own “trouble.”
As Savini suggested in her writing, I posed questions about Velma like 1. When did she realize the man she married was as deeply ill as he was? 2. How did she cope with this inner turmoil, did she journal, talk to friends, get depressed and sleep all day? 3. Who and what gave her the courage to leave, especially after such a brief period (two months, to be exact).
Subconsciously I asked myself “What is at stake here?” Although, not in those exact words as Savini states, more like “Why is this small character important?” The answer was simple and more common than we realize: the difference between acting or not when you see red flags, more specifically women choosing to acknowledge or ignore red flags. We hear stories all the time of women being with men for years of their lives, who seemingly tooktheir beam from them and continue to do so. Take the most recent story on TikTok of the ballet dancer who gave up her career to bear and raise her husband’s children. She wanted a trip to Greece for her birthday but instead he brought her an apron. She laughed it off and danced in it on the internet. He did not turn into this man for her birthday, he was always this man in their marriage, and she likely has always laughed it off and danced in it. Velma did not and that discernment or lack thereof should be questioned.
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