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The Sewing Woman In Jane Anne Phillips '' Cheers'

461 Words2 Pages

According to researchers at the University of Scranton, 92 percent of people never achieve the goals they set for New Year’s. This constant cycle of being unable to accomplish one’s desires is very prominent in this passage by Jayne Anne Phillips. In her writing, Phillips demonstrates her belief that the actuality of the world is much bleaker than what an individual fantasizes. In “Cheers”, writer Jayne Anne Phillips portrays the sewing woman as having a disheveled physical appearance, and the house as filthy and malodorous, to ultimately reveal how life rarely turns out as planned. Philips establishes the sewing woman's appearance underneath her mask of makeup as unappealing in order to contrast what an individual craves for in life to what …show more content…

According to the narrator, the sewing woman's house was in a “row of skinny houses on a mud alley” and the “rooms smelled of salted grease and old newspaper.” By describing the house’s unpleasant scent and unfavorable location, the author demonstrates how disgusting and unkempt the house is. Although no one would wish for a dirty house, unfortunately that is the world the sewing woman is living in. Additionally, there was a “postcard of orange trees in Florida” hung up on the wall. The beautiful, peaceful postcard of Florida contrasts with the reality of the dirty house. Philips uses the postcard to further develop her belief in that there is a considerable difference between reality and dreams. Despite one's yearns to live somewhere appealing and calm, like the orange trees in Florida, the actuality of the world is a disarrayed household. Ultimately, Philips features both the unappealing physical look of the sewing woman and her grungy house to unveil how cruel the real world is, regardless of the fantasies one might

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