He wouldn't tell me that I always have two options— You…
““He wouldn't tell me that I always have two options— You can choose how you feel or you you can let your feelings choose you because maybe it is true that those were the options that my husband had, but I knew I didn't have those options and I hated for someone to tell me that I had options I didn't have because I knew that my mind was a small object for sale and my feelings could pick me up and own me and maybe my husband was too expensive for feelings to choose him, to pick him up and have him rung up and scanned and bagged and taken along with those feelings, feelings of I can't really get out of bed today and Husband, would you please not talk to me for the rest of the year. I, too often, had my face smashed against concrete curbs of Ruby, memories of Ruby, the way her face had looked that afternoon as she curled in that chair by the window and the light streaming in and the dark streaming out and what happened so soon after—I went around hostage to those memories, an invisible person following me with a gun barrel to my back.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
The narrator feels trapped by limited perceived choices, equating emotions and relationships to commodities, and experiences intrusive memories that dominate her present.
In simple terms: Feeling trapped by limited options and haunted memories.
Key Takeaway
Recognize and expand perceived choices.
Themes
identity
control
memory
relationships
mental health
Mood
conflicted
reflective
melancholic
Type
narrative
psychological
literary
When to use this quote
- therapy sessions
- relationship counseling
- memory processing
- creative writing
- mindfulness practice
Key Concepts
existentialism
psychological realism
objectification
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you define your real choices?
- What memories hold you hostage?
A Different Perspective
The metaphor may over‑dramatize emotional agency, risking fatalism.