Comparison on "Song of Songs" by Ellen Gilchrist and "Shopping" by Joyce Carol Oates

Unconditional Love

What is love? Love is a very special and meaningful word to each human being. Unconditional love is a special type of love that can happen when each person accepts each others without hesitation. In most families, the bond between parents and child is one of unconditional love. However, not all families' relationships are ideal. In the two short stories "Shopping" by Joyce Carol Oates and "Song of Songs" by Ellen Gilchrist, the main characters in each are lacking a sense of real love in their souls. They both experience emptiness in their hearts and are searching for unconditional love to fulfill their lives. Both women in the stories have suffered losses within their families. One has lost the love of a teenaged daughter who has gone astray. The other lost contact with her mother at an early age and is experiencing a lack of belonging.

Mrs. Dietrich, the protagonist in "Shopping," is a divorced woman who is seeking a love response from her 17 year old daughter, Nola. One day before Nola goes back to school, Mrs. Dietrich and she go shopping. The mother hopes that by taking Nola shopping she will become more in touch with her daughter. During the shopping, Mrs. Dietrich keeps looking at Nola while she is enjoying trying on new clothes. Mrs. Dietrich shows a mother's love by seeing Nola growing up and turning into a young woman. However, when Nola discovers her mother staring at her, she shows her hatred on her face immediately and says, "Let me go. For Christ's sake will you let me go." Even though Nola says disrespectful and rude things to her mother, Mrs. Dietrich still forgives her as Nola is only 17 years old and at an unstable age. Nevertheless, when they are leaving the shopping mall, Nola notices that the poor woman who was there when she came to the mall is still sitting there. The woman seems very lonely and helpless in Nola's eyes, and this thought has reminded Nola of how she has treated her mother in the past; eventually she feels sorry about what she has done to her mother. She suddenly realizes her mother is just like that poor woman, lonely and lacking someone who loves her. Therefore, she cries heavily when she gets into the car, and Mrs. Dietrich comforts her as well as cries with her. The unconditional love that the mother shows towards her daughter overcomes the built-up resentment of Nola's rudeness and poor behavior in the past.

Similarly, in the Ellen Gilchrist story, "The Song of Songs," the protagonist, Barrett Clare, changes dramatically in her way of viewing the world. The story happens within one day, Christmas, which should be celebrated by families with the most joyous atmosphere. However, the protagonist does not feel any sense of belonging on the morning of this special holiday. Instead, she gets up late with a "fuzzy feeling of the drugs" which she has been taken in order to sleep. The only emotion that she senses strongly on that special date is "loneliness." Barrett sees this loneliness stemming from her past. "I have always been alone ... I was alone when I was born and I have been alone ever since." Although she lives in a fancy house with her son and her husband, she does not experience any domestic peace and is depressed from the abandoned life that she has been living. This sense of loneliness is due to her abandonment by her birth mother. From the moment that her mother, Amada McCamey, calls her and asks her to come over to see her, Barrett changes her mood immediately, even though she carries a lot of hatred because she feels her mother deserted her as a baby. In other words, she is willing to see her mother as soon as possible and forgive her. Also she wishes to start a new life with her mother right away and feels that no matter what she will face, she will handle it enthusiastically. She changed dramatically because her mother is now waiting for her and she presently exists with her mother's love. Now she is a happy woman, physically and mentally.

Based on the two main characters in both stories, readers can see how unconditional love can influence a person's mood or even her feelings about her heritage. Mrs. Dietrich, in "Shopping," shows her unconditional love towards her daughter. No matter how badly her daughter treats her, she can overcome her anger towards her daughter's rude behavior through love. On the other hand, Barrett, in "The Song of Songs," shows how desperate she desires love to fulfill the loneliness and emptiness in her heart as she knows she has been abandoned when she was young. However, on Christmas Day, she receives her birth mother's phone call asking to come together and meet. From that moment, Barrett suddenly fulfills all her desires to feel a sense of belonging. From this unconditional love she becomes a contented person who can share her happiness with her family without holding any hatred from her past life. Both Mrs. Dietrich and Barrett Clare are able to reach out and enhance their lives through love. The two women both overcome the unhappiness and desperation in their lives. Love has created a bond to link mothers with daughters.