Your Inescapable Catastrophe: Relationships Essay Example
Love and other Catastrophes: A Mix Tape, by Amanda Brown, conveys that heartbreak is an inescapable catastrophe, that brings connection to people in all walks of life because of their emotional past. Since heartbreak is unavoidable the readers are being advised to learn and move on with their lives after a heartbreak. Relationships have been so commercialized that popular song titles can easily develop the “typical” outcome of a relationship. Therefore, creating a predictable timeline of how every romantic relationship progresses and ends with the critical character development through perspective and emotional shifts throughout the stages of a relationship.
The beginning of Love and other Catastrophes: A Mix Tape, begins with the song “All by Myself (Eric Carmen)” a litote, setting the base of a romantically single protagonist character. The ensuing 13 connotations of song titles consist of an overall buoyant and love struck tone, using similar diction as “Boyfriend, Dance, Kiss, My Girl, and Head over Heels” which is shifting the man's perspective from being single to being in a new relationship, this evolves into the man having a positive outlook on love.
The second shift happens between “My Girl (The Temptations) “ and “Could this be Love (Bob Marley)” there is a new transition of seriousness here in the relationship. The epiphany of the man brings light into the hopeful potential of relationships, and how one shift from noticing someone to being in love is critical. The two shifts in the beginning for single to being taken, and taken to in a serious relationship, has an impact on the initial tone of the story because the reader understands where the man's emotional shift is in the stage of the relationship, therefore connected to what the feeling of excitement and hope when in a new relationship.
The common “middle” in every commercialized relationship is moving past the honeymoon phase and committing to your partner through ceremonial marriage. This “middle” can either be the beginning of a long road of happy marriage or endless heartbreak, “ Love and Marriage (Frank Sinatra)” and “White Wedding (Billy Idol)” The allusion and imagery of “White Wedding” develops the passion and hope in the man's eyes because marriage is an outward expression of love, trust and passion that everyone should experience when getting married.
However, the mood shifts drastically between “White Wedding (Billie Idol)” and “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?”. This shift is most important in the story because trust has been questioned and lost, without trust, catastrophes occur. Brown’s songs titles show the depth of the man's distress, but, how he can reflect on it in a comical way by using songs, “Heartbreak Hotel (Elvis Presley)”, “My Achy Breaky Heart (Billie Ray Cyrus)”, “Cheatin’ Heart (Tammy Wynette)”. Alliteration and onomatopoeia in the song titles highlight the shift from the happiness, and lightheartedness in the beginning that has been lost and unfortunately replaced with heartbreak. The figurative language develops the message that heartbreak is inescapable and people who have experienced it should move on and talk about it lightheartedly, just as the song titles did.
Relationships are standardized, demonstrated by artists who never met each other that are singing about the exact same message of love and heartbreak. The characterization of the man is gentle towards the woman despite her cheating on him and causing divide within the relationship. The man is in hopes that everything will work out, but instead is overcome with sadness and hopelessness. The text uses twelve connotations that have familiar diction to sadness and drowning love.
Brown uses, “All Apologies (Nirvana),'' “Love is a battlefield” (Pat Bentar)”, “Hanging on the Telephone (Blondie)” to bring sympathy towards the man as he goes through this cruel heartbreak. Then, there is a shift in the man that goes from hopeful to desperate to empowered. “Breaking Up is Hard To Do ( Neil Sedaka)” went to “ I will survive (Gloria Gaynor)”. This shift is crucial in signifyinging the disconnect towards the woman because it shows his strength and his will to “survive”. The man endlessly loves the woman, but he is forced to let her go; he did not do anything wrong but heartbreak is inescapable. The story ends with a full circle back to the beginning with the song, “All by Myself” which demonstrates an endless cycle of a predictable heartbreaking relationship.
To conclude, Love and Other Catastrophes by Amanda Brown may be fiction, however the message applies to all of us. The theme that heartbreak is inescapable no matter how hard we try, but our individual heartbreak brings us together as one. The shifts in the story sent the reader on a roller coaster, similar to a “ typical” relationship, where it ends right where it began, with the song “All by Myself” (Eric Carmen)”. Through Brown's emotional story about heartbreak developed through song titles, she conveys that no matter who you are, we all can relate to a heartbreak.
