RRR: Dorothy Allison "Context"

    

      In the short story  "Context" (1994), written by Dorothy Allison, she explores that  "context" can sometime be misleading and can make people form wrong opinions, or even ruin a relationship. Allison supports her thesis by telling stories from her past in which she experience situations that caused people to change their perception of her after different situations. Allison use flashback  in order to show that if context is perceived wrong then it can lead to false assumption. The intended audience for this article is people who need to understand that context is so little to share but yet so vital.
      In my personal opinion, I agree and relate to the story on a personal level. I also suffered from the same problem from the protagonist of this story. When people are exposed to new environments, they automatically shut down. So when you are exposed to so many new people at once that are important to your significant other, it becomes very daunting. I had this problem when facing my significant others family and was expected to blend in and get along. Having the fear of others judge me off of my background, heritage, and myself as a person was not easy to overcome.
      Dorothy Allison uses a short story to explain how context can sometimes shape the way people think of you, but also how important it is. In this short story about her and her lover, she gives an example of how fearful she was to introduce her family to her lover because of the “context” of her upbringing. Allison says, “I was afraid to take my lover home with me because of what I might see in her face once she had spent some time with my aunt, met a few of my uncles, and tried to talk to any of my cousins.” (Allison p.115) She feared his lover wouldn’t be able to relate or understand, and ultimately judge her from their actions. Allison shares a memory about an incident with her step father and a store clerk where her step father didn’t agree with the prices at the store and became angry and insulted the store clerk. The actions of her step father in the eyes of the clerk shed negative light on all of them even though she didn’t agree with her step father’s actions. This is what Allison was afraid would happen when her lover met her family. But Allison also reflects on how she felt when she visited her lover’s family and saw where she came from and how her lover's “context” helped her to understand her lover more. Allison says, “Seeing where she had grown up, meeting some of her family, I had understood her better, seen where some of her fear came from, and her pride.” (Allison p.117) These examples show the reader how “context” can be seen differently by different people. Some use it to be judgmental and some use it to learn.  Allison’s ends her story by saying, “Context is so little to share, and so vital.” (Allison p.117) Which tells the reader even though we may not think much of our “context” it is an important part of our lives and can have a dramatic impact on the way people view us.

Works Cited

Allison,Dorothy. "Context." Connections: Guide to First Year Writing @ Clayton State University.
                 Ed. Mary Lamb. 6th Edition. South Lake: 2016. 115-117 print