RRR: "Context" By: Dorothy Allison

 

Dorothy Allison’s “Context” (1994) is a personal essay that demonstrates how people relationships can feel insecure when they do not know or understand different aspects of each other. Truly knowing someone is to understand and accept all aspects of their lives including their family, background, and upbringing. Allison uses a combination of flashbacks and imagery to express her feelings on judgement and perspective. Her writing style helps the reader acquire a better sense of her perspective and visualize various events in her life that explains why she has these insecurities. This short narrative would be a great read for the general population but especially those in a relationship. 

After reading her essay, we believe Allison felt like most people when their significant other meets their family for the first time. If Allison’s lover had rejected her family, she would feel rejected as well. Family and upbringing play an important role in who we are as adults. Mannerisms and dialects can be strange to people outside the family. People often judge others based on things they do or say without having the proper context or view of who they really are. We concluded that Allison let her insecurities of her lover meeting her family for the first time overshadow her having a good time while on vacation.

          In the chapter “Context”, Allison shows how easy it is to feel vulnerable and insecure when your significant sees you in a different light or perspective. There were some obvious culture differences since Allison was from the south and her lover from up north. She stated, “What I saw in her face after the first day in South Carolina was nothing I had expected. Her features were marked with a kind of tenuous awe, confusion, uncertainty, and shame.” (Allison par 2). The reaction of Allison’s lover caused her to worry and feel ashamed. Further in the reading, we find instances where context is challenged in the way her lover communicated to her. Allison recounted her lover’s surprise, “I thought I knew what it would be like – your family, Greenville. You told me so many stories. But the words…” (Allison par4). She reinforces this by adding, “I didn’t know,” she said. “I thought I understood what you meant when you said ‘working class’ but I just didn’t have a context.” (Allison par5).  All too often people from different classes of people have different experiences in life. Allison’s passage shows how important it is to communicate and show your significant other aspects of your life. The more transparent we are with our background, family, and upbringing, the more perspective and understanding our partners will have of us. Transparency will decrease insecurities and misunderstandings while strengthening bonds in relationships. Allison explains the importance of this in her final sentence of passage when she states, “context is so little to share and so vital.” (Allison par13).

Allison, Dorothy. Skin: Talking about Sex, Class, and Literature, Open Road Integrated Media, Inc., 1994. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/claytonstate/detail.action?docID=1807449.