Beware: Old People

Elizabeth Strout focuses on an aging woman who shares her name with Strout's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Olive Kitteridge.  The book consists of thirteen chapters of anecdotes involving Olive intertwined with underlying internal and external conflicts she encounters through her aging years.  At first glance I never thought a seventeen year old male like myself could possibly have interest in the novel, however I found myself breezing through it without much complaining.  The conflicts that dominate the story definitely did not relate to the moments I live in currently, however Strout changed my outlook on topics like senior citizens, loneliness, and death.  Therefore, I do not suggest Olive Kitteridge to anybody incapable of summoning sympathy and willing to turn themes of novels into new practices in their own life.  I do not see many of my peers having particular interest in the novel as subjects like the "nursing home" occurred frequently in the life of Olive (158).  Students at my age typically can avoid the nursing home and I even see family members that have reluctance to visit relatives that must live an assisted lifestyle.  Ultimately, I see a generation like my own as one uninterested in the loneliness and hopelessness surrounding nursing homes and those affected by them.  We mostly see them as a place to ship our relatives off to when we no longer want them as a burden on our hands.  Additionally, another source of complication in Olive's life was her "new daughter-in-law" (142).  Last time I checked, none of my friends had sons yet, so logically this issue has no relevance to my peers.  I, however, learned a number of lessons regarding the interaction with in-laws from Olive that I may have to put to use in the future (fingers crossed).  Coincidentally I see characters that compare to Olive's daughter-in-law, Suzanne, as people that should not read this book as well.  The setting of the book has the tendency to depress and darken situations as Maine's climate consists of long winters and little time to savor the beautifully, incomparable autumns the area has to offer.  Suzanne justified her and her husband's controversial move to the state farthest away from Crosby, Maine and her parents-in-law's residence for she "'[likes] sunshine'" as opposed to the "'darkness'" that consumes Maine over the long winter (143).  Like the climate, Strout's writing has an abundance of focus on darker topics and struggles of a senior citizen like death and loneliness.  Therefore, those living in the moment and those fearful of living in solitude may not like the foreshadowing Strout provides by focusing on Olive's life.  Readers of Olive Kitteridge must have the power to note themes and lessons that Strout teaches through her fictional work and also have the willingness and memory to put those lessons to work later in life when they have more relevance.  If one does not possess the understanding to dissect the thoughts of a lonely, old woman they have no chance of having any sympathy for Olive and as a result will not gain anything from reading the novel.