I think it's well-established that Paige knows on an intuitive level that something's very wrong in her family--and the fact that her life isn't crazy as I would define it (but that's subjective) I think actually adds to that. When she went to her aunt's I think she was actually really hoping to find something wrong that she could handle. For instance, if it was actually a man that Elizabeth ran off with. That might be hard for her to deal with, but it would really be a relief because she would *know*. She could at least start to cope with it.
Instead I think she's over the years noticed a ton of little things that are now coming together into an actual shape that's impossible to make out but not something she can ignore. But it still seems to me like Paige almost used "crazy life" as a cover for what she wished the problem was--parents who are divorced or use their kids to fight is terrible but you can see it. In Paige's house everything is "normal" besides a brief separation that was actually pretty healthy for the marriage in ways that maybe even Paige can see and her mom taking care of a relative for a while. I think both of those things would be stuff she could handle if not for the other looming threat she can't name.
I honestly feel like Paige's real feelings at this stage isn't that her life is crazy but that she feels like she's going crazy and paranoid, but we know she isn't.
So for me it's like a central contradiction--her life has been stable, but she's got just as much or more legitimate reason than most to feel anxious and fearful because she's picking up on something not being what it seems. Her parents have parts of themselves that she doesn't know that would scare her--but she's not scared of them because they're pretty consistently loving to her.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Paige's "Crazy Life"
Date: 2014-03-29 11:20 pm (UTC)Instead I think she's over the years noticed a ton of little things that are now coming together into an actual shape that's impossible to make out but not something she can ignore. But it still seems to me like Paige almost used "crazy life" as a cover for what she wished the problem was--parents who are divorced or use their kids to fight is terrible but you can see it. In Paige's house everything is "normal" besides a brief separation that was actually pretty healthy for the marriage in ways that maybe even Paige can see and her mom taking care of a relative for a while. I think both of those things would be stuff she could handle if not for the other looming threat she can't name.
I honestly feel like Paige's real feelings at this stage isn't that her life is crazy but that she feels like she's going crazy and paranoid, but we know she isn't.
So for me it's like a central contradiction--her life has been stable, but she's got just as much or more legitimate reason than most to feel anxious and fearful because she's picking up on something not being what it seems. Her parents have parts of themselves that she doesn't know that would scare her--but she's not scared of them because they're pretty consistently loving to her.