Theme of Short Story Lust
The Theme of “Lust” The theme of the short story “Lust” changes throughout the story as you continue reading. In the beginning, it seems as if the protagonist is doing what she likes and enjoys. However, as you keep reading you realize that the protagonist seems to be looking for a solution to forget the pain she is feeling. According to , “When you first start to read the story the protagonist seems to be experimenting with new things and new experiences.
She is trying to get to know who she is as a woman in a sexual aspect. The author, in the beginning, uses short sentences with a more cheerful vocabulary. As the short story further continues, the sentences are much longer and the negativity shows. Her vocabulary is no longer cheerful. It is as if the protagonist is trying to get over an unbearable and painful relationship, but doesn’t know how”. In my opinion, I think the protagonist is afraid of loving again so keeps her emotions hidden.
She also keeps her distance and by doing so she turns to lustful activities with multiple partners. The protagonist is lacking some kind of love, she may not even love herself. If she cannot love herself then how can she love at all? The protagonist has a emptiness that she wants to fulfill, but does not know quite know how to. She feels sad and alone, even rejected in several different ways. She is feeling used by her multiple partners, yet deep down inside she wants them to love her in some kind of way, not just in a sexual way.
The protagonist wants that sense of security and tender lovingness she is lacking in her life. She doesn’t seem to realize how badly she wants to fill that empty void she knows she has. I think that the protagonist feels she doesn’t even exist, her self esteem is very low and she has no confidence in herself. This could also mean she had some kind of family issues as a child. She may also be lacking love from her parents or they never showed her love. If that is the case then she only knows how to be distant.
She is afraid of opening up to a man and letting him in. She has definitely dealt with some type of heartache in the past. It is slowly destroying her and bringing her down. The protagonist is settling for less than what she deserves. This is all she knows and doesn’t think she deserves more. She is looking at the situation as being “better than nothing”. Furthermore, in all actuality her emotional pain is intensively increasing with each one of her lover’s.
