Abandonment

Schweblin explores the theme of abandonment in several stories, and this is often linked to a sense of rage. In her opening story, Headlights, the women left along the highway have been abandoned by their husbands. As she hears wailing throughout the night, Felicity attempts to understand the meaning behind her being left behind, and finds knowledge within Nené. Nené herself has been there "more than forty years" and appears to have grown indifferent to this abandonment; Felicity soon discovers that this is not the case and thus the two women are bonded by the loneliness and confusion of their mutual abandonment (5). Abandonment in this story serves to forward the underlying feminist rage of the story, as women as a collective group are enraged by the abandonment forced upon them by men. Similarly, the main character in A Great Effort experiences a sense of rage by...