Necessary Losses Study Guide & Notes

Necessary Losses Plot Summary

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Judith Viorst's "Necessary Losses" is a compendium of philosophies, studies, opinions, poetry, literary excerpts and anecdotes that define her outlook on life, childhood, maturity, grief, sexuality, old age and death. Always with a sense of humor, she packs this book with loads of food for thought about every stage of life, and how each one affects us as adults.

The losses necessary for growth, health and maturity begin with the loss of our oneness with our birth mother, who feeds, protects and loves us unconditionally. Other losses include the movement through the stages of life, when we lose our definitions of who we thought we were, and move on to create new ones. As she moves through the psychological losses of childhood, Viorst increasingly addresses the tangible losses of loved ones, marriage, the death of children and the losses that devastate us and change the...
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