The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane made me cry before breakfast. It chronicles the journey of a china rabbit, as he expands
his capacity to love beyond his own skin.
All of the people whose lives intersect with his are imperfect, which creates an affront to his own impeccable self image. It is through compassion that he realizes that the cost of being peerless is loneliness.
Marriage appears to begin with two people who are nearly perfect. Devotion goes a long
way toward propping up that illusion, and oxytocin covers a host of flaws.
I believed that John would never hurt me, and certainly I would never hurt him. But then life trotted across our path, or shall I say galloped, with its arsenal of hunger, disappointments, pain and expectations. Being cordial when you are clean, fed and employed is one thing, but holding on to kindness when you trade security and optimal health
in for their counterparts takes grit.
The interesting part about Edward, and Colin in the Secret Garden, and Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, is that they exchange self regard for something much less expensive.
Love.
