"Love me or hate me, but never be indifferent to me" reads one of Isabel Allende's proverb. Again, within the family circle- Felicia is treated with apathy and disdain. As I get to know her on a more personal level, I feel more compassion for her as she is neither loved, nor hated by anybody. She is just ignored. "...Felicia was staring down at her plate with almost as much dejection as María. She wasn't pretending to eat. She drank from a tall glass that was regularly filled". What is more, at the dinner table even "her husband ignored her- and so did her husband and everyone else for that matter". I wonder if so many years of opression in the big house has made her a victim of alcoholism.
I like your quote from Allende at the beginning of your post. I think we all want people to know us and to want to know us better. It seems that Felicia isn't known by anyone because they don't care. When did it start for her? I think I would hate to live such a half life.
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