Podcast
Questions and Answers
What is the age of the child in the author's memory?
What is the age of the child in the author's memory?
What does the grandmother say to the child about her parents?
What does the grandmother say to the child about her parents?
What is the significance of the grandmother's sentence 'You have a real mummy and daddy somewhere else'?
What is the significance of the grandmother's sentence 'You have a real mummy and daddy somewhere else'?
Why does the author think that few stories of adoptee experience make it to the mainstream?
Why does the author think that few stories of adoptee experience make it to the mainstream?
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What does the author suggest is at the heart of adoptee experience?
What does the author suggest is at the heart of adoptee experience?
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What is the inherent implication of adoption, according to the passage?
What is the inherent implication of adoption, according to the passage?
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What is the author's primary concern regarding adoptive 'parents' who return their kids to the system?
What is the author's primary concern regarding adoptive 'parents' who return their kids to the system?
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What is the author's perspective on 'normal' family life?
What is the author's perspective on 'normal' family life?
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Why does the author mention biological parents who abandon or are forced to give up their children?
Why does the author mention biological parents who abandon or are forced to give up their children?
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What is the implication of the author's statement that 'not even the individual's identity is intrinsic'?
What is the implication of the author's statement that 'not even the individual's identity is intrinsic'?
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Study Notes
Childhood Memories of Adoption
- The narrator recalls a childhood memory of sitting at a low table, coloring, and being told by her grandmother that she is adopted and has a "real mummy and daddy" somewhere else.
- The narrator represses this memory for decades, wanting to be happy and avoid the uncomfortable truth.
The Unsettling Nature of Adoption
- Adoption raises existential questions about identity and the self, forcing children to ask "Who am I?" and "What does it mean to be me?" at a young age.
- The narrator suggests that this is not typically addressed in mainstream stories about adoptee experiences, as it's not a classic "misery memoir" territory.
- The adoption experience is characterized by a shifty, shifting interplay of alternative narratives, making it difficult for adoptees to establish a sense of identity.
Inalienability and Identity
- The narrator searches for a sense of inalienability, or something that cannot be taken away, but acknowledges that adoption is predicated upon alienability.
- Within the adoption triangle, everything, including name, home, and belonging, can be negotiated away.
- This means that even the individual's identity is not intrinsic, but rather something that can be negotiated or taken away.
The Circumstantial Nature of Family Life
- The narrator notes that even in "normal" family life, where kids grow up in birth families, connections are circumstantial and can be disrupted by various factors, such as divorce, death, or abandonment.
- This highlights the fragility of family relationships and the lack of inalienability in all forms of family life.
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Description
A childhood memory of a girl colouring and a conversation with her grandmother about her parents. Quiz questions about this short story.
