What I think is most interesting about this story is the portrayal of change. Since we’ve last seen the characters of Cutie and Loretta, little has changed between them. Cutie’s character is still as stubborn as ever, still set in her usual way of doing things; she is still hesitant to accept Loretta’s help, and she refuses to miss out on election day. She is happy to see that the area around her is virtually the same as ever, too, and she is content to have everything stay the same, all the time—the same routine, the same faces, the same places. Loretta, however, still desires change for herself—time to herself, away from the routine of her job. Their respective behavior mirrors that of real life individuals: where older people tend to be content with things staying the way they have always been, the young tend to thrive on change and the excitement it brings. There is something comforting in seeing these respective views portrayed in these two characters; it makes them feel so much more real, much more human. It makes the ending all that more heartbreaking to see that, while change for one individual (Loretta) can be something freeing, it can be completely shattering for another (Cutie).
Response to “Election Day” by Belle Boggs
Nov 8th, 2017 by rossi21