Comments on: Joanna: Chapter 11

By: lindberg

lindberg — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 01:29:28 +0000

I’m guessing the point is that over the course of “more years” she lost sight of what’s important and turned distant, selfish, vain, and worldly. Kind of a Nephite “pride cycle” thing, maybe?

But it’s kind of jarring to have that happen off-screen, so to speak. I liked her a lot in most of the previous installments; I don’t like her much in this one.

By: kevinf

kevinf — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 19:53:18 +0000

Amy, the out of touch part was pretty ugly here. Joanna only knows her children in this episode through Abigail. So working to protect her children was fine when she was poor, but not when she has overcome those obstacles. I was always impressed in how she found creative ways to help the children in previous episodes, but in this one she has indeed now become selfish and distant, obsessed with furs and money. Also, it seems in previous episodes she was always unsure of her looks, but in this one:

But still her face had not lost its beauty, the silver wings of hair above her temples were becoming, they made the rest of her dark hair seem richer and more shining. She had put on weight in the last year, but it had smoothed away the lines that used to run sharply from nose to mouth. She looked brisk, and attractive and competent. She looked as if she would be interesting to know … worldly, amusing.

So now she is distant, selfish, vain, and worldly? Girls, don’t let this happen to you!

By: Amy T

Amy T — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 02:59:51 +0000

Well, goodness. That’s kind of a stereotypical portrait of the career woman, perhaps more so than the previous episodes. All of a sudden she’s controlling, out of touch with her children, perhaps very much a propagandistic late-1940s character, a reactionary response to the employed woman of the Second World War.

I’ve enjoyed parts of the story, but this episode is kind of disappointing. Is the last episode going to resolve all the plot difficulties that have suddenly arisen?

By: kevinf

kevinf — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:52:22 +0000

This myopic vision of protecting her children, especially Penny, seems out of character. Joanna would change any of her own plans at a moment’s notice to accommodate her children when her life was harder. Now, all she can think about is that Penny will marry a poor artist? And she is willing to sacrifice David and Sally’s happiness so she can live out the life she thought she missed vicariously through Penny? I suppose it is plausible, so I can only assume that there is a happy ending on Friday.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 20:52:51 +0000

She’s quite a different woman here from the one who stood to bear her testimony so wrenchingly in one of the early parts, isn’t she?

You’re right about there being more of a gap between the girls than four years. Penny was 16 in the last chapter, but this one begins “more years went by” — so the gap is four plus “more”.

By: HokieKate

HokieKate — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 20:40:43 +0000

It bothers me how little she cares about Sally. Twice she’s canceled plans due to her other children’s activities, but Sally’s lead in a play is brushed aside as unimportant. And I’m surprised Sally is only four years younger than Penny; I pictured a larger gap.

Something about David’s resignation makes me think he’s going to die.

I guess we need some great religious resolution in the last chapter to make this fit for the Relief Society magazine. There are a lot of loose ends, though.

By: Julia

Julia — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:50:44 +0000

I don’t like this selfish side of Joanna, and I wonder where it really comes from. Was being willing to marry and leave her children for 6 months so life changing that she stayed home for selfish reasons not love? I hope she figures out soon that she has to let them live their own lives.

(This hits close to home with several things going on, especially two friends struggling with very different trials.)