Apr 17, 2022·edited Apr 17, 2022Liked by Never A Truer Word
Karen: The thing Shannon does not like is dark, cold and anything else.
Further to your analysis:
She does her very best to say things that she believes a mother in her situation should/would say. But she can't do it. She has neither the mental capacity nor the necessary empathy to pull it off.
The thing Shannon does not like - does not like is quite a mild description. Likes/dislikes, maybe appropriate if we are talking about food. An empathic mother would say; Shannon is afraid of the dark. She hates being cold. She always needs her cuddly blanket to sleep. But she doesn't. She can't put herself into her daughter's shoes, neither in the actual abduction situation, or before. She is detached and very likely Shannon was emotionally and otherwise neglected.
Not that it takes a brilliant mind to deduce that - no emotionally or otherwise attuned mother would ever do something so atrocious to her daughter.
is dark, cold and anything else.
That's almost funny as it's so disjointed. She tried her best to show that she knows her daughter well, but she gave up after only two descriptors, and went for "anything else" to put a stop to the sentence because she didn't have any more. It is very unlikely that Shannon does not like anything else. It makes no sense. But in her mind, she did well enough with the first two points, so might as well stop it there.
Karen: The thing Shannon does not like is dark, cold and anything else.
Further to your analysis:
She does her very best to say things that she believes a mother in her situation should/would say. But she can't do it. She has neither the mental capacity nor the necessary empathy to pull it off.
The thing Shannon does not like - does not like is quite a mild description. Likes/dislikes, maybe appropriate if we are talking about food. An empathic mother would say; Shannon is afraid of the dark. She hates being cold. She always needs her cuddly blanket to sleep. But she doesn't. She can't put herself into her daughter's shoes, neither in the actual abduction situation, or before. She is detached and very likely Shannon was emotionally and otherwise neglected.
Not that it takes a brilliant mind to deduce that - no emotionally or otherwise attuned mother would ever do something so atrocious to her daughter.
is dark, cold and anything else.
That's almost funny as it's so disjointed. She tried her best to show that she knows her daughter well, but she gave up after only two descriptors, and went for "anything else" to put a stop to the sentence because she didn't have any more. It is very unlikely that Shannon does not like anything else. It makes no sense. But in her mind, she did well enough with the first two points, so might as well stop it there.
You hit the nail on the head, "emotionally and otherwise neglected".