Balance

In class, we were asked to pick out a single quote from all of our readings and explain why it had such an enormous impact.  At the time this seemed nearly impossible.  It felt like every sentence had a story behind it and they were all equally important.  However, after being given more time there is one sentence in particular that has managed to imprint itself in my mind.  It is part of a large piece by Susan Shaw and Janet Lee, the book’s central authors.  The sentence simply reads, as written by Shaw and Lee, “Fortunately he did not rape her” (563).  This single sentence is part of a woman’s terrifying experience with her attacker.

She had been beaten and left broken in the hallway outside her apartment, but there was still some light to be found with the darkness.  The woman had not been raped.  Although this is an incredibly positive thing, it breaks my heart that the attack occurred at all.  No one should be made to go through what she did.  I believe that there is a balance that must be maintained throughout life.  However, the fact that rape was not in this woman’s cards is not what I had in mind.  Her story, with an innocent woman and a seemingly harmless man who transforms into a power-hungry individual, is unfortunately one that many experience and it is all too real.