Chia asks Chuka, “Do you sometimes want to escape and find another life?” Why do you think she sometimes feels trapped? Have you ever felt similarly?
Yes I think she feels trapped because of family pressures. I think this is true for a lot of us because sometimes thing out life should be different from what it instead of making the most of whey we’ve been given.
I think she’s trapped by not only her family pressures, as Janine notes, but by her own habits and opinions. Chia seems feel there’s a path she needs to be on in her life (i.e., becoming a wife & mother), but she keeps making the same mistakes in trying to achieve her desires - stuck in a rut. I can see why she’d feel trapped.
The only times I’ve wanted to escape to another life, I’ve done it. This applied to leaving home at 18, changing jobs a few times, moving to the West Coast, and initiating a divorce. I don’t believe I should tolerate an unhappy life if I have the option to do otherwise.
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I think we all feel trapped at different points in our lives - if we could just start over or if we had just chosen a different path. Chia comes from a very wealthy family that has very specific standards and expectations and she doesn’t seem to have the ability to figure herself out for herself. And because of her family situation, she doesn’t have to. She will be cared for and have a good life no matter what.
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I agree that she thinks she must live up to the expectations of her family and society. Both of these conflict with what she is trying to work out for herself.
I have felt that way many times, when I was stuck in a business I could not get out of, and a marriage that made me unhappy…eventually I got free, but it felt like it took forever.
She has to deal with family issues and cultural expectations that don’t always seem fulfilling to her as a person. It is not uncommon to wonder and maybe wish for the “road less traveled” or to know what would have come from a different choice. I’m not sure that she really is as trapped as she feels since she has had many opportunities available.
I think she feels trapped because in the face of competing pressures and options, she doesn’t really know what she wants, so she is not able to commit to anything or anyone by being willing to work through conflicts in honest dialogue—or to stand up for herself—whether with a partner or an editor. She is trapped by her romantic delusion that the perfect mate will just show up, as so much has come to her without her own efforts (through her family money). It takes two to work out an honest, lasting relationship. She never set boundaries with Darnell, just put up with him for far too long, imagining he would change; she did not make the effort to work through her conflict with Chuka, who seemed to be someone she could have trusted to reach a compromise, someone who would be willing to accommodate her in balancing marriage with career.
She feels trapped (but is not actually trapped, such as with a health problem or financial constraints) only because she hasn’t done the hard work of looking into herself and her priorities and taking responsibility for moving forward in the right direction, accepting that obstacles and conflicts are part of life. The most important things she will never be able to buy—she will have to work for them.