Living in the Present

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Living in the Present

Lisa Zeidner’s short story focuses on the life of Alice and her family. It delves in to her relationship with her husband, children, as well as friends. While illustrating the different roles that she plays in ensuring her household runs smoothly, it also indicates her hobbies and penchant for recording events around her. As such, she is constantly writing a journal that explores people’s actions, her thoughts, and their meanings. In particular, she is fascinated by the minute details that make people behave the way they do and she plans to learn from the assessments she makes. Throughout the tale, she is determined to record the occurrences, whether good or bad. The story is insightful on the need to live for the moment because no one is certain about the future.

The author uses flashback to draw comparisons about the past in order to make sense of the present. For example, she exposes the sorrow that engulfs Alice upon remembering about her friend’s cancer diagnosis. Such revelation prompts Alice to think critically about the shortness of life thereby resolving to enjoy each moment because death may happen at any time (Zeidner 1). By conjuring such images, the tale acquires urgency and the main character is visibly proactive in reconciling with people she has rifts with and decides to satisfy all the cravings she has. In addition, imagery is used by Zeidner’s constant reference to the weed plant to symbolize life. She makes the analogy that just as plants need watering in order to survive, man requires enjoying the occurrences every day in order to remain optimistic about the next day. Failure to relive each moment would cause depression hence hastening an individual’s demise. Nevertheless, soaking the daily routine is essential especially since the future is unknown.

Likewise, rhetorical questions have been employed to make the story more interactive and further the theme. The queries posed aim to reinforce the notion that people need to make the best out of the time they have on Earth since they lay an emphasis on the need for people to be happy. By specifying this natural desire and using it to illustrate Alice’s decision to embrace a party lifestyle, it becomes evident that such feelings are human and should be embraced by all. Moreover, repetition of “be here now” is applied as well in order to reiterate the character’s commitment to the present rather than the future (Zeidner 1). Accordingly, the frequency of appearance of this phrase acts as a reminder of the story’s objective thereby facilitating the author’s message. In fact, it serves as a mantra, which seeks to transfer the same ideology into the mind of the reader and uses Alice’s obsession with her current lifestyle to achieve that purpose. The use of direct quotes also facilitates the delivery of the message because they state her thoughts as they happen thus placing an emphasis on the present. By so doing, the tale maintains the focus on her current actions and the things occupying her mind and that prevents any ambiguity as to her preoccupation. In particular, her obsession with recording events is a testament to her desire to focus on life as it unfolds without resorting to imaginations or fantasies due to a lack of foresight. According to her, it is better to focus on the present and enjoy every minute.

Work Cited

Zeidner, Lisa. Be Here Now. The Atlantic Online, 20 October 1999. Web. 24 April 2015.