"My Family's Slave"

wonderfullife · 16-05-2017 10:32PM #1

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/06/lolas-story/524490/?utm_source=twb

I have faith in After Hours.

This is probably the most beautifully written piece on a thoroughly complicated situation I've ever read. It's about a woman named Lola.

You should read it too.

PARlance · 16-05-2017 10:35PM

You have too much faith, the audio version is 55 mins long.

greencap · 16-05-2017 10:42PM

wonderfullife wrote: »

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/06/lolas-story/524490/?utm_source=twb

I have faith in After Hours.

We're not your slaves.

somefeen · 16-05-2017 10:45PM

Summarise it for me in the form of a sonnet

16-05-2017 11:07PM

I had a read of it. And now I'm in tears.

Worth reading, an insight into how things can just happen and continue to just happen because of the inertia of both the oppressed and the oppressor.

wonderfullife · 16-05-2017 11:40PM

Candie wrote: »

I had a read of it. And now I'm in tears.

Worth reading, an insight into how things can just happen and continue to just happen because of the inertia of both the oppressed and the oppressor.

It's one of the most nuanced, exceptionally written pieces I've come across. I've a mixture of sympathy and anger for almost every person in the story.

I don't cry as often as I should but I cried reading this.

Day Lewin · 16-05-2017 11:45PM

I read it, Atlantic magazine I think it was. (Did NOT take 45 mins to read, not at all)

Brilliant, absolutely stunning, totally thought-provoking.

A world of implications, too subtle to pin down here. I could wrote poems about the woman at the centre of it, who worked her whole life for no pay, long hours, days, and years, getting no thanks, in love and in duty, as well as in bondage and in exploitation.

The ending, specially - very moving.

Go read it.

Charlie19 · 16-05-2017 11:49PM

Her name was Lola.

The_Valeyard · 16-05-2017 11:50PM

I'm sure it's a fascinating read. But I'll get thumb cancer scrolling through that. Maybe when on PC or have more free time.

Yourself isit · 16-05-2017 11:52PM

Sad and poignant story. Beautifully written.

Beyondgone · 17-05-2017 12:01AM

It's like reading about Hannah Hauxwell. I'm left feeling I'd like to shake Lola and get her to cop on. That isn't life Lola, that's just sleepwalking. The Lola's of the world need to take a look at Kim Kardashian - zero talent, zero appeal, tons of confidence. Be confident. Don't be a Lola. Or life will use you badly.

17-05-2017 12:50AM

Great bit of writing. The bit about keeping recipes and stuff that she couldn't read is really touching.

17-05-2017 12:50AM

Beyondgone wrote: »

It's like reading about Hannah Hauxwell. I'm left feeling I'd like to shake Lola and get her to cop on. That isn't life Lola, that's just sleepwalking. The Lola's of the world need to take a look at Kim Kardashian - zero talent, zero appeal, tons of confidence. Be confident. Don't be a Lola. Or life will use you badly.

I think the world needs something in between those two.

RDM_83 again · 17-05-2017 01:46AM

somefeen wrote: »

Summarise it for me in the form of a sonnet

Valient young boys love for Lola was so great,
His heart melts for her suffering 'til the dusk of day.
She toiled the nights when his folks away,
slaves, but never ever runs away.

Her passivity was great,
Now grown boy, Writers mind subject matter sees,
To humble brag n lecture is all he does,
While waiting for the moment, for us all to say "slavery is bad M'kay"

I honestly don't think this piece was that great, subject matter was mildly interesting and pretty sad but the world is utterly full of sad stories.

A less cynical criticism would be that it isn't really about the subject of the story, a lot of it is simply about him, it enforces even a postmortem passivity on her, you don't get the feel of her own voice in it. In the end at the Philippines the way the emotions are described feels like a reworking of the 'noble wise savage' or the simple but pure rustic peasants.
He's the masters son, its all through his lens. For an apparently progressive piece it falls into a lot of the classic pitfalls.

Also who the hell just hands somebody their aunts ashes no warning in a tote bag, that shows a real lack of self awareness (unless you like big emotional reactions to happen).

Donald Trump · 17-05-2017 02:50AM

Does she walk like a woman and talk like a man?

Junkyard Tom · 17-05-2017 03:17AM

RDM_83 again wrote: »

you don't get the feel of her own voice in it.

The nature of Lola's existence was mute. The author, I'm guessing, was compelled to write her story for that very reason. Lola was so conditioned to serve that, in the end, the author couldn't 'save' her from herself. It's a tragic account of how a person can be enslaved by circumstance rather than chains.

wonderfullife · 17-05-2017 03:53AM

RDM_83 again wrote: »

I honestly don't think this piece was that great, subject matter was mildly interesting and pretty sad but the world is utterly full of sad stories.

A less cynical criticism would be that it isn't really about the subject of the story, a lot of it is simply about him,

For me, it was his story as much as Lola was the subject.

Sure, the love he had for her was clear throughout the piece but it was really about what he did and what he failed to do. You can feel his guilt, his pain and regret dripping from the pages, mixed with his efforts to support and care for Lola too.

I can't imagine how difficult that can be. To be born into a life where the nanny/maid/servant is an ever-present constant and only realising through teenage years and adulthood her true situation as an unpaid slave, never allowed a life outside the house.

I kinda lost it when she asked to go home to her garden. I suppose Stockholm Syndrome was in the back of my mind throughout.

Murrisk · 17-05-2017 04:29AM

Longform journalism at its best.

One sentence jumped out at me though:

She’d had none of the self-serving ambition that drives most of us, and her willingness to give up everything for the people around her won her our love and utter loyalty.

It strikes me that she was probably conditioned to not be self-serving or ambitious. It may not have been her natural state. And most likely wasn't. I think the author glossed over this a bit.

Murrisk · 17-05-2017 04:32AM

wonderfullife wrote: »

It's one of the most nuanced, exceptionally written pieces I've come across. I've a mixture of sympathy and anger for almost every person in the story.

Gotta say, my sympathy is very much weighted towards Lola.

myshirt · 17-05-2017 05:58AM

Is this any better than the boards classic The Grassy Knoll by Spencer Winterbotham?

17-05-2017 06:46AM

Just read Lola's story. My goodness what a person.

Not afraid to admit that it made this 43 year old chap weep.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock · 17-05-2017 06:47AM

somefeen wrote: »

Summarise it for me in the form of a sonnet

Sonnet? **** that - tldr. Haiku or next thread.

mfceiling · 17-05-2017 06:49AM

Beyondgone wrote: »

The Lola's of the world need to take a look at Kim Kardashian - zero talent, zero appeal, tons of confidence. Be confident. Don't be a Lola. Or life will use you badly.

Christ no...There are better female role models in the world than a dope who cant go to the toilet without posting it online.

Hermy · 17-05-2017 10:10AM

It was well written but not especially eloquent.

It certainly didn't make me cry.

And as for feeling sympathy for all involved - certainly not. The parents cruelty towards Lola was shameful, especially the mother who waited till her very last breath before admitting she was wrong.

Your Face · 17-05-2017 10:25AM

I believe in Harvey Dent.

SnakePlissken · 17-05-2017 11:03AM

Deeply affecting to also learn this was the last article its author got to write.

Hande hoche! · 17-05-2017 11:20AM

myshirt wrote: »

Is this any better than the boards classic The Grassy Knoll by Spencer Winterbotham?

An impressive piece of prose, up there with Trent.

WHIP IT! · 17-05-2017 11:44AM

Murrisk wrote: »

Longform journalism at its best.

One sentence jumped out at me though:

It strikes me that she was probably conditioned to not be self-serving or ambitious. It may not have been her natural state. And most likely wasn't. I think the author glossed over this a bit.

He doesn't gloss over it at all. He's completely up front about Lola's situation from the first paragraph and indeed his own shame about same. It's a fantastically well-written and harrowing tale.

helimachoptor · 17-05-2017 11:48AM

excellent and harrowing read

Dr Crayfish · 17-05-2017 11:50AM

I was looking forward to a tear jerker but I was a bit disappointment when it ended as I felt nothing. I think I might autistic.

Yourself isit · 17-05-2017 12:07PM

SnakePlissken wrote: »

Deeply affecting to also learn this was the last article its author got to write.

Just Googled that.

The last story Tizon wrote was an article for The Atlantic, in which he described how his parents had kept a peasant woman named Eucedia Tomas Pulido as a household slave, even after emigrating to America from the Philippines. He died the day that The Atlantic's editorial staff decided the article would be featured on the magazine's front cover, but before they could tell him of their decision

Even more shocking

"My Family's Slave"

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