Touching Bottom by Kari Strutt - Feminist Literary Criticism

Adrienne Rich’s concept of "seeing with fresh eyes" can easily be seen through the narrators depiction in Kari Strutt’s short story, Touching Bottom. The first half of the text is male-dominated, as the reader knows nothing of the Mother and her influences on the narrator, but is well informed about her relationship with her father. Her father is a reluctant individual as he continues to pursue swimming lessons for his daughter although she had given up swimming as displayed in this quotation “That fall my Dad signed me up for Red Cross swimming lessons. In a pool. ‘You can start again,’ Dad said. ‘I'm sure there are no leeches at the YMCA, but I'll come and watch, just to be sure”(125). Her father also tries to prevent her by not giving his consent, and informing her that she would be sorry for what she had done “My Dad told me not to go, not to marry him. He said I would be sorry” (125). This demonstrates the theory of feminism literary criticism as a father is correct in assumes that their relationship won’t last. Until this part of the story the reader is immersed in what would come before Adrienne Rich’s concept of "seeing with fresh eyes".

In the second half of the story the narrator begins to pull away from her male-dominated world. She disobey’s her father’s wishes, and married her Californian love. When the family is at the beach the reader is exposed to Adrienne Rich’s concept as the narrator takes a different tone towards her husband. When it appears that there will be no male interference to stop her and Ian from drowning, the reader can clearly see that the narrator can indeed see with fresh eyes. Her reformed thoughts towards her husband can be seen as she is struggling from drowning: “I was swimming and wondering if, in California, it was okay for a married man to lie on the beach watching girls while his second wife entertained his son” (127). “ ‘Can you try again, Ian? Just swim for a minute.’ ‘No, I'm too tired.’ ‘Just try, for me.’I didn't wait for him to answer, I just let him go. I knew instantly that it was a mistake... I watched the distance between us grow until he screamed. ‘Mom, help’ ”(128). This quotation is interesting as the narrator wasn’t really Ian’s Mother, but as soon a she is call “Mom” it is as if the narrator has a boost of energy, and it is her duty as a self sufficient being to save her child. After all this, we learn that the narrator is no longer oppressed by the male figure, and that she has divorced her husband and living on her own. Adrienne Rich’s concept of "seeing with fresh eyes" is perfectly represented in Strutt’s short story as it displays the two extremes associated with this concept.