"We were stunned to see that this woman looked very little like the glamorous 'Marilyn Monroe.' That figure was a garish blond showgirl, a Hollywood 'sexpot' of no interest to intellectuals... this figure more resembled us (almost) than she resembled her Hollywood image." |
This quote marks the point in the story in which the girls realize the Marilyn Monroe they see searching through book shelves is not the glamorous Hollywood star they had been used to seeing. This woman, although it was her, was not "Marilyn Monroe," she wasn't dressed to impress and she seemed engrossed in books unlike the dumb blond she portrayed. This Marilyn they were watching appeared to be more like them than herself.
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"Yet if you stared, you'd recognize her. If you tried, with any imagination you'd see 'Marilyn Monroe.' It was like a child's game in which you stare at the foliage, grass, clouds in the sky, and suddenly you see a face or a figure, and after that recognition you can't not see the hidden shape..." |
In this quote the narrator makes the comparison of recognizing Marilyn Monroe in the book store to a child finding hidden figures in the clouds. They are both there the whole time but you have to search with imagination in order to find them. Just as a child can find an elephant in the clouds the girls could find the glamorous Marilyn Monroe behind the woman they saw. Once you found what you were searching for it never leaves you.
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"Already at age thirty (we would calculate afterward that this was her age) 'Marilyn Monroe' had entered history, and there was no escape from it. Her films, her photos. Her face, her figure, her name. To enter history is to be abducted spiritually, with no way back." |
This quote exemplifies the essence of Marilyn Monroe that had entered history, it wasn't the "real" Marilyn Monroe, but rather the glamorous character she portrayed in Hollywood. Everything about her was taken into history, and it would all be talked about and referenced to forever. When it says "To enter history is to be abducted spiritually, with no way back," is in a sense saying that once someone becomes a part of history a part of them is taken forever; no matter if they didn't want it to or not the good and the bad will always be there.
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"And yet: 'Marilyn Monroe' has entered history, and you have not. She will endure, though the woman with the blond braid will die. And even should she wish to die, 'Marilyn Monroe' cannot." |
The reference to history is made again. This is brought up with the idea that "Marilyn Monroe" had entered history and cannot leave. Even has the real Marilyn Monroe goes on to die "Marilyn Monroe" will not. Even if she wants to die, to erase herself and everything about her, she cannot for Marilyn Monroe is forever written into history. No one may remember the books she read or who the real Marilyn Monroe was, but they will always remember the glamorous Hollywood star witht he bouncy curly hair and beautiful face.
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