A loss of confidence and self-worth

This piece will surprise people because I wrote this essay when my kids and I were sick. We all had a fever and I just felt horrible! I had to drag myself out of bed and pull it together as best as I could. This isn't the highest grade I received but, I am very proud of this one. I also really liked this story.




Alkeisha Davis
Ms. Evelyn Beck
English 102
30 January 2007

“The Curse”: A loss of confidence and self-worth

“The Curse,” written by Andre Dubus, is about a man by the name of Mitchell, who in the beginning of the story witnesses the horrible rape of an innocent young lady. This incident sets off what seems to be a recurrence of regret on Mitchell’s behalf. He immediately begins to criticize himself as he begins to imagine what it feels like to be old and worn out: “He was forty-nine years old, but when the cops left him at the bar with Bob the manager, he felt much older.”(Dubus 585). Throughout the story he belittles himself, and he also makes several comparisons regarding aging and youth. In my opinion this is what sets the tone for how he will portray himself throughout the entire story.

When Mitchell gets home he talks about how he met his wife and what she does for a living. She goes around to elderly people’s homes and takes care of them. He even went so far as to say that he wanted to lie in bed while she bathed him. I thought that was sad, but it really made a statement regarding the depths that his feelings of unworthiness reached. He was comparing himself to the “invalids” that she cared for.
The author continues to make several references regarding how Mitchell views himself since this incident occurred. He begins to describe his step-children: “She was a pretty girl with her mother’s wide cheekbones, and Marty was a tall good looking boy, and Mitchell felt as old as he had before he slept.”(Dubus 587).While Mitchell was retelling the events that took place to his family, he was voicing the exact thing that was making him feel old, worn and tired: regret. He tells his wife, “'I should have stopped it. I think I could have stopped it."” (Dubus 587). Mitchell feels defeated. He knows that those young men would have probably killed him if he had tried to do more but that is just it: he did not try to do more. It is almost as if that would have been fine with him if he had been hurt or killed. at least he would be able to hold his head up. Mitchell sat there and watched while these men who were high and drunk violated this young girl right before his eyes.
At the end of the story Mitchell made a statement to his friend that revealed his true character: "Sorry Reggie, Time for coffee. I don't want you dead out there." Dubus 588).This is the type of person that Mitchell truly is: he holds other people in high regard.He is the type of man that wants to make sure that everyone else is taken care of.This is the reason that watching this girl being victimized has had such a dooming effect on Mitchell. Next he relives the horrible moment once more to himself: “From the floor behind him, far across the room, he felt her pain and terror and grief, then her curse upon him. The curse moved into his back and spread down and up his spine, into his stomach and legs and arms and shoulders until he quivered with it. He wished that he were alone so he could kneel to receive it.” (Dubus 588). I think this is a testament to the fact that he feels like he deserves to feel old and tired, ashamed, regretful and unworthy. Her curse upon him is that he will carry her pain with him for the rest of his life.

Works Cited
Dubus, Andre “The Curse” Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. 2007. Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. 8th Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ; Pearson 585-588