Online Journal 7: Analysis of the Short Story “Eye Candy”
Eye Candy is a story about a woman in her 40’s who had put herself on a pedestal most of her life, thinking highly of herself, setting aside having fun. This stirs emotions inside her and rethinks all of the decisions she made in her life.
Maya was waiting for her husband, Richie, at their usual restaurant. Bored from waiting, she wandered her eyes and ears and checked the customers of the restaurant, but only focused on a couple- Andrei and an old woman he had accompanied. This old woman and Andrei would constantly flirt, which bothered Maya. This had then struck a thought in her about how she had lived her life. She started questioning herself and reliving each decision she had made. Even though she had been doing all that, she still could not forget about being self-righteous or judgemental towards other people. She is still bothered by the old woman and Andrei. As her husband arrived, she became flustered from the alcohol hitter, which made her do an impulsive move- kiss Richie in public.
. Maya is a self-righteous person. She values the opinions of everyone and everybody. She carefully calculates her movements to the liking of others. At the beginning, the author had already emphasized on this through this line:
“The dim yellow lighting and the distance between the hardwood tables gave the restaurant some semblance of privacy, but Maya was certain people were watching. It was that kind of place.”
And pleasing others through this:
“Looks great, That’s great, Great job — words she relied on whenever there was really nothing to say. She knew they made people feel good and kept her from overthinking things.”
Although the setting was already described to be a bit private, she still could not leave the fact that people were watching. This narrow-mindedness has brought her the judgemental aspect of self-righteousness. She always thinks what she is doing is right. Her mentality had brought her to a place where fun, color, or excitement never really existed. She had given different remarks to the people in the restaurant- to the diplomats’ wives, to Andrei, and to the old woman.
In the end she had fulfilled being risky, although it was not appreciated by the other company. Richie thought it was just normal, and nothing special. The protagonist would look like a round character, but it felt like her roundness was denied by the author through mentioning
“And though she didn’t see if anyone was watching them, Maya felt someone cackling behind her.”
She still had that attitude that everyone is watching her, which would mean that she never really changed. She would stay being that self-righteous person, always thinking of what others would want to get.
The point of view used was the third person limited subjective. It had given the author more freedom in creating the main character, Maya. it had also helped in creating the setting, specifically making it more imaginable and real. It also had a conflict between the main character and herself. Being a self-righteous person, challenging your beliefs is definitely a very hard battle between yourself. Given that Maya was on the verge (which she eventually did fall) of doing something she never thought she would, it was already psychologically challenging for her. She had started questioning her life choices and thinking about all the color she could have brought to her life.
“It was the kind of place where ladies kept their backs straight and their legs crossed the whole time. Ceramic tiles on the floor, a pattern of snowflakes in burnt orange and green; sconces on brick walls, silver on linen; at the center of it all, a wrought iron chandelier. It was like dining in church, Maya thought. And so, to show some reverence, she ordered a glass of merlot, instead of her usual iced tea.”
The setting was vividly described. It had given an ambiance that it really was a somewhat expensive-looking place. The way the place was described started from the people, then down to up. It would feel like how you usually examine a place or venue. It would start with how the people look and then how the place looks. It was very natural.
“It was the cackling that drew her attention toward the corner near the wine rack — the confident laugh of a woman with money to burn or an old witch ready to devour her prey. A well-preserved witch, Maya saw, with hair the color of chestnut, skin like ivory, eyebrows carefully sculpted.”
.
The rising action cut out the line for the battle of morality between the old woman and Maya. This was the start of Maya’s morality battle between herself. She would always think that what the woman was crazy or embarrassing. But there is this hint of jealousy towards the old woman coming from Maya.
“‘Oh, Andrei, this place is just lovely,’ she heard the witch say, his name, so European, so romantic, Maya thought, that it made her husband’s sound so old, unmanly even. And the way the witch said it, Oh, Andrei, said it with so much breath as if she’d just climaxed or experienced some spiritual awakening right there and then. Why, it riled Maya in some way and stirred something else in her that she could not quite put a finger on.”
This is where her morality was challenged more. She had judged the old woman into mere files in her file cabinet while still thinking about what the woman does. Maya was still baffled how that woman can do such things or how she can like those things Andrei does to her. After this, she thought about how she would always just do things that would please other people.
“Richie arrived at the restaurant a few minutes after. When he entered, he carried with him the weight of all his years. His hair, his flat tummy, the sparkle behind his eyes gone, all gone. Nobody noticed him, save for his wife. Maya stood up to meet him. She kissed him firmly on the lips, kissed him with her wet, needy lips, trying to bring back what had been lost before it was too late, before she was too old to want.”
. The falling action would show how Maya would approach Richie after the morality battle between her and the old woman. It had finally sparked in her that nothing would really be gone if you loosen up a little. She had taken the risk and of course took pride in it.
“Richie kissed her back but noticed nothing. And though she didn’t see if anyone was watching them, Maya felt someone cackling behind her.”
. The ending was a bit mixed for the main conflict of the story- man vs. himself. It is as if Maya had overcome it, but nothing really happened. Her effort in challenging her morality was useless. Her husband did not even notice it and her self-righteousness came back in an instant after hearing a cackle behind her. As the protagonist tries to be round, she still cannot remove the “people are always looking” attitude, so she cannot really transform fully.
. Everyone should not forget to include fun in their lives. We should not let other people’s judgement affect us because we are our own individuals and we create our decisions for ourselves. Pleasing others is the toxicity brought by society’s standards and by now, we should have torn these standards down and just live the best life possible. Not only that, we should also stop judging people just because we can. We should know that who we look down upon uphold the same set of emotions we do. They are also capable of what we can do.