Student Question
Why does Susan "despise" her emotions in "To Room Nineteen"?
Quick answer:
Susan despises her emotions because she and Matthew have committed to living logically, avoiding emotional decisions to prevent mistakes common among their peers. This approach is meant to ensure their best interests are always prioritized. However, Susan finds it impossible to suppress her emotions indefinitely. Matthew's infidelities and her role as "wife" become overwhelming, leading to unhappiness and restlessness. Her emotions disrupt her orderly life, prompting her to desire change, which she resists.
Susan and Matthew have pledged to live their lives free from emotion. They are to use their intellect to proceed through all conflicts. By relying on intellect and not emotion, they believe they will always act in their own best interest and will avoid making the mistakes so many of their friends have made based on emotional reactions.
It is a logical theory. However, as humans, we are creatures of emotion. Susan can not squash them forever. Matthew's indiscretions and her position as "wife" soon become too much for her to emotional deal with - but by allowing herself to feel those emotions, she becomes unhappy and unsettled. This is why Susan "despises" her emotions. They cause her to want change, which is counterproductive to her ordered and supposedly content life.
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