physical evidence

I enjoyed the writing of "Physical Evidence" because it almost reads like a short story, providing more information as the plot thickens and our narrator finds out more about herself. The difference between a short story and this story, I think, is the personalization of the subject. The unexpected murder of Carlisle's mother is not a light-hearted subject but she tackles it with the fiercest determination to tell her story. I found myself shaking my head the entire story, imagining our narrator building up the courage to call the police station in an attempt to find answers and not receiving much more.

The final line "This is what I know about my mother: I am her daughter, and her memory rests with me" is so powerful that it's still resonating with me. Here she was, finding answers to her burning questions that anyone might have been too scared to find. She accepted them in stride and, without dashing her image of her mother, Carlisle lays out everything she knows about her mother on that final page.

Throughout her essay, Carlisle explains her transition of growing up, from being a curious child at eight to a worshiping child at eleven, a morbid child at twelve, and a responsible adult. The few times she talks about being a child is indicative of the stages of development that most people go through, which I thought was a really interesting way of expressing change.

This narrative is written with such personal details that the reader can't help but feel empathetic toward the writer. She reveals the answers to each of her questions as she finds them, which creates a journey that the reader can venture on with her, finding out as they go together. I would like to see more by Carlisle, about a different personal subject, to see if she can invoke the same emotional sympathy that I felt from reading this.