Sylvie Freaks Me Out (in a possibly positive way)

Throughout the novel I have felt a sense of unease, frustration, and fear towards Sylvie’s character.  This has confused me in many regards, but mostly because I couldn’t quite figure out what creeped me out so much about her.  I was intrigued by her philosophy towards life and really enjoyed trying to wrap my head around how on a geological scale everything human civilization does is just a little *blip* in the water (like the train sliding into the lake [like a weasel]). Everything we give purpose to in society eventually will recede back into the lake as nature takes control.  But Sylvie, unlike me, is not disturbed by the purposelessness of society and accepts that into her own life.  Sylvie’s purposelessness initially was what bothered me the most about her, but looking back on the novel as a whole I was most freaked out by something far simpler than that: her happiness.

            Many times in class Mr. Mitchell has eluded to how at peace Sylvie is and how happy she seems in the most uncomfortable of situations, which I read off initially as simply aloof dreaminess.  How can one be happy without purpose?  Our society shuns and discourages purposelessness for very good reasons.  Biologically our purpose is simple: to make sure the human race survives.  Yet, what is the point in that survival?  Eventually all will be gone, whether North Korea/Trump nuke the entire planet in the next four years or we last for the next ten thousand, it will all be the same.  So, in response to the inevitability of our eventual demise we find meaning and purpose by conforming to society’s standards and comforts (and discomforts!).   Yet Sylvie is able to reject these societal confirmations, accept the inevitability of life, and be happy.  That being said, I think someone who does not see purpose in life is not necessarily the best person to look after children from a “safety” perspective and emotional perspective.  What I find especially interesting is how Sylvie finds *purpose* once she knows Ruth might be taken away – a sign that she really does care and love Ruth just in ways that are so foreign to our society’s standards it is hard to wrap our heads around it.