Running Out of Music - Essay Example

28 July Assignment Written by Constance Squires, Running Out of Music is a beautiful story of a young teenager, by the of Lucinda, embarking upon life as she has seen her father live it – in the military. As a teen, her interests match those of her contemporaries for example; she tries to assert her authority over her father, she listens to rock music and believes that she is not as young as everyone thinks her to be. She was a naive girl as she believed her father’s explanation of the grim buildings that they moved to in Germany as ‘dominos’ because she felt that the dots on the windows resembled those on dominos. This story helps in portraying Lucinda’s character so beautifully as she struggles to find her identity in the midst of the people that she is surrounded by, the way in which she is forced to live and the music that helps her find solace during times of trouble. Lucinda was unsure of why her father had to move to Germany in the first place and he explained to her about fighting in the war being just another job for him which she believed and understood quite well. This could either mean that she did not care much about what was going around her and was too confined in her own world to bother or that she understood the upsetting effects of the war and tried to keep herself busy by keeping away from the destruction and barriers to peace. She was proud of her father nonetheless because she was aware that he held a high post in the military and the fact that others below his rank respected him greatly. This gave her a sense of pride both within as well as on the outside as can be seen when she enters Pfc Nately’s building and her father speaks to Snowden quite firmly. She was protective about her father more than herself because she sensed embarrassment when her father took her to examine Nately’s record collection as she knew that she was not supposed to be there and her father was only trying to take advantage of his rank and pull a few strings for her. Even though Lucinda would shout at her father, throw tantrums and get her way, she feared him when he was in uniform because of his burly size and strong baritone. It made her tremble and realize her mistakes. It was in her nature to think for others and care for their sentiments as well; she did throw her weight around but understood when it was being done at the cost of someone else. As soon as she met Nately she apologized for having caused any inconvenience for making her tapes at which her father stated that she was a ‘smart-ass’. When Nately began talking to her about the list of songs that she had made she began to realize that there were quite some things that she did not know about rock music. However, being the teenager that she was, she would assert herself in front of others whom she thought not to be music aficionados nonetheless she quietly retreated from the argument of what to listen to when someone as great as Nately was talking about music in her presence. Lucinda was a smart young girl and even though she knew Nately knew more about rock music than she did, the questions in her mind only grew with respect to the various bands, their entry and exit into the genre as well as their history and stories. She was doubtful about everything that she heard on the tapes and her curiosity was a sign that helps the readers to understand her ability to not settle for anything that was given to her. Lucinda had developed a very brazen attitude which she got from her father; even though she cared about other people, she was very restless and tried to get everything that she wanted done on time. This can be seen when she went to Nately’s building unannounced and strode into the gym where he was working out and embarrassed him in front of all the other military men unknowingly. Even though she apologized to him, she was too hyper by nature to learn from her mistakes of not showing up like that again. She underestimated the danger that she could have put Nately and the others in with respect to her father who held a higher rank by just walking into the gym like that when all the other soldiers were working out and their choice of words as well as their conduct was extreme for a young girl of her age. Lucinda was trying hard to fit into the world because at the peak of her teenage years she was caught in the middle; she was aware of all the sexual innuendos present in the songs that she listened to which were actually meant for an older audience but did not quite understand what they meant. She was trying to seem mature and older to Nately and her parents however they still saw her as a young girl trying too much. When Nately discussed the Simon and Garfunkel album that he had heard when he was her age, she tried her best to act mature and question him by saying what was so great about it that he was not able to comprehend, trying her best to show off and say that she was much smarter than him. It is difficult to tell if Lucinda had something special in her heart for Nately however throughout the story she feels attached to him because of the music and admires the manner in which he talks to her and quotes song lyrics during their conversations. He feels amused when she runs all the way to find him and ask him a few questions about the songs that she did not understand to which he tells her that she needs to grow up a little more. These instances irritate her a bit because she seems to think that he treats her like a younger sister – something she is not too keen on. “I’m just saying the lyrics might mean a bit more to somebody who’s away from everything he knows, like the guy in the song. And one of these days it’ll mean more to you, too. That’s all, dear Prudence.” (Squires, Constance) Nately says this to Lucinda while dropping her back home, and soon she begins to feign an interest for meeting him, not because of the tapes but because of something else in her mind that attracts her towards him. She felt exuberant within as she began to meet him secretly by not telling her parents where she was. As soon as he told her he would soon be moving to Amsterdam, she immediately thought of the time it would take her to move there and be as close to him as possible. In this manner, she was just another teen girl looking hopelessly to feel emotions in her heart that came attached with people from the opposite gender. She was not aware of her feelings about Nately and it was this fatal attraction, rather infatuation to be with someone older to her, someone who possessed knowledge about her favorite music and seemed extremely interesting and mysterious. She felt excited when he gave her a store bought tape he had purchased in Amsterdam with his money; her excitement knew no bounds because she understood that he thought of her and got her something specially. Works Cited Squires, Constance. "Running Out of Music." The Atlantic. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 July 2012. . Read More