A Juxtaposing Mixture

When first diving into the chapter, Starving in Elizabeth Strout's book, Olive Kitteridge, I met Harmon. And I admit, I judged Harmon too quickly. At first I saw him as a uncanny, elderly man, lurking around and staring at young, juvenile girls. But he grew on me. I gained access into his everyday life. Living a life with a woman who he do not love anymore. Secretly seeing Daisy Foster. Most would view this complicated love fiasco as immoral. I, on the other hand, feel a juxtaposing mixture of pride and dissapointment. Pride in the fact that Harmon found an escape from his nagging wife, Bonnie. Finding a distraction from his pathetic life. He "felt blue" around the happiest time of the year, spending it with his non-existent grandchildren and his badgering wife (100). Pride that Harmon admitted to "have fallen in love with [Daisy]), fully confessing his compassion for his secret mistress (102). Pride that Harmon realized that everyone searches and desires the intimate feelings of love and benevolence. Pride in the fact that Harmon found "ferocious and full blown love" in Daisy (103). Dissapointment in his cowardly deceptions to his wife. Strout, making the assertion that all humans want to be wanted, forced me to feel more happiness in Harmon's deceitful ways than dissapointment. But, however, Bonnie deserves the right to the harsh truth. Her realtionship with Harmon remains distant and not what it used to be. She deserves to know that he has moved on. She deserves the opportunity to move on and find her spark again. She deserves love too.