Bewilderment

 Fanny Howe's Bewilderment, requires the reader to really read and  thoroughly interpret each piece of her writing. The article also required plenty of complex thinking and understandings. Fanny Howe, a poet novelist and writer of many short stories, describes how such small things can have multiple complex meanings and interpretations. In particular, bewilderment.  Bewilderment is defined as being completely confused or perplexed. She uses the story of King Midas to further explain her argument. When describing the "Midas Touch" story, Howe explains that the story isn't just about greed but, "it was about looking too hard and too possessively at living things."(4.) Using this example and many others she explains how bewilderment has multiple purposes in writing. She says that bewilderment also challenges the theory of dualism. Dualism, according to Dictionary.com, is the state of being dual or consisting of two parts, division into two. Howe argues that bewilderment separates us from the idea there is just black and white, or this and that, or just two sides to the story. She also makes the point that, "The mystery of thought can only be solved by thought itself- which is what?" (5.) We don't really know what thought is because we can't really break thought down without relaying back to a previously broken down thought. Just like a spiral. It is always continuous and never ending. A spiral knows no direction.This means that all things on this earth can be broken down into smaller things or broadened into more complex ideas, but this process will never end and continue to be broken down and built back up again. It all just depends on the perspective of a person. In conclusion, what Howe is really trying to portray, is the bewilderment or just being confused is the root of writing. Being forced to question, answer the question and question again an idea, allows us to come to somewhat of a conclusion to that idea. Although we will never really find the true answer when writing or have the exact same perspective as someone else, being bewildered when writing can help us push our writing into a more creative and original direction.