Set in Ireland in 1862, The Wonder follows nurse Lib Wright as she enters a village to observe a girl named Anna who has not eaten for four months and appears to be fine. A council full of men – Dr. McBrearty, Sir Otway, Father Thaddeus, John Flynn, and Seán Ryan – sent Lib and Sister Michael on eight-hour shifts to see how Anna really does it. Lib and Michael are not supposed to talk to each other about their conclusions. so that your final assessment of the situation is influenced as little as possible. Lib’s vigil starts quite normally as she passively documents everything she sees about Anna. But the proximity of her parents and frequent appointments with visitors (who come from far and wide to see them and donate to the cause) makes Lib suspicious. Therefore, he interrupts Anna’s meetings with her parents and random people under the pretense of getting a proper read. And that’s exactly when it goes downhill.

What Happens After Lib Separates Anna From Her Family?

Almost immediately after Lib separated Anna from her family,  her tooth fell out. Lib tells her parents, Rosaleen and Malachy, that Anna needs to eat because she is getting weaker, paler, and more tired. was fine until Lib intervened, telling Malachy that he can’t break his promise never to ask Anna to eat at Lib’s request. Strength. But Lib recoils upon seeing Anna’s suffering, even apologizing to her for trying to artificially feed her, especially when she’s determined not to. Her dogged determination soon proves fatal when she passes out with Lib and Will (Lib’s love interest and journalist). On examination, it appears that his lungs are exhausted, leading to his constant coughing. So, The Wonder is basically based on the “fasting girl” phenomenon that occurred during the Victorian era, where pre-pubertal girls “survived” for long periods without food. Anna, who claims that her sustenance source is manna from heaven, would these girls claim that they were chosen by God or that they had magical powers. Apparently, Mollie Fancher hasn’t eaten in 14 years.

Sarah Jacob claimed she hadn’t eaten since she was 10 and enjoyed quite a bit of publicity as well as numerous gifts and donations for this amazing achievement. Other examples involved Lenora Eaton and Josephine Marie Bedard being accused of receiving any type of aid. And it turns out this was nothing more than a publicity stunt to gain some money and fame while feeding the girl while no one was looking. It was a reality show before TV  was a thing. And given the O’Donnells’ financial situation, as well as the town’s run-down state, it’s clear that  Anna was persuaded to do her thing to put food on the table and create a constant flow of visitors to the city.

Does Anna Confess Why She Is Fasting?

Throughout the film, Anna alludes to her religious leanings, along with the fact that the entire O’Donnell home is littered with symbols and images synonymous with Christianity. Then we received the news that Pat, Rosaleen and Malachy’s son,  had passed away. When this is combined with the revelation that Anna is hiding a lock of her brother’s hair in the bust of St. Mary’s, it leads to the assumption that Anna’s fasting has something to do with mourning for her brother. During the discussion of Into Lib’s In the Past, where she treated sick soldiers who had done “terrible” things in the war, Anna briefly mentions that in purgatory souls are made to burn forever. When Lib says that Pat is definitely in heaven, Anna replies that nobody can say for sure. So Lib puts two and two together and urges Anna to confess. He learns that Anna was in an incestuous marriage with Pat during which she became ill and died. Rosaleen blames Anna for his death and forces her to go through this whole ritual to free Pat’s soul from Hell and send him to Heaven. Ireland’s Punishment of Incest Act 1908 criminalizes incest, even if it is consensual. This means that the practice of entering into a romantic relationship with a relative was fairly common by 1908. If you want to vomit, you’re welcome to do so. If not omg get checked out. Coming to “The Wonder”: It’s pretty clear that Pat and Anna’s relationship

It was done with the blessings of Rosaleen and Malachy. They keep saying that Lib is from England and therefore can’t understand the O’Donnells, which essentially means  Lib is too “hip” to accept incest. And Rosaleen is obviously using religion to brainwash Anna into thinking she’s doing the right thing while feeding her by chewing food and birding her in the mouth during her “goodnight kiss”. spits (hence the allegory of the caged bird). On the other hand, they make money from Anna’s suffering because, as mentioned above, it was all the rage back then. In a way, that makes Rosaleen an influencer (the kind her family uses to gain brand endorsement). It is important to note here that Lib had a baby boy who lived to be three weeks and two days and her husband left her soon after. She takes a pair of the boy’s boots and performs this ritual, drinking and playing with something as a kind of tranquilizer. This shows that she is in constant grief over the loss of her child and her closeness to Anna rekindles her maternal instincts. Then do your homework to keep yourself safe and healthy, even if you’re told to watch out. At her weakest point, she even begs Rosaleen to keep feeding Anna like a bird so she can live. When that doesn’t work, Lib performs a second brainwashing to convince Anna to leave. die and be reborn as Nan (the nickname  Anna and Lib previously decided on). Once Anna agrees, Lib runs away with her and performs a ritual where she loses consciousness for a few seconds as Anna and regains consciousness as Nan. Lib then goes to  O’Donnell’s house to burn everything, including her own bottle of tranquilizers and the pair of baby boots. She burns herself.

But it essentially destroys his memories of his past as well as Anna’s. Fire is generally considered a symbol of enlightenment, purification, destruction, and pain. In Christianity, fire has been pointed out as a tool for torment and punishment. for one’s own sins, as well as the sign of God’s presence. Lib even makes it sound like an “act of God” by saying that she “accidentally” knocked over the lamp after finding out  Anna was dead and “accidentally” reduced it to ssh. So in a way, he’s using the popular interpretation of fire to hide the fact that he got her to safety with Will’s help. As the O’Donnells and the rest of the village mourn Anna’s death, we see the girl in London living with Lib and Will as her foster child, Nan and also eating food. Do you have memories of this traumatic event? Well, I don’t think so. She probably suppressed it or remembered a horrible nightmare.

Now, what about breaking the fourth wall and in-set shenanigans? During the opening, we will see a film set where the movie “The Wonder” is being shot. The narrator designs it as a story that we need to believe in, just like the “characters” in the film believe in their stories. After about 25 minutes, it is revealed that the narrator is actually Kitty O’Donnell, and she reminds us that without her we are nothing. Stories. While they register their names, Nan or Anna watches straight into the camera,  breaking the fourth wall and implying that she knows we are watching her story unfold. And in the film’s final moments, we see the camera reveal the final dinner scene to be a film set, and Kitty stands there (in modern attire) and utters the phrase “In.Out. In. Out ” So, as far as my reasoning skills go, “The Wonder” is essentially saying that these stories of girls’ emancipation under various forms of oppression are only possible in fictional films. In the real world, things are much more complex. . However, we can learn from these stories, stand by the women who are (literally or metaphorically) in cages, and facilitate their release, even if it means reusing the same tools and methods the system uses for abuse.

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