Secrets And Fears

Throughout “Our secrets”, Susan Griffin explores the secrets and fears underneath the life of different characters. People are usually afraid of revealing secrets since the truth behind the secrets has the power to make a significant difference to people’s life, particularly in a negative way. As a result, the truth is often feared and concealed. “I think of it now as a kind of mask, not an animated mask that expresses the essence of an inner truth, but as mask that falls like dead weight over the human face”(Griffin 349). The mask shields what is on the inside, covering up ones’ feelings of their own will. The hidden side to them is as a barrier to their fear of the unexpected consequence of uncovering their secrets. “Secret” and “fear”, both words expose readers to the main points of Griffin’s “Our Secrets”.

From the very beginning of the book, Griffin has already presented the topic of “secret”. The narrator listens to a woman, who is speaking of her abnormal childhood. Formal family speech was not possible in her family due to her father’s occupation in a military base, especially during the wartime. “There were nuclear missiles standing just blocks from where she lived. But her father never spoke about them” (Griffin, 335). The man tried to keep the secrets from his family, even by deterring himself from starting a close and normal conversation with his daughter. He was afraid of telling the truth. He could not share his secrets with his family as a way of being responsible for his profession. His fear, his vigilant attitude to his household, eventually hindered the close family relationship and his daughter’s childhood.

Another important “secret” in “Our Secrets” is the topic of homosexuality. The existence of homosexuals was not considered acceptable by the public during the World War II. The group of people was confronted by the