”Eating Sugar”

Since the dawn of civilization, people from different nations and cultures have crossed each other’s borders, both physically and mentally. Throughout history this has resulted in more or less dramatic events, stretching from the Spanish General Cortez’ annihilation of the Inca-empire in South America, to the joyful re-union of East and West Berlin in Germany. Today, the possibilities of exploring different cultures are limitless – with a sufficient amount of money and a valid passport, one could be sitting on an airplane flying to any destination in the whole world.

In the short story, “Eating Sugar”, we are introduced to Suzanne and her parents, Alex and Eileen. An omniscient 3rd person narrator tells the story, which is set near a tourist attraction somewhere in Thailand. The omniscience of the narrative role is seen several places throughout the story and is intensifying the tension, as both parents’ feelings are revealed instantly; “Eileen found Thailand stressful, and wasn’t ashamed to show it. Alex was grateful to her.[1]” However, the narrator takes point of departure in Alex, which is seen, when his memory of his and Eileen’s LSD-trip is described in detail (l. 1, p. 4/10). In “Eating Sugar” there are a lot of contradictory conditions. The most dramatic one is when the family is concerned about how they will come home and four native Thais ‘emerge’ from the forest path. Already before engaging in a conversation, the narrator uses Alex to make a difference between Thais and Westerners, by stating that it is “…difficult to tell the ages of Thais…” Although the possibility that it could be difficult for Westerners to spot the age of a native Thai, it seems completely unnecessary to mention this, which can be analysed as a way of creating an us/them relationship. However, this contradiction is confounded when Suzanne begins speaking with Wirut, in both Thai and English. He seems thrilled to meet the three Englishmen and gives them an enthusiastic traditional Thai greeting. Suzanne learns that Wirut, like herself, is a teacher living in the eastern part of Thailand. This shows that he has the same job as the daughter and the same purpose of being at the particular place as the parents – he is also a tourist on holiday. Despite this, Eileen reacts by asking Alex, in a very rude manner, whether Wirut is drunk; “’Is he drunk?’ Eileen hissed to Alex[2]”. Her restraint and fear towards the four men are supported by a narrative comment, presumably from Alex’ point of view; “Anything could happen… And she was right. So many surprises… The Land of Smiles; but also of pirates, and bandits[3]”. This view on Thai people is based on a prejudice and stands in complete contradiction to the actual meeting with the four friendly-minded Thais. Even when Wirut informs that a car will come along and pick them up, Eileen questions this, as his information does not live up to Western standards of precision; “Does he means one’s definitely coming, or he expects one will come?[4]”. Another contradiction is Suzanne’s way of acting, compared to her parents. Her thoughts are, unlike the parents’ thoughts, only expressed through her actions and lines. The author uses this narrative limit to show that Suzanne, in contradiction to her parents, is calm and tolerant in the situation. With Suzanne being 21 years old this indicates a contradiction between young and old, as we also hear about how Alex and Eileen had been hitchhiking in Yugoslavia when they were young. It seems that growing older has made them more set in their ways of experiencing their surroundings, which is expressed as a paranoid reaction from Alex; “Whatever was going to happen, would now happen… Alex could feel the panic rising again, like vomit in his throat[5]”. The quotation shows how Alex’ thoughts stand in contrast to the actual situation, as there are no indications that the Thais would leave them behind. This leads to the further interpretation of the text, which will be discussed in the following.

The immediate absence of coherence between the actual events in the short story and Alex’ way of acting, can be explained by interpreting Alex and Eileen’s trip to Thailand as a ‘bad trip’ (the title, “Eating Sugar”, more than suggests this). The differences between England and Thailand seem to be overwhelming for the couple, the same way an LSD-trip can be overwhelming and frightening. When Alex memorises his and Eileen’s LSD-trip he even states that: “There were parallels[6]” and that “The foreignness of Thailand was mind-expanding… there was a surreal quality to the experience, your senses, understandings, constantly challenged[7].” Alex is acting like someone who has gone on a ‘bad trip’; he is paranoid and anxious and, more importantly, is the only one who can feel the danger they are in, after Eileen begins chatting with the Thais; “And he, alone, could see the peril they were in[8]”. But the same way a bad LSD-trip can be cured by eating sugar, Alex finds himself cured from paranoia when his family and him are ‘rescued’ by a Mercedes pick-up. All of a sudden Alex experiences the beauty of the nature in Thailand and even starts singing along; the trip he has gone through has changed his view on Thailand and he has seen how a situation that, for him, has seemed terrible, can be turned upside down in matter of minutes. The message of “Eating Sugar” is that one should not be afraid to experience something different and that it is important to stay calm, even when it seems as if everything is dangerously unknown. With that being said, the short story does not necessarily recommend going on an LSD-binge in order to experience new things, but simply uses the up-and-down trips in LSD as a simile to being paranoid about unknown impressions and feelings.

The way Suzanne’s parents are portrayed in “Eating Sugar” can also be seen as a general criticism towards tourists. When tourism is discussed, the word ‘imperialism’ is often mentioned. The tourists are becoming more and more obsessed with the idea of spreading their own culture – this is seen in “Eating Sugar” when Eileen and Alex find it disastrous that Thais in the suburbs do not speak English. The text “A Small Place” analyses the reason why natives dislike tourists. They see tourists as annoying and selfishly people, who only want to enjoy themselves by turning the places where the natives live, into a source of pleasure. But the fact is that the tourists leave their own banality and boredom for replacing it in a foreign country. There is no doubt about the meaning of the sculptures, made by Duane Hanson in 1988. They refer to the mass-tourism and the society of consumers. The man and the woman are tourists on charter holiday, both prepared with their camera, if something exotic will occur. They look unsatisfied, anxious, critical and ready to fight for their rights as tourists. They arrive to the destination with their well-fed bodies, ready for being confirmed that abroad is good, but home is best. The parents in “Eating Sugar” might look like these two. It does not look as if they are traveling together because of the lack of connection between them - this illustrates the loneliness of the civilized mass-produced tourist.

B:
In the modern world of globalization, where USA is the only still-existing super power, it is easy to get used to the idea of English as standard language. This may lead to a certain degree of arrogance towards citizens of foreign countries, where English is not prioritized as mother tongue or 2nd language. The arrogance is seen in “Eating Sugar” by the way Eileen and Alex act towards the native Thais. It seems as if they expect of them to speak English and if this is not the case, they feel that they are trapped in a hostile, uncivilized environment. The lack of communication can lead to some misunderstandings, as seen in the short story, but who says that English has to be standard language? Sometimes one could do an effort to at least learn a little bit of the language that is spoken, when going to a foreign country, instead of expecting everyone in the whole world to speak English.

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[1] ”Eating Sugar”: line 19, p. 2/10
[2] ”Eating Sugar”: line 66, p. 3/10
[3] ”Eating Sugar”: line 74, p. 3/10
[4] ”Eating Sugar”: line 102, p. 4/10
[5] ”Eating Sugar”: line 136, p. 5/10
[6] ”Eating Sugar”: line 87, p. 4/10
[7] ”Eating Sugar”: line 87- 90, p. 4/10
[8] ”Eating Sugar”: line 111, p. 4/10