Story Corps Interview Analysis 6

http://storycorps.org/listen/edith-green-and-her-granddaughter-chaya/

Possible questions:
How did you meet the man that did this to you?
What was your relationship with him like in the time leading up to the incident?
What, if anything, do you think instigated his attack?
What happened that night?
Did you ever hear anything of him after he was sent to prison?

1. Edith talks about how they were perfectly happy platonic acquaintances, thereby establishing the norm, which is doomed to be broken.
2. She describes a night in which she went to a play with one of her other friends in New York and saw him there, following her. This begins to rouse suspicion and fear, with good reason.
3. On the fateful night, she tells of the gun being drawn with such immediacy that it surprises the listener.
4. When she says she didn't see the gun or hear the bullet, it gives the reader a deeper understanding of the suddenness and absolute shock of the situation.
5. She provides very visceral details of the damage the bullet did to her.
6. Chaya, Edith's granddaughter, talks about how she had only ever known her grandmother in crutches, but also talks about how it never slowed her down or kept her from living her life as she wanted.

http://storycorps.org/listen/julie-sanders-and-randy-blazak/

Possible questions:
What lead you to this group?
What was your typical routine?
Could you describe that night?
Did you know anything about the man who was killed, or make an effort to learn about him afterward?
Have you ever forgiven yourself for being involved in this murder?

1. Julie talks about the feelings of exclusion and neglect that eventually lead her into the fold of a white supremacist group, because all she had to do to be loved and accepted by them was be white.
2. When they couldn't find anybody to harass, the group would usually turn on her, depicting further isolation and abuse within the only group that would accept her.
3. Being nearly strangled to death by her boyfriend shows the cruelty of the people she associated herself with, and the depths of her desperation that she would be willing to stay with them.
4. She shows the guilt she felt when she describes the man she watched die, saying that he was born in Ethiopia, and had a son, but, "we only saw black."
5. She talks about her struggle to raise her sons to become better than herself, and the pride she feels at their kindness, for example, one of her sons, who protects a crossdresser at his school from ridicule.
6. She says that she will never forgive herself for being part of the incident, and shows that, while many emotional journeys can have neat, concise resolutions, guilt does not.