Mint Is Like Rape

Sydney Garrett

March 21st, 2014

Cutler

Honors English III

Blog Post Three: Mint

In class, we read Mint by Christine Hyung-Oak Lee and for some reason it affected me pretty deeply. I have never experienced rape in my life, but I can imagine that the emotional toll it can have on one’s emotions can be very traumatic. When I began reading the article, I was little skeptical as to whether I would enjoy it or not. However, as the plot developed and the true meaning of the article presented itself, I realized that this piece was more powerful than I could have ever imagined. This article had a way of inspiring me as the main character overcame great obstacles and trials by channeling her pain through a single object; mint.

The beginning of the article spoke of the natural characteristics of mint, its origins and patterns. To me, this seemed irrelevant and somewhat like a tedious special on the Discovery channel but soon I realized the mint held more meaning. The woman in the article had been raped by her boyfriend and associated her tragedy with mint. Like I said earlier, I have never been raped but I can sympathize with her because I also identify innocent objects with tragedies in my life whether it is by their smells, look, or taste. As she talks about showering with mint-scented soap, and drinking her mint tea, she struggles to forget of the love that suddenly betrayed her. The way she speaks of now ex-boyfriend shows a distance in her emotions that is clearly evident in her feelings about mint. The smell, taste, feel and look of mint seems to capture her while her ex-boyfriend seems to be a thing of the past, as she concentrates her pain and memories into the herb and its characteristics.

The main character speaks of how her ex-boyfriend introduced her to “too many new things” and it becomes obvious that there was something more sinister underneath his charming personality. She speaks of him softly and reminisces of the care-free times they had as mint...