Madge McKeithen has published books and essays in a variety of sources. Published in TriQuarterly magazine in 2009, “What Really Happened” recounts McKeithen’s experience visiting her friend’s husband-turned-murderer in jail. It has no specific audience to speak of; rather, it is interesting and universal enough that anybody might find and enjoy it. The most unusual aspect of this essay is its second-person perspective. Rather than a first-hand account of a jail visit, McKeithen seems to present her story as a series of instructions. It distances her from the events being described, but creates a more personal connection with the reader. The author writes, “Go through metal detectors. Pass through automatic doors that open and shut with a Star Trek-like whoosh. Continue inward” (139). The commands appear to address and contact the reader directly. They could also be emotional guards used to create distance and avoid reliving the situation. Though distanced, McKeithen allows readers to glimpse her thoughts, which is why this abrupt Star Trek allusion doesn’t break up the flow of the paragraph. Combined, McKeithen’s instruction-like phrasing and stream-of-consciousness style of writing invite the reader into her head as an active participant on her journey.
Over the course of the essay, McKeithen tries to come to terms again with her friend’s death. She might have written this piece to remind its readers of their own mortality, but I think it also helped with whatever stage of the grieving process she was experiencing. She seems to find a conclusion to the inevitable “What really happened?” question. McKeithen writes, “Say back What really happened is your life” (140). This is as close as one can get to accepting that a life has already happened and finished. By coming to that conclusion, she fulfilled her goal of helping herself and her readers (who came to the conclusion with her) accept mortality a little bit more.
Grief
Gene Gould, 1965
As artists express their emotions through paint, writers like McKeithen use language as their medium.
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