Letting Go

Title: The Devil Wears Prada
Pages: 285-347 (Total: 940)

Andy supervises at one of Miranda's parties with Ilana, a security guard. Andy takes Emily's place in assisting Miranda for her annual Fashion trip in Paris.

When Andy meets up with Ilana, Ilana hands Andy a picture of Miranda's head enlarged glued onto a rattle snake's body. Given that these two working gals hate Miranda, this picture was necessary for Andy to release stress. Although this photograph gave Andy the momentary alleviation, it did not solve her problem. Being the smart girl that Andy is, she rips up the dehumanizing picture of Miranda in realization that holding a grudge against her boss would not help reverse her what-used-to-be Friday nights with her friends. One reason why I believe some people are never happy in their life is because they are unable to let go of the pass. They have to realize that the damage has already been done, and holding resentment against someone/thing would not erase the pass. Recently, I had an argument with my mother, and being immature, I decided to ignore her. Whenever my mom would ask me a question, I would walk away. At first this act satisfied me, until two days later; I knew that my decision was unmanageable and irrational. So, I accepted the fact that I had an unsuccessful argument with my mother and moved on. Andy and I both made good decisions in that we are able to escape "grudge stage" whereas some people in life are never able to. These are the ones who live in pain.

Title: The Devil Wears Prada
Pages: 222-284 (Total: 877)

Andy is becoming very distant with her friends and explodes her feelings to Alex and Lily. Emily, senior assistant, also explodes.

All the yelling and commands from Miranda is driving Andy crazy. She does not appreciate how Miranda treats people so rudely just because of the position she has. I’ve noticed a different personality from club officers. I would see two sides to my friend. When she is with me, she is a happy and nice person, but when she is trying to control the 100 plus Interact members (community service club), there is a whole different side to her. She would have to yell at and threaten-that she will take away their hours if they do not quiet down- the members. This is what you have to do sometimes to get peoples attention and to have your way work, as a higher authority. Emily tries to explain to Andy that Miranda always mean well when bossing Andy around, but Andy is having a hard time believing.

Title: The Devil Wears Prada
Pages: 160-222 (Total: 815)

Andy meets a writer at a party and finds him attractive and has yet to tell her boyfriend about Christian(the writer) asking Andy out on a date. Andy and Lily will now be living in an apartment together, and Miranda continues to order Andy around.

Andy is getting really sick of people being fantasized by her job. They believe that she is living in a job of luxury, yet Andy still doesn’t tell the people her truth- that the job is not a "fantastic opportunity" (Page 173). Every person she encounters with tells her how amazing it must be to work for the chief editor of a fashion magazine. Andy is unable to tell each person the real truth that she is suffering every moment having to slave for Miranda Preistly, her boss. Instead, she tells B-DAD (Miranda's husband) that everything is running smoothly. Andy's lack of honesty upsets me, because I sometimes feel unappreciated, frustrated, saddened, and angered when receiving a false answer. I would say that I am quite intuitive for being able to quickly sense feelings and thoughts of others. Like, when I was asked my friend about how things were going with her life, she responded that everything was fine; even though her voice stated yes, I saw the concerns in her eyes and knew that there was definitely something going on. This lie is also present during American culture lifestyle: You would hear an employee ask his co-worker how he is doing and he would reply with a “fine.” When really, there is more to the “fine.” Andy does have the right to want her privacy, but what I really think is going on is her not wanting her vulnerabilities to be displayed. After all, she does have a reputation to hold as a workman for Runway, the hottest magazine company. So, this is the sacrifice, painful holdings of truths, that one, Andy and perhaps others, suffers from, in the return for a positive peripheral look. Sometimes it is easier to just tell a lie then to go on with the whole truth, and this may help explain why sometimes when you ask someone how they are doing, they suddenly break down and tell you the whole story, because they cannot hold it, their untold pains, any longer.

Title: The Devil Wears Prada
Pages: 99-159 (Total: 752)

With the holidays being over, Miranda returns back to the city and things turn from bad to horrible. Andy notices some differences about her self- her weight loss, less time with Lily and Alex, and her increasing stress level and fear of being fired with every conversation she has with Miranda.

Miranda had sent Andy out on a mission to retrieve two of the not-yet-to-be-sold Harry Potter books for Miranda's daughters, unfortunately only one book arrives and Andy, pressured under unemployment, left her friend Lily and their movie marathon party to fix the mysterious mission. Lily does not understand why Andy complains so much about her job, where "any girl would die for it." (pg.108) Every person she runs into tells her how lucky she is to land a job at Runway magazine, but only Andy knows the truth. Andy's job may seem worthwhile and the best to others but it defiantly is not. What you see does not necessarily dictate for what something is. To form a legitimate opinion on something, you need to experience it yourself, and then you can judge for yourself. In the Allegory of the Cave, Plato talks about shadows being the false truth and the sun being reality. He states that only one with his “eyes fixed” can go on to understand what is “beautiful and right.” Fixed eyes is someone who has experienced both sides of the situations, and is able to form a more legitimate opinion, and Andy would be the representation of fixed eyes. Whereas Lily, her friend who does not work in Runway, is in the unknown-the cave- where she only hears about the job, thus creating her own visual “shadow”: her false perception. Both Lily and Andy have opinions that are truths to themselves, but Andy’s truth is more valid since it is a first hand experience.