Character Commentary: The third item that I found this morning is difficult for me to talk about. It is extremely hard for me to look at a map or photo of Africa. Frank gave me a map of Africa before he left so I could follow along on the map of where he was going. Even hearing or saying the word “Africa” hurts my heart. My husband, Frank had just proposed to me when he left for Africa for a job for a newspaper. It was so exciting to be engaged and I couldn’t wait for him to get back so we could get married. While he was in Africa, there was an ambush of British troops that killed thousands of people there. No one knew where Frank was and he was declared missing. I was devastated that my fiancé was missing, hurt, and/or killed. It broke my heart not knwoing if he was okay or not. I couldn’t do anything about it and I was so far away from where he was. I kept looking at the map every day, just hoping that he was somewhere out there. My hope for a happy future with Frank was slipping away. Shortly after I was informed of him being missing, I was told multiple rumors that he had been seen. People had seen him around and seen him doing his work for the newspaper. I scrambled to find out if this was true. I hoped and hoped that people were seeing Frank and not just someone that looked like him. Thank goodness, the rumors were true. He was still alive and he was to be coming home soon. He came home to London and a huge weight of worry and sorrow was lifted off of my shoulders. When I see a picture or map of Africa, it takes me back to the dark time of my life that I was in when my fiancé was missing. I am thankful every day for his return, and I hope no one else ever has to go through the pain of almost losing their fiancé. You may be wondering why I kept this map if it makes me so sad. The reason that I have kept it all of these years is that it reminds me of the great reunion of Frank and I after he returned home. Although this map has mostly negative thoughts associated with it, part of it takes me back to when my fiancé returned home, which was the most amazing feeling in the world.
Editorial Commentary: The map of Africa represents the sorrow and sadness in Lucy’s life when Frank went missing in Africa. Lucy and Frank had not known eachother for long, but they worked together and quickly fell in love. Frank proposed to Lucy fairly quickly, and this gave Lucy the exact reassurance from Frank that she needed. Couples who are engaged or newly married are usually head over heels in love with eachother and can’t wait to start their futures with one another. Right as they were in this stage of their lives with one another, British troops invaded Africa and thousands of people were missing or dead. Frank was marked as missing and no one could find him. The pain and agony that Lucy must have felt while her fiancé was missing in another country is unimaginable. Even if they weren’t engaged, having someone you love go missing very far from you is frightening and horrifying. One of the worst parts about it is that Lucy couldn’t do anything about it. She couldn’t put her life on hold and go search for him in Africa. She had to stay calm and wait for people to find him whether that meant dead or alive. Africa did not have any positive or negative connotation to Lucy before Frank went there to work. Frank’s trip changed everything and Lucy can’t even stand to hear the word Africa. It is completely understandable and I think most people would feel the same way.
Citation: “Africa - Victorian Maps & Campaigns.” Google Sites, sites.google.com/site/victorianmaps/home/africa.