Themes and message

Identity

One of the themes explored in the short story “Weightless and Hysterical” by Amanda Miska is the theme of identity, illustrated by both the narrator and Mariel. 

The narrator is a Christian teenager who struggles to find her way. On the one hand, she is heavily influenced by her Christian faith and by the things she has been taught at school. On the other hand, she is inquisitive and takes Christian teachings with a grain of salt. For example, she considers whether thinking about sex would truly send her to hell, or whether pretending to be something you are not to appear more righteous should be seen as a sin. What the narrator has been taught to be true and what she has experienced for herself are in conflict with each other and she struggles to find out what to believe.

During her heart-to-heart conversation with her best friend Mariel, the narrator reveals that she does not believe everything she is being told: “ ‘I don’t know if I believe in all the stuff they tell us,’ I said. ‘That’s probably worse than anything’ ”. She also makes plans for the future and wishes to “leave the stupid suburbs” following Jordan to the West Coast. Her behavior suggests that she is ready to find herself, even if it means leaving the things she knows behind.

At the same time, Mariel also struggles to come to term...