We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves - Book Review
“We are so excited that, in the strangely illuminating phrase my mother favours, we’re completely beside ourselves.” [1]
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler begins in 1979, but is arguably just as prevalent in today’s society. It is a psychological and unique novel, which the Guardian calls ‘a provocative take on family love.’ [2]
The ethical implications of scientific research are continually called into question through the eyes of an unreliable narrator, making the reader feel the same naivety and confusion as 5-year-old Rosemary does when her family is torn apart.
Growing up with a psychologist for a father and a mother that hardly speaks proves invalidating for young Rosemary as she tries to navigate her way through life. The way that Fowler presents emotional scars from a corrupt family life will leave you thinking about this book for months after you close the last page.
Warning: Spoilers
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves explores themes of ethics surrounding animal research by producing a fictional account of being raised alongside a Chimpanzee. Rosemary is just five when the book begins, which is also the year that Fern (her Chimp sister) is sent away. This is a unique coming of age story in circumstances that very few have experienced. As the reader, you are transfixed by an unreliable narrator and forced to learn the story as she did, in pieces and over a long period of time.
“My brother and sister have led extraordinary lives, but I wasn't there, and I can't tell you that part. I've stuck here to the part I can tell, the part that's mine, and still everything I've said is all about them, a chalk outline around the space where they should have been. Three children, one story. The only reason I'm the one telling it is that I'm the one not currently in a cage.” [3]
Whilst We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves is a fictitious story, it is important as an advocate for the real life ethics of animal experimentation. Fowler pays homage to the many experiments that took place in the 20th century. Most notably, Winthrop and Luella Kellogg’s attempt to raise a Chimpanzee (Gua) with their infant son, Donald, in 1931. [4] This almost directly mirrors Fowler’s story, whose idea came from her daughter, to imagine what it would be like to grow up as a part of the experiment rather than viewing from the scientific perspective. [5] This is presented through Fowler’s emotional and heart-wrenching portrayal of Rosemary’s family relationship.
Gua the Chimpanzee and her ‘brother’ Donald. [6]
It seems that these experiments all lead to similar outcomes: the Chimp’s instincts eventually take over and their violence becomes unmanageable. In the case of the Kellogg experiment, Donald was becoming more Chimp like than Gua was human; he would bite people and bark for food. Therefore, Gua was sent to a lab where she died just months later, and Donald trained to be a doctor but committed suicide at the age of 42. [7]
Whilst these emotionally damaging experiments are no longer permitted, testing the boundaries between animals and humans has not been eradicated in the 21st century. In just April last year, an international team of scientists created the first human-monkey embryos which they subsequently kept alive in for up to twenty days in petri dishes. [8]
This shows how the intertwining of humans and other primates is still being attempted despite countless failed attempts. The positive implications of this could be the growing of human organs in animals for transplants. However, the ethical implications call into question the lack of consent as well as the right to place human life above other animals.
“An "attack on SeaWorld" might mean a bomb, or it might mean graffiti and glitter and a cream pie in the face. The government doesn't always seem to distinguish between the two.” [9]
Another way that this novel is significant today is through the animal rights activism laced throughout. Lowell, Rosemary’s older brother, is emotionally traumatised from the experience of losing his Chimp sister, causing strain on his relationship with Rosemary whilst also inspiring him to become an animal rights activist. Throughout the story he attempts to free Fern multiple times whilst also targeting other animal experimentation facilities. This parallels many protests taking place today. For example, last November, when Will Young ‘handcuffed himself to the front gates of a facility that breeds dogs for laboratory research.’ [10]
Fowler brings to light how the split between humans and animals being blurred has both a positive and negative impact. Humans can begin to realise that they are animals themselves, but also realise that this similarity can be used to exploit animals for the expense of human life. This novel may have been set in 1979, but the ethical implications of animal experimentation still divide our society to this day.
By Isobel Turner - Editor, History Pathway
Cover photo - http://jessjustreads.com/2015/07/12/we-are-all-completely-beside-ourselves-by-karen-joy-fowler/
[1] Karen Joy Fowler, We are All Completely Beside Ourselves, (Serpent’s Tail, 2014).
[2] Liz Jensen, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves review – 'A provocative take on family love' (The Guardian, 20. March 2014) <https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/20/completely-beside-ourselves-family-love-review>.
[3] Karen Joy Fowler, We are All Completely Beside Ourselves, (Serpent’s Tail, 2014).
[4] Elad Simchayoff, This Couple Raised an Ape and Their Son as Brother and Sister, (Medium, 20. June 2021) <https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/this-couple-raised-an-ape-and-their-son-as-brother-and-sister-96764e68908>.
[5] Karen Joy Fowler, We are All Completely Beside Ourselves, (Serpent’s Tail, 2014).
[6] Ibid.
[7] Kristina Gaddy, This Scientist Raised his Baby Son with a Baby Chimp, (OZY, 13. March 2018) <https://www.ozy.com/true-and-stories/this-scientist-raised-his-baby-son-with-a-baby-chimp/85024/>.
[8] Usha Lee McFarling, International team creates first chimeric human-monkey embryos (Stat, 15. April 2021), <https://www.statnews.com/2021/04/15/international-team-creates-first-chimeric-human-monkey-embryos/>.
[9] Karen Joy Fowler, We are All Completely Beside Ourselves, (Serpent’s Tail, 2014).
[10] BBC News, Will Young handcuffs himself to Cambridgeshire dog-breeding centre, (16. November 2021) <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-59309603>.