Love

Over the course of the entire collection, Sugar hinges her counsel to her correspondents upon love. Although all of the individuals writing to Sugar are experiencing distinct conflicts, Sugar consistently urges them towards love. She does so by embracing love herself. In the opening letter of Part I, “Like An Iron Bell,” she establishes this standpoint and approach in her response to Johnny’s belief that because he does not know what love means, he cannot say “I love you” to his girlfriend (14). Instead of belittling or condescending to Johnny, Sugar tells him that love “has everything to do with my answer. It has everything to do with every answer I have ever given to anyone. It’s Sugar’s genesis story” (15, Strayed’s italics). She goes on to aver that love is “not so incomprehensible” as Johnny might think (15). She argues this same point throughout all of...