Karen Palmer talks about her traumatic experience escaping a marriage in a portion of a memoir called, The Reader Is the Protagonist. After recovering her daughter from her ex-husband and then leaving him for another man, Palmer seeks refuge in Boulder, Colorado with her new family and their newer identities. Starting this new life meant cutting off past relationships with friends and family while also being able to find a new normal with her two daughters and new husband.
Eventually, she reveals the story of how her husband murdered an alleged rapist because the judicial system failed him and he decided to take matters into his own hands. This story arrives towards the end of a fight they were already having and Palmer feels the need to run away from him out of fear. Her ex-husband says, “Like tossing a piece of trash. No one saw. No one knew. No one ever even missed him” (Palmer 198). Her ex thought of himself as a “hero” according to Palmer and this delusional retelling of a threatening story tells more about their entire relationship than an entire recount of their relationship. Words are very important to Palmer. Her mother relied on books as an escape from her distant and physically absent husband. Palmer learned to do the same, admiring the words in their rows as “heartbeats” and “the pages, turning, fluttered like wings” (Palmer 193). However, this childhood led her not only to adore books but eager “for a man’s words” who in this case spoke of a difficult upbringing, his experience in the army, and some illegal jobs he carried out.
While searching for a job in the newspaper, she comes across an independent publisher looking for a proofreader. She learns this company is Paladin Press, the publisher of Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors. They end up being sued for aiding and abetting when an actual hitman uses this guide to almost successfully get away with murder. Palmer is split about this Paladin settlement because she says that if you really do love words, you’d fight for free speech. However, due to her past, supporting Paladin seems wrong because “words can be dangerous; one way or another, there are always consequences” (Palmer 200).
After further research, there is much unknown about Karen Palmer probably because we don’t know her original name. She relocated back to California, so we can assume there is no longer the lingering threat of her ex-husband anymore.
Questions:
- How do you think Palmer’s love for words helped her cope with this new identity and life in Colorado?
- Do you side with free speech or the preventing publications like Hit Man?
- Do you think Palmer’s decision to not take the job at Paladin Press was justified?
The conversation continues on Jessica’s blog.
Christina's WSC 110 Blog 
The power of words permeates Palmer’s essay, and I think this is a great aspect to examine. Her commitment to freedom of speech definitely forms the crux of part of the piece, but of course her belief in it is evident in the very existence of her story and her opening up a critique of Paladin. The moment she feel torn, two quotations stand out to me. First: “people with evil intent will always find a way” and (as you quote) “words can be dangerous. I love the image you mention of the pages fluttering like wings–she and her family have taken flight as well.
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This essay was so intriguing, I felt like I was watching a movie. Palmer’s connection to reading and words in general are an underlying theme throughout this whole piece. After her traumatic experience with her ex husband, she loses connection to these things that kept her grounded and got her through hard times before. “Since childhood, they’d seen me through everything, been my teachers and companions, my family. Standing there, I felt the shape of their absence, but I was unmoved,” (Palmer 186). But, maybe subconsciously, to fill this void she applied for a job as a proof-reader. This way she could force herself back into the comforts of books. However, the job seemed to provide almost a paradoxical situation, while the idea of working with words and books every day, she would be helping to produce products that helped teach evil, and how to get away with things she already worked so hard to get away from. Normally I would side with free speech, but when it comes to topics that can help bad people do bad things (even if that wasn’t the intention for their creation), I think that they should be kept in limited supply and only accessible to those with a certain clearance. This situation reminds me of a limited Netflix series I watched called “Unbelievable” which was about the catching of a serial rapist. A similar problem arose where a textbook about the forensics of rape scenes had been published to help investigators know what signs to look for. But in the wrong hands, this book could help people with bad intentions get away with crimes that cause irreversible damage. I also believe that Palmer’s decision to not take the job at Paladin was justified. It was a matter of her mental health and her ability to function in a work place where she felt safe and did not have to question her morals because of the content she was helping to produce (especially because it hit so close to home for her).
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