The Empathy Exams

Jamison begins by providing a definition of saccharine, which she refers to as “the fear of too much sentiment, too much taste” (111). She then describes a trash can in her kitchen she reserves solely for artificial sweetener packages, a can she hides from guests. She provides etymology for the word saccharine, then describes a picture of herself buried in diet Coke cans from college after taking a physics final. She then describes her childhood house where birds would eat fermented berries and fly into their windows. At eight years old, she poured sugar into a glass of wine to make it taste sweeter, and Jamison then reflects on feminine representation in literature. Jamison was resentful of most of these female characters when she was in her teens, believing them to be overemotional. It is not until she grows older that she comes to love the melodramatic display of emotion.

Jamison draws a connection between sentimentality, which is indulgent, often unearned emotions, and artificial sweeteners, which is sweetness without the calorie impact. She explains how both deal with excess, one an excess of feeling and the other an excess of taste. She provides examples of how sentimentality is degraded both in academic and pop culture settings and how sentimentality is viewed as unsustainable. She references Mark Jefferson and Michael Tanner, philosophers who compare sentimentality to parasites or infections. She then introduces John Irving and Robert Solomon, who defend sentimentality, highlighting its earnestness and that sentimentality is not linked to morality (referencing Rudolf Hoess, Nazi commander, who cried at the theater). Jamison addresses the division in views of sentimentality: on one side people believe sentimentality is a distraction while on the other side people believe sentimentality allows people to experience their feelings. Jamison asks a series of questions, the center of which is focused on whether sentimentality is performative or a valid form of expression. She wonders at what point emotion crosses the line to sentimentality.

Jamison then thinks back to a memory of drinking Jim Beam with a man she was in love with, whose name is also Jim. He is a poet, older than Jamison and mourning the loss of a woman who died of cancer. Jim tells Jamison about having known a serial killer and seems thrilled to have been a part of something so dark. Jamison realizes she wants something sweeter than whiskey and tells Jim that. They walk around New Orleans, finding bars with sweet drinks. While reflecting, Jamison remembers she was more interested in the alcohol than what Jim had to say about serial killers because the concept of topics like absolute evil was overwhelming.

Jamison then transitions into discussing the discovery of artificial sweeteners. Constantin Fahlberg was a scientist working in Ira Remsen’s laboratory when residue got on his bread, making it taste sweeter. He then violated laboratory safety measures by tasting residues found around the workspace, discovering a sweetener the body passed without metabolizing. Jamison comments on the complex societal views that simultaneously find artificial sweetener gluttonous and desirable. She provides a brief timeline of artificial sweetener discovery and notes it is mostly made up of people who discovered them accidentally, either by synthesizing other materials or tasting what they shouldn’t. Jamison describes ripping open packages of Equal sweetener and how its powder is fine enough to spread to other places in her apartment, making her taste unexpected sweetness. She is ashamed of her trash can of sweetener packets but acknowledges it is a true representation of her.

Jamison flashes back to her New Orleans trip and Jim and when they went to Bourbon Street and argued about sentiment. Jim struggles with Jamison’s emotional nature, unable to navigate her moods. She highlights how metaphoric language often includes saccharine language, emphasizing sweetness, and believes the metaphor allows people to experience emotion without the cliché associated with powerful emotion. She discusses how many people believe artificial sweeteners are linked to cancer and highlights one blogger who she feels represents sentimentality in her enthusiasm for artificial sweeteners.

Jamison thinks about her own journey with sentimentality, beginning with the Harvard Review and her own writing in which she was disparaging of sentimentality and melodrama. While attending the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she was deeply afraid of writing characters who evoked too much emotion. The resulting fear of emotion caused her stories to carry trauma explored by unlikable characters. Some people believe it is a rejection of sentimentality that allows them to truly feel things, but Jamison notes the self-centered and egotistical nature of this sort of perspective. She then argues that melodrama does not inherently make bad art because it can still elicit a response in the viewer. She reflects one final time on Jim as the two of them ran through the French Quarter and on the sweetness of being drunk and no longer at odds with each other.

Jamison wonders, spurred by the words of a former lover, if she incorporates too much sweetness and emotion into her life without digging into more complicated matters. She has ended a lot of relationships after the honeymoon period, losing interest after the initial emotion has worn off. Jamison then addresses the philosopher Mark Jefferson, who believes people choose to be sentimental. Jamison counters that, while sentimentality allows people to live vicariously and experience fiction, there is not a moral consideration to this decision. Instead of creating dislike, sentimentality can instead create compassion by allowing people to experience and examine feelings in a new context. Jamison is torn, feeling both drawn to and repelled by sentimentality. She ends the essay by asserting that even if sentimentality is flat or banal, after experiencing it people have a heightened awareness of other emotions. That in itself makes sentimentality necessary and powerful, capable of grounding those who experience it.