In Reclaim, our female protagonist begins her quest to take back control of her life after everything reaches a boiling point. After a failed investment, all of her efforts to maintain her family’s happiness at the expense of her own become too much. After something of a meltdown at the realization that she had gambled far too much, she visits her own mother and reflects on how her life has turned out compared to what could’ve been.
In the flurry of her thoughts, she realizes that she cannot expect to be there for herself as long as everyone around her thinks she is just for them; that there is power in a little bit of selfishness.
When she returns home from visiting her mother, she takes the first steps to living everyday life for herself, and not for everyone else. When her daughter asks for something, she provides her with all of the information she needs in order to provide it for herself, rather than jumping into fetching it for her straightaway; when her son calls, she doesn’t answer, knowing full-well that he will have a series of demands that he’ll want fulfilling immediately.
All of this comes alongside her husband’s realization in his wife’s absence that he has taken her for granted for far too long. As a result, he decides to show her a gesture of gratitude. There is a sense of contentment and satisfaction as this woman’s world makes an effort to bend to her needs for once, instead of the other way around, as has always been the case.
Reclaim ends in a way that is far more respectful and considerate of this woman, with her family seated around the dinner table waiting for her to sit and join them, rather than treating her like the servant she had been for so long prior to that moment. She is now living life for herself.
