Many people can think back to their childhood and be reminded of many happy memories. They lived a life full of innocence and purity; however, in The Bluest Eye the young girls did not get that same experience. Children lead different lives, some of which deal with rape and abuse. The young black girls that Toni Morrison writes about face many hardships that no young child should encounter. These hardships take away the innocence of their childhood. The topic of rape is prominent during most of the book and is a very controversial topic in society. According to the Ohio state laws “rape is any form of unwanted sexual conduct without the victim's consent” and can be punished as a first-degree felony; however, in the book Pecola’s father came …show more content…
While they might not be shooting their children, they are abusing them without knowing the whole story first. Frieda, Pecola, and Claudia experience abuse throughout the whole book. In the beginning of the book Pecola starts menstruating, which causes problems. Claudia and Frieda’s mother heard noise outside and came to see what the disturbance was and end up finding the girls all together, “Mama grabbed Frieda by the shoulder, turned her around, and gave her three or four stinging cuts on her legs” (pg 30). Their mother finally found out that the girls were not playing nasty like she originally thought but were cleaning up the blood from Pecola “her eyes were sorry. ‘All right, all right. Now, stop crying. I didn’t know’” (pg 31). These young girls had to endure a lot of abuse from their parents and guardians because of hearsay. A life of abuse is the reality for many children. A young girl who was on her way to being a professional tennis player dealt with “the brunt of his outbursts. Her father would abide nothing short of perfection” (New York Times). She did not live up to her father’s expectations which was a cause for the beatings. There was so much pressure on her to surpass the expectations she had to live up to; similarly, Claudia and Frieda had high expectations of them as well. In many families’ kids are expected to be miniature adults essentially, “when we catch colds, they shake their heads in disgust at our lack of consideration” (pg 10). Not every form of abuse is physical, there is also verbal abuse. When Claudia and the other children do not live up to the adult role that is expected of them, there will be consequences like verbal and physical abuse. The sense of innocence in children is lost due to an expectation of maturity. Living up to a parent’s dream is difficult and causes for problems in the child’s
In Jeannette Walls’s memoir, The Glass Castle, Jeannette and her siblings are constantly plagued with various accidents and injuries, more so than “typical” children would be. Her parents have a carefree and lenient approach to parenting, oftentimes leaving the children to fend for themselves or in perilous situations. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette recounts some of the injuries she and her siblings suffer, the reaction her parents have to those injuries, and the parallel episodes they refer to.
The children learned from a young age that it's better to forgive their parents than to hold onto anger. Jeannette Walls, the author, and the main character, is constantly
As a child grows, extra care and attention is very essential in order to build the foundation of love and a strong bond. Especially, in today’s society,children are often judged by the act of their parents but in this memoir, written by Miss Jeannette Walls shows how unstainable and dysfunctional relationship Jeannette had with her parents but she still managed to use her tough upbringing for confidence and resourcefulness.
Once a newborn is brought into the world, it resembles innocence and purity. As the child becomes older and observes savagery within, it will result into bad behavior that leads to consequences and rules to keep the child align. Growing up also leads a child to face multiple obstacles in their lifetime. However, this journey called life is provided in multiple different variations for all children when it comes to obstacles. Although Helen Keller faced many challenges in her lifetime, she faced the toughest challenge when she was younger.
(Viramontes 1985, 32) The girl often got whippings to the point she was “used to them” and she did not fit in with her sisters and the “girl things they could do.” (Viramontes 1985, 32) The fourteen year-old
These curiosities should have been answer by a parent, Victor Frankenstein. However, Victor never put any effort in guiding the poor and innocent child. Evelyn Yeo in “How Does Emotional Abuse Affect Self- Esteem,” concludes that from the time of infant-hood to childhood, a child’s sense of self is defined by how he was treated and what he was told by his parents and primary caregivers. Infants especially, have no knowledge of who they are as a separate person so they rely heavily on their parents’ feedback. From parents’ trust, affection, and encouragement, the child will eventually grow up with confidence and achieve potential to make him or her parents’ proud. Overtime, self esteem will soon build upon them so they are prepared to be set in the real world (1).
Claudia expresses again and again how marginalized she and her sister perceived themselves to be, "Adults do not talk to us - they give us directions" (10). When Claudia thinks back to a childhood illness she suffered, she remembers her mother's irritation at finding her sick in bed. Claudia questions the reliability of her perceptions of pain and confusion, "But was it really like that? As painful as I remember? Only mildly. Love...eased up into that cracked window" (12). Claudia's mother's irritation is tempered with compassion; she coats Claudia's phlegmy chest with salve and "hands repinned the flannel, readjusted the
Dr. Diana Baumrinds’ research on the various parenting methods are directly mirrored in the parents that influence Sophie. The narrator of the short story closely resembles Dr. Baumrind’s first method of parenting, authoritarian. Dictating Sophie’s actions can be traced back to her cultural background, with a high stress on obedience and discipline she often times forces Sophie to conform
The bond between a mother and child is often spoken of as being unlike any other. Yet there are always exceptions to the rule where this connection isn 't as impenetrable as one might assume. This book is an example of this bond gradually becoming weaker over time. It shows how it affects the child, Bone, and leaves her vulnerable to the abuse of her step-father. Bone’s mother, Anney, had fallen in love with a man who abused her which at first, she’s unaware but eventually comes to realize but still chooses to stay with him. Throughout the book there are instances of Anney’s negligence in recognizing her daughter’s abuse and being of aid to her but wasn 't. In having to deal with her
A Child Called ‘It’ is the story of a young boy who, in order to survive, must triumph over the physical, emotional, and medical abuse created by his mother. The exploitation of alcohol plays an important role in the abuse by the mother and the neglect to see and the courage to intervene the problems by Dave’s father. Dave considered the abuse he endured by his mother, ‘games’. But he always tried to be one small step ahead of her.
The way parents raise children may affect them while growing up and this will be transferred over generations and it’s most likely to never end. Being punished as a young child, life seemed harsh and uneasy. The way parents would yell at you, tell you what to do, what not to do, and they always seemed to have gotten in the way of doing what us children wanted to do but it emotionally affects the personality of children while growing up for good or bad. In the poem “This Be The Verse” by Philip Larkin, Larkin expresses his emotions in a strong and direct lenguage towards his parents and the way they judge and blame him for it’s mistakes. His strong lenguage demonstrates with no doubt us that parents have a negative effect on their children and it affects them drastically. Junot Diaz's short story “Fiesta, 1980” gives an insight into the everyday life of a lower class family, a family with a troubled young boy, Yunior and a strong, abusive father, Papi. Bad parent-child relationships could lead to depression, low self-steem and children could be more prone to criminal behavior. Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl” illustrates gender discrimination, receiving the instructions from her mother on how to behave and act to not be judge.It illustrates the high level of submissive in women’s there was in her culture.
This can be seen toward the end of the novel, on page 199, where, in a conversation between Pecola and a figure of her thoughts, Morrison reveals that Pecola may have been raped twice. “You said he tried to do it to you when you were sleeping on the couch. ‘See there! You don’t even know what you’re talking about. It was when I was washing dishes,’” reads the exchange. These lines also tell the reader that even with this information, Pecola is still internally unsure of what happened herself. Through internal dialogue, her personal insecurities are projected. Dialogue is key in presenting major ideas in the novel.
Our world is a deceiving place similar to the flower of an oleander. A beautiful perennial on the outside, just its touch is enough to inflict pain through diseases, and the consumption is fatal mirroring the various degrees of dangers in our realm. These risks allow it to be natural instinct for parents to constantly hover over their children, and influences them to take drastic measures to assure the wellbeing of their young. There also exist those guardians who work vigorously to preserve the innocence of their kids. In Sylvia Plath’s Daddy we can see her frustration with her father when she writes the lines “you do not do, you do not do any more, black shoe in which I have lived like a foot for thirty years, poor and white, barely daring
“…the pan tilted under Pecola’s fingers and fell to the floor…she cried out and began hopping about just as Mrs. Breedlove entered with a tightly packed laundry bag. In one gallop she was on Pecola, and with the back of her hand knocked her to the floor…Mrs. Breedlove yanked her up by the arm, slapped her again, and in a voice thin with anger, abused Pecola directly and Frieda and me by implication” (Morrison, p. 109). Claudia and Frieda could defend Pecola when she was being bullied by the boys at school. They could stand up for her against Maureen who was antagonizing her however they are too young and helpless to stand up for against her
By contrasting the homes of Claudia and Pecola throughout the entire novel, Morrison stresses the importance of home in defending against a predatory, racist society. In Claudia’s home, her parents truly care for her and her sister. In one instance, her father took out a gun to fend off a tenant that touched Freida’s breast. This completely contrasts with Pecola’s home, where her parents are both hateful and self-hating, and her father actually raped her. Even though both households are