"Why could she not accuse Tignor of neglecting her. Wh could she not tell Tignor she loved him even so, she forgave him. He wasn't required to ask her forgiveness. She knew he never would. Only, if he would accept her forgiveness!" The majority of this section was about Rebecca, our heroine, being followed home from the factory by 'a man in a panama hat' who has mistaken her for another woman by the name of Hazel Jones. But in between this present scene, there are flashes of her life. About her son, and her husband, the factory where she works, the canal she is walking along, the town she lives in. But amid the rush of all these facts, this is the quote that stuck out at me most. I've taken the required health class, and I've read enough books to know the facts of an abusive relationship. In this case, Rebecca and her husband have more of a mentally abusive relationship than physically abusive, although she does mention his 'terrible rages' more than once. He leaves town for weeks at a time, hardly contacts her or sends her any money, and she stays there caring for their son and working at a factory. Yet when he comes back, she is still as in love with him as ever. She can't even 'accuse Tignor of neglecting her' which he is clearly doing! I know that many say that women in an abusive relationship cannot break the cycle and often need an outside intervention. But one of the things I despise more than anything is weak women. Women who feel the need to stay with a man who is clearly abusing them! Whether they have daddy issues or are just plain needy, they're one of the reasons the female sex is considered 'lesser' than men. I don't think humans need anyone. Screw Maslow's Hierarchy, I would like to see an independent society filled with individual hermits! So right off the bat I don't like our heroine very much, but we'll see how it goes.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Sorry about this. 2
I've actually decided to switch my book report book because doing a non-fiction book was just not working. And Jesus really wasn't as interesting as I thought he would be. I switched to The Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates and I don't really know what it's about, I just picked it off of my sister's bookshelf. So here are my thoughts after reading the first 61 pages.
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Hahah, wow Laura! I'm surprised you remember Maslow's Hierarchy, but it makes a whole lot of sense, doesn't it?
As for Mrs. Hazel Jones however, I think she's weak and continues to love her abusive husband because she doesn't know what else to do with her time and affections. [Besides care for her son.] Having that husband and knowing she belongs to someone probably gives her a sense of self worth and self confidence, kind of like those girls who feel a need to have a boyfriend no matter what in high school. The son sounds like he may not be old enough quite yet for her to get the same sense of fufillment from interactions him.
Or maybe she's just putting up her husband for the sake of their son, because she wants the son to be raised well. Hopefully then, the son could be in a relationship when he's older that is not like her own.
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