Summary Of Average Waves In Unprotected Waters
Written in 1977, “Average Waves in Unprotected Waters” by Anne Tyler, encapsulated the struggle that parents of disabled children faced in the time period. In the 70’s not much was known about mental disorders, leaving parents to either give up their children to an institution or face the challenge of raising a disabled child. This is the internal conflict that the main character, Bet, faces throughout the short story; she contemplates whether sending her child to an institution is wrong. Considering that society was so critical of her son, along with the fact that Bet, herself, was abandoned, she has to reach a solution, a compromise. Whether sending her son to an institution is wrong or not, Bet comes to prevail over her emotion to realize …show more content…
Being a single mother, her son, Arnold, was getting tough to handle. He was, “small though...strong, wire; he was getting to be too much for her.” This made daily tasks such as eating or getting dressed very strenuous if Arnold did not desire to cooperate. With a miniscule income and a difficult, costly child, caring for Arnold became almost impossible. This is why Bet had to find another option; she would have to send him away, but was this the right thing to do? This is the internal question or conflict that Bet must resolve. One aspect that Bet considered was that hated to have people staring at her child and underestimating him in the outside world. For example, “ [as] people stared at him, she would have liked to push their faces in…” Bet feels sorry that Arnold gets stared at by strangers, and this makes her upset in turn. She may feel that if he is not exposed to the world around him, he will not be judged …show more content…
The whole time on the train, all she thinks about is Arnold’s sake; either she would have to abandon him and have him face change, or keep him and have him face the judgment of the cruel world. The fact that every moment on the train expresses the extent to which she cares about him makes this decision even harder, but it becomes a matter of which situation will benefit both Bet and Arnold, along with overcoming the emotional uncertainty of deciding what plan to follow. After a long ride, Bet makes a decision. She decides that it is best for Arnold to go to the
A Rhetorical Analysis Of Beach Lessons By Zan Smith
914 Words | 4 PagesRecently, the alarming rates of obesity in our contemporary society has been due to the lack of active behaviours starting from a young age in which the younger generation spends a large amount of their childhood watching television. Both concerned and disappointed, Zan Smith’s pragmatic article titled “Beach Lessons”, published on the Child Monthly magazine, exposes the concerns of the increasing amount of time children spends viewing television and playing video games and should, therefore, be minimized. Accompanying her informative piece are two photographs that are contrasted and accentuates the importance of a child’s youth. Furthermore, Smith targets parents of young children in an attempt to encourage parents to take their kids outside
Lullabies For Little Criminals Analysis
1521 Words | 7 PagesBroken Foundations! The novel Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill is narrated by Baby -- the 12 year old protagonist and daughter of a single father and heroin addict, Jules. Baby never knew her mother and is unaware that she has any other family.
Arnold Friend Character Analysis
1137 Words | 5 PagesThe story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been” by Joyce Carol Oates, is a one where the idea of how girl who struggles with wanting to be a mature woman, faces her demon full form. The protagonist of the story is Connie, a 15-year-old rebel girl, obsessed with her look; and through fault of her own, meets the antithesis of herself, the antagonist of the story, Arnold Friend. Connie seeks to be a mature adult and desires an emancipation from her family. Seeing herself as mature woman through the desires of her attraction by other boys and men, as well as her mother. Its this same desire which acts as the main fault for her character.
Motherhood In Nella Larsen's Passing
1484 Words | 6 PagesIt is often said that a new definition of a woman arose in the 1920s. But is that true? While most women experienced many newfound freedoms in the 1920s, black women could not explore these freedoms as easily as white women. In the novel Passing by Nella Larsen, Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry grew up in Chicago together and are now both two wives and mothers in New York City during the 1920s, but there is a big difference between them. The novel’s title refers to light-skinned black women masquerading as white women for social benefits.
Insert Flap A And Throw-Away Rhetorical Analysis
650 Words | 3 PagesOlivia Seeney ENGL 305 The Art of the Essay 3/22/17 Insert Flap A and Throw Away Analysis The main point of this essay was to point out to the reader the ridiculous state of human nature when presented with a situation that is outside of our expertise. As we observe the narrator’s struggle to put together this cardboard toy, his use of both overstatement and understatement show the progression of his frustration with this task. One example of this ironic language can be found in the first sentence when the narrator states “I made a most interesting discovery: the shortest, cheapest, method of inducing a nervous breakdown ever perfected. (Perelman)”
Summary Of Harriet Mcbryde Johnson's Unspeakable Conversations
718 Words | 3 PagesA life of severe disability, is not a life worth living. Therefore, an infant born with a severe physical or cognitive impairment should not be allowed to live. Or any person for that matter, regardless of age who suffers from a severe cognitive disability should be lawfully killed. At least that is a belief held by a certain professor at Princeton University. Harriet McBryde Johnson, a disability advocate and lawyer had the opportunity to debate these beliefs with Professor Peter Singer.
Who Is Margret Atwood's Lusus Naturae?
520 Words | 3 PagesIn Margret Atwood’s “Lusus Naturae,” set in the 1800’s, a period where a multitude of people remained annexed by those they loved due to ailments that were deemed uncommon; to illustrate this phenomenon Atwood engages us through the intertwining story, told by the protagonist, who is kept unnamed. The protagonist is not only affected by her physical disease, but also the psychological affects from remaining isolated from her community. The tale is crafted to criticize how severely society treats others in the face of diversity and disability. The protagonist not only accepts the abuse, but she also agrees with it because instead of viewing herself as someone who has worth, she only sees herself as an inhuman burden. Through obstacles our narrator faces, because of her disease, we can see how truly cruel society can be.
Tortilla Sun Character Analysis
977 Words | 4 PagesHas a parent ever been away on business? How did the house feel with out with? Lonely maybe even isolated. Did the remaining parent tried to bond with you? How did that feel?
Book Of Unknown American Analysis
1439 Words | 6 PagesWhat does it meant to be Damaged? In The Book of Unknown Americans, by Cristina Henriquez, Maribels brain injury is what brought the Rivera family from Mexico to the United States. Early on we learn that Maribel received a brain injury that changed her life completely. Arturo and Alma made a great commitment to leave their home, friends and culture behind to save their one and only child.
Hope Edelman's 'The Myth Of Co-Parenting'
1132 Words | 5 PagesHope Edelman, a writer and mother, discusses her thoughts and experiences of the reality of marriage in, “The Myth of Co-Parenting: How It Was Supposed to Be. How It Was.” Edelman details how at the beginning of her marriage her husband was starting an internet business and had to take long hours causing Hope to cut hers in order to care for their child. Hope describes how she expected marriage to be a place where the spouses split homemaking and breadwinning equally. She quickly realized that that was not the case.
Sing Unburied Sing Lee Analysis
1406 Words | 6 PagesBest of the Worst Parenting is never perfect. Every parents questions whether they are raising their child correctly, and no parent ever feels like they are doing the right thing. With no clear distinction between good and bad parenting, it is usually left to personal preferences and judgements to decide which parents have adequately raised their children and which have failed. When a parent so call “fails,” often it is the children with their strong will and determination to survive that collectively raise themselves. In Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing, Leonie, one of the narrators and the mother of another narrator, Jojo, is not the most caring, hands-on mother, but is loving of her children nevertheless.
The Role Of Disabilities In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
705 Words | 3 PagesScott Hamilton once stated, “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” Disability is only an obstacle in a person's life, but it does not set the identity of that person. John Steinbeck's novel shows how disabled people are treated differently by writing about their heartbreak and sorrow. Many individuals with disabilities feel that a disability is a wall blocking them from achieving their goals. In our society, people are told what to be and what to do with their disability, but one should have the choice to carve their pathway to success.
A Literary Analysis Of Powder By Tobias Wolff
888 Words | 4 PagesPowder analysis Essay In the short story “Powder” by Tobias Wolff, a father and son’s relationship undergoes a shifting dynamic due to the father’s procrastination. Wolff achieves a strengthening relationship between the boy and his father by using literary devices. Wolff illustrates the changing father-son relationship through one pivotal moment during the car ride home.
The Lame Shall Enter First Analysis
945 Words | 4 PagesThe Religion of Disability: How Flannery O’Connor Uses the Concept of Disability in “The Lame Shall Enter First” In her short story, “The Lame Shall Enter First” Flannery O’Connor shares the tale of a self-righteous reformatory counselor, Sheppard, who forgoes the raising of his own son to embark on a quest to improve the life of a young miscreant, Rufus Johnson, who has a clubbed foot. Eventually after devoting all his time and effort to the saving of this young boy, Sheppard realizes the selfish nature of his actions, but it is too late to save to save his own son. O’Connor employs disability perceptions through the contrasting ideas of confinement and freedom as well as the idea of moral superiority.
Average Waves In Unprotected Waters Summary
611 Words | 3 PagesSometimes the hardest things to do are what is best for you. This is evident in Anne Taylor’s short story Average Waves in Unprotected Waters. In the story, Arnold is a boy with mental disabilities who lives with his mother. His father left them when he was born so his mother is left to take care and provide for him by herself. As he gets older it is harder for her to take care of him so even though she loves him very much and it is a hard decision, she is forced to put Arnold in a mental institution.
More about Summary Of Average Waves In Unprotected Waters
A Rhetorical Analysis Of Beach Lessons By Zan Smith
914 Words | 4 PagesLullabies For Little Criminals Analysis
1521 Words | 7 PagesArnold Friend Character Analysis
1137 Words | 5 PagesMotherhood In Nella Larsen's Passing
1484 Words | 6 PagesInsert Flap A And Throw-Away Rhetorical Analysis
650 Words | 3 PagesSummary Of Harriet Mcbryde Johnson's Unspeakable Conversations
718 Words | 3 PagesWho Is Margret Atwood's Lusus Naturae?
520 Words | 3 PagesTortilla Sun Character Analysis
977 Words | 4 PagesBook Of Unknown American Analysis
1439 Words | 6 PagesHope Edelman's 'The Myth Of Co-Parenting'
1132 Words | 5 PagesSing Unburied Sing Lee Analysis
1406 Words | 6 PagesThe Role Of Disabilities In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
705 Words | 3 PagesA Literary Analysis Of Powder By Tobias Wolff
888 Words | 4 PagesThe Lame Shall Enter First Analysis
945 Words | 4 PagesAverage Waves In Unprotected Waters Summary
611 Words | 3 Pages