A Mirror Image A non-involved father, controlling mother, ignored second child, rebellious teen. These are the characteristics of the Coble family at the center of Anne Tyler’s “Teenage Wasteland." What is unfortunate about the dysfunctional family depicted in Tyler’s story is that it is an all too familiar family dynamic that is difficult to remedy. There can be myriad of contributing factors in creating these types of family conflicts. However, one in particular influence appears at the forefront in “Teenage Wasteland.” Through Tyler’s characterization of Daisy, the theory of a learned behavior passed from a parent to a child is highlighted. More specifically as it relates to self-esteem as a transferred trait. Tyler captures the negative consequences of this …show more content…
When discussing her son Donny’s performance and behavioral issues with the principle, Daisy feels a sense of “shame” and assumes that the principle views her as a “delinquent parent” (188), although the principle never states this in the exchange. During their second meeting, Daisy proceeds to include her husband, Matt, in her interpretation of how she is perceived. In this instance, Daisy not only faults their physical appearances when she calls them both “failures,” but also brings into question their intellect in saying that they are “…are always hurrying to catch up, missing the point of things that everyone else grasps at once” (189). At the conclusion of the meeting, Daisy holds “her stomach in,” and gives the principle a “firm, responsible handshake,” in an attempt to regain some sense of dignity (189). Daisy’s ability to create these false perceptions develops from her low view of herself. This lack of confidence causes her to strive to gain the respect of others in any way she can, which explains her perfectionist tendencies and controlling
The story of Anne's childhood must be appreciated in order to understand where her drive, inspiration, and motivation were born. As Anne watches her parents go through the tough times in the South, Anne doesn't understand the reasons as to why their life must this way. In the 1940's, at the time of her youth, Mississippi built on the foundations of segregation. Her mother and father would work out in the fields leaving Anne and her siblings home to raise themselves. Their home consisted of one room and was in no comparison to their white neighbors, bosses. At a very young age Anne began to notice the differences in the ways that they were treated versus ...
When the readers first meet Daisy, she is living the party lifestyle. Daisy is a nice woman, but she is very superficial (Fitzgerald 8). This tells the readers that although Daisy is fake, but is kind. On the other hand, when Myrtle is talking to Tom and her sister Catherine, she becomes defensive and aggressive. “The answer to this was unexpected. It came from Myrtle, who had overheard the question, and it was violent and obscene” (Fitzgerald 33). These to statements show that although they are both clueless, they have personality traits that set them
She always wanted to be the center of attention, she was prejudiced and believed things should stay the same, and she was very selfish. While she thinks she’s above everyone else, she feels that the world revolves around her.
The ironic thing is, she is already behaving somewhat “paralyzed” because she is doing nothing to save her marriage with Tom. Daisy says foolish statements with radiance which shows that she does not think before she speaks. For example, she “always watch[es] for the longest day in the year and then miss[es] it” (11) which shows how much spare time she has. Funnily enough, Daisy cannot even watch for the longest day successfully because she “miss[es] it.” This statement also implies how the wealthy people like Daisy do nothing; they just watch society without any contribution because they are aimless. Also, since Daisy is always “watching” for something, in other words she always wants something; in the process, she forgets what she already has, revealing her to be insensitive. Lastly, Daisy “want[s] her life [to be] shaped immediately – and the decision must be made by some force – of love, of money, [or of] unquestionable practicality,” (151) she cannot bother to take a decision herself showing her to be unthinking. Out of the three things she says, she picks the one “that was close at hand” which is Tom’s
Daisy’s character can also be identified by the way she speaks of her daughter, Pammy, “I hope she'll be a fool, that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (17). This implies that woman don’t have power in the world compare to a man. Daisy thinks it’s best to have beauty rather than brains. Daisy treats her daughter as an object, showing her off to guests at her house, which suggests her lack of concern for her child and how careless she is. Daisy’s relation with Tom is unstable at sometimes. Daisy and Tom both came fr...
Anne Tyler’s “Teenage Wasteland” is a story about a modern day family of four and the relationship issues they experienced with each other. The story is presented in third person limited; however, the reader is shown much about how the mother of the family feels and the troubles she experiences in her relationships with her husband and children, primarily her son Donny. Daisy is portrayed as a mother who worries that she had failed Donny because of his continual disobedience toward the authority figures in his life. Donny is a teen who constantly misbehaves in school and in the story is described as “noisy, lazy, and disruptive; always fooling around with his friends, and would not respond in class.” (188). These behaviors lead Donny to poor grades in school. Daisy takes Donny to a tutor who is supposed to help Donny improve his grades and make better choices in life. The tutor turns out to own a “teenage wasteland” as referred to in the story that was a place that “teenage hoodlums” hang out. Donny starts to get worse in school and eventually gets kicked out. After Donny gets kicked out of school, he leaves his hometown and his whereabouts become unknown. Daisy is left in shock, wondering where she went wrong in young Donny’s life.
Connie, a stereotypical fifteen year old girl, views her life and her family with dissatisfaction. Jealous around her twenty-four year old sister, June, despite June’s outward plainness, and tense around her irksome mother, Connie escapes to the mall with her friends. She and her clique of friends feel like they own the place, and the rest of the world: “Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home…” (1-2). The sense of freedom intoxicates them.
The main character in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, is certainly the brilliant and resourceful Francie Nolan, however, three other characters in the novel deserve credit for guiding Francie through her troublesome childhood. Francie Nolan grows up in the slums of Williamsburg, Brooklyn in the early 1900s. Despite Francie’s lifestyle of poverty and distress, she manages to work several respectable jobs, attend college and, fall in love. Although Francie works hard, she would not have been able to survive without the encouragement and support of Johnny Nolan, Sissy Rommely and Katie Nolan.
An example that shows her irresponsibility as a parent is when she gets a call from school from Donny’s history teacher, Ms.Evans, and tells Ms. Evans to call Cal, Donny's tutor. “ I’m a little concerned about Donny, Mrs. Coble.” Says Ms. Evans” “Oh, I’m sorry, Ms. Evans, but Donny's tutor handle these things now…” Says Daisy. “ I always deal directly with the parents. You are the parent,” Ms. Evans said, speaking very slowly and distinctly.” Now here’s the problem. Back when you were helping Donny with his homework, his grades rose from a D to an C, but now they've slipped back, and they're closer to a F” ( Tyler 869). Daisy’s irresponsibility as a parent is shown because parents should be able to take care of their children and their children's problem. Daisy was told nicely by Ms. Evans to act like a parent since Daisy told Ms. Evans that Cal deals with those kind of things. Parents should be able to talk to their children's teacher when necessary. This also brings up her naiveness. Daisy believes whatever Cal says so easily and doesn't realize that he is being so manipulative. After Donny angrily asks his parents do they trust them, Daisy gets a call from Cal who says,”I think this kid is hurting. You know? Here's a serious, sensitive kid, telling you he'd like to take on some grown up challenges, and you're giving him the
desire to gain material wealth at all costs, and she breaks any rules that stand in her way. She
The relationships between the personas are not only convoluted, but they serve as another interruption from their everyday lives. For one person in particular, they are a hypocritical situation that they cannot escape — Tom Buchanan. Tom, a lavish man out of Chicago, who “gave [Daisy] a string of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars” to win her heart over, then forgot about the commitment that marriage required (70). Just as Daisy had spent her socialite years following bank accounts, Tom has spent his time following seductive mistresses with little power. He establishes his dominance over women who are powerless to divert from the root of his issues — his relationship with Daisy.
Strangers see her as bad-mannered and rude. Yet, Daisy emphasizes that they really don’t care what she’s doing. Her goodness lies deep within herself. Her virtue isn’t an open book as soon as you see her, but deep assessment shows brightness and goodness that displays itself in all the actions she does everyday. Daisy does what she wants, when she wants, with who she wants.
Daisy's carelessness reveals her corruption as a human being. She uses her wealth and social status to escape whatever she chooses, like the death of Myrtle. Additionally, her actions demonstrate the dishonest exploitation of power for personal gain and attention. Daisy’s character, due to her money, inherently values her advantage over the lower class, revealing a nature of entitlement. Additionally, she gives no respect to anyone around her, sometimes n...
Daisy's naive and absent-minded beavior caused her be viewed as a pushover. She lets everyone else have a say on how to raise Donny, rather than taking the inituative in doing what she fet was appropriate for her son. It was the principle, Mr. Lanham, who suggested Daisy help her son out with school work. It was also Mr. Lanham who suggested Donny should see a psycologist. The psycologist examines Donny and comes to the conclusion that Donny has "no serious emotional problems".
Daisy and Jordan are members of the elite class and are often presented as motionless, sitting or lying down, and when they do move it is leisurely. On the other hand, Myrtle is a member of the lower class and is depicted as annoyingly full of energy. During their journey to Tom and Daisy’s apartment, Daisy rapidly states “I’m going to make a list of all the things I’ve got to get. A massage and a wave and a collar for the dog and one of those cute little ashtrays where you touch a spring, and a wreath with a black silk bow for mother’s grave that’ll last all summer” (Fitzgerald, page 40). Myrtle’s abundance of energy is induced by her obsession with obtaining wealth. Despite drastic differences in how females are depicted based on their differences in wealth, both Daisy and Myrtle are treated as inferior to their husbands. This patriarchal view influences a feminist