Flowers in the attic

“At the end of the rainbow waited the pot of gold. But rainbows were made of faint and fragile gossamer-and gold weighed a ton-and since the world began, gold was the reason to do most anything.”- V.C Andrews. The book that is being evaluated is Flowers in the Attic by V.C Andrews. It is about a family who goes to live at their grandparent’s house after the death of their father. They do this because their mother must win her inheritance back after she does a disgraceful thing. While there, the children must live in one room and the attic as to not be seen by their grandfather. The mother hides them because her father does not know she has children and if he finds out he will remove her from his will. In the attic they suffer from lack of sunlight, education, and malnutrition and soon are forgotten by their mother. The mindsets that will be evaluated are of the two older children, Cathy and Chris. They start with a general growth mindset in which they have a general positive outlook on life and always hope for their father’s return.

Cathy shows this growth mindset because when she first goes to her grandmother’s house and is treated poorly she still hopes that they will soon inherit the money and her mom will let them leave the room. Cathy’s mindset soon begins to change when her mother’s daily visits soon turn to weekly and then monthly. Suddenly, the visits stop for nine months while the mother is on a honeymoon after marrying a very wealthy man. During those months, the grandmother whips them and denies them of food for one week. She begins to realize that the mother has left them and completely ignored their safety and wellbeing. An event that even more fuels this change in her mindset is that her grandfather has ...

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... shows this by taking charge such as when his younger brother is near-death sick and he forces his mother to take him to a hospital.

Mindsets are generally important because they allow people to be able and identify bad habits or behaviors in the way they think. When having a growth mindset, it is easier for a person to become better at something and develop new skills. The experience in the attic made Cathy have more of a fixed mindset, because she wants to have revenge on her mother. Chris shows a growth mindset because he hopes to become a doctor and is still willing to forgive his mother. The situation most definitely weakened Cathy and made her more emotional and full of anger. Though the tragedies that occurred probably have taken their toll on Chris it seems as though he learned a thing or two about himself and is ready to face other challenges.