Mad Mother

In John Irving’s novel, The World According to Garp, one of the most important characters is Jenny Fields, the mother of Garp. She was raised in a time in which girls got married and had families when they were of age. There were not very many women who had jobs or had children without a husband to father her child. Jenny went against every social norm set in that time period. She moved away from her wealthy family and then she went to nursing school. Jenny got a job as a nurse, and then she later moved to an all boy’s school to work as the full-time school nurse. She also had many encounters with the law in her life. She cut a soldier’s arm from wrist to elbow and she also raped a patient that she was supposed to be helping just so she could become pregnant her son, Garp, without having to be tied down by a husband. She doesn’t seem to have a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience. She loved being alone with her own child. This fact shows how antisocial she really is. She doesn’t like people in general. She never has consequences from her actions, in fact, she usually gets what she wants and does better than anyone around her. Jenny is a sociopath.

A sociopath, as found in Dictionary.com, is stated to be; “a person with a psychopathic personality whose behavior is antisocial, often criminal, and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience”. At Mayoclinic.org, It states “symptoms may include: Disregard for right and wrong, persistent lying or deceit to exploit others; using charm or wit to manipulate others for personal gain or for sheer personal pleasure, intense egocentrism, sense of superiority and exhibitionism, recurring difficulties with the law, repeatedly violating the rights of others by t...

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...rd her child.

Jenny is a sociopath. Even Garp knew his mother was not normal, as he said “’My mother… was not one for making fine distinctions’” (Irving 6). She will ultimately do whatever she has to do, no matter how deranged, in order to get her way. Whether it is lying excessively, using her looks, or using her job to get it, she will do anything to get what she wants. She has more of a sense of self-worth than she believes that anyone else that is falling into the social norm has. This crazy woman runs a feminist group even though it is a misrepresentation of her beliefs on the subject. It is preposterous that she never has any relationships that amount to anything more than friendships. Jenny, in her irrational ways, gets aggressive and angry very easily as well. She is inclined to take risks and perform dangerous actions as would someone who is sociopathic.