Analysis Of Daddy's Apprentice By Sandy Wilson

Part One
Sandy Wilson, the author of Daddy’s Apprentice: incest, corruption, and betrayal: a survivor’s story, was the victim of not only sexual abuse but physical and emotional abuse as well, in addition to being a product of incest. Sandy Wilson’s story began when she was about six years old when her birth father returns home from incarceration, and spans into her late teens. Her father returning home from prison was her first time meeting him, as she was wondered what he looked like after hearing that he would be released (Wilson, 2000, p. 8). Not only was her relationship with her father non-existent, her relationship with her birth mother was as well since she was for most of her young life, cared for by her grandmother and grandfather. When she was told that her birth mother coming to visit she says, “…I wish my mother wouldn’t visit. I never know what to call her so I don’t all her anything. Not her name, Kristen. Not mother. Not anything (Wilson, 2000, p. 4).” This quote essentially demonstrated the relationship between Sandy and her mother as one that is nonexistent even though Sandy recognizes Kristen as her birth mother.
Sandy and her grandmother were victims of physical abuse at the hands of Sandy’s grandfather. He often went out and came home drunk, what Sandy’s mother called “the sickness (Wilson, 2000, p.1).” The second time “the sickness” was introduced in the book, it nearly ended in Papa killing both Sandy and Mama (Wilson, 2010, p. 10-11). This could have been attributed to the fact that Sandy’s father was coming back to live with them after his release from. al coming back to love with their family could have been attributed to the loyalty bond (Thompson, 2009, pp. 532) that Mama shares with Al. This means tha...

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...y are his property. Another time this is shown is when Sandy is teased by her friend about being a virgin, and she fails to tell her about the fact that her father has been sexually abusing her for years (Wilson, 2000, p. 66). She feels shame because of what happened to her, therefore keeping it a secret.
There were no other people besides the family that knew about what was going on, so there was no opportunity for anyone to step in and help. The family kept the secrets of what was going on and it seemed as though they suffered from Family Systems Theory where “it is the family's reaction to an event, or their ability to cope in an emotionally stable manner (Opipari, 2010, pp. 125) that determines how they function. There was no balance, there was no speaking on their emotions, so this limited any option for intervention coming from the or outside their family.