Effects of Child Favoritism on Jewel and Cash

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Recommended: Mother - son relationships

As I lay Dying’s characters, Jewel and Darl in particular, are largely influenced by their mother’s unequal treatment of them. The personalities of the boys may seem as if they are purely natural, however research suggest that Addie’s favoritism may have played the biggest part in the development of the boys’ personality. An article published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, titled Mothers’ Differentiation and Depressive Symptoms Among Adult Children, discuses the results of favoriting children on both the preferred and unpreferred children. These effects are easily seen in Jewel, the preferred child, and Darl, the unpreferred child. It may seem unlikely that Jewel would have any long-term negative effects because of his mother, however the mentioned article discuses that the favorite child can struggle to create relationships because they feel as if no one’s love can equal that of their parents. Also, the favorite child can often suffer with depression later in life due to their parents restricting their freedom as a child and thus limiting their personal growth. Both of these traits can be seen in Jewel throughout the book. Jewel has trouble communicating with anyone, including family. He seems very distant from his siblings and can hardly hold a conversation with a stranger throughout the book. While this is partly due to grief, Jewel also probably feels as if only his mother was able to give him the love that he deserves. This mentality leads Jewel to ignore others. Despite all of these negative effects of being the favorite child, Jewel has some arguably positive traits that come from being the favorite child. The previously mentioned articles quotes Dr.Libby “The favorite child often grows up feeling confident and p... ... middle of paper ... ...venge on his mother while she was alive. The article published in the Journal of Marriage and Family titled Mothers’ Differentiation and Depressive Symptoms Among Adult Children attributes many of the traits of Darl and Jewel to their mother’s unequal treatment of them. The article suggest both boys suffer extreme long-term negative effects. Jewel suffers from an inability to form relationships and depression, while Darl suffers from a need to feel special and a severe sibling rivalry. The effects of Addie’s unequal treatment of the boys plays a pivotal role in the plot of the novel. Works Cited Bluethmann, Jacquie. “Mothers’ Differentiation and Depressive Symptoms Among Adult Children.” Long-Term Effects of Favoritism. Metro Parent Publishing Group, n/d/ Web. 27 April 2014. http://www.metroparent.com/Metro-Parent/February-2011/Long-Term-Effects-of-Favoritism

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