Analysis Of Where The Children Are And Remember Me By Mary Higgins Clark

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Stress is a common problem that the human race faces every day. All individuals will experience stress at one time or another during their life. In Where the Children Are and Remember Me by Mary Higgins Clark, stressful situations lead to doubt in health, relationships and truth. In a society, people’s opinions on what is healthy or not will influence personal opinions creating doubt.
Doubt in a stressful experience causes people to question their own mental health. Menley and Nancy both suffer from intense pasts where their health is questioned. In Where Are the Children, Nancy’s children were kidnapped and killed, and her current children have recently been kidnapped as well. Nancy is mentally unstable and the kidnapping of her current …show more content…

Eldredge’s mother. Will you tell us this: Was Nancy Harmon Eldredge ever a patient of yours?’ ‘Absolutely not’” (Where Are the Children 117-118). Nancy found out that the “police [will] withhold information” about her children’s abduction causes her stress and abnormally behavior. The doctor checking up on Nancy causes reporters to question Nancy’s medical history and if “Nancy Harmon Eldredge [was] ever a patient of his,” this places doubt on Nancy’s mental stability. Since Nancy’s kids are still missing, her anxiety continues to build. Having the same incident occur twice causes Nancy to overthinking details from the past: “ ‘ I told you I saw Rob Legler at the lake this morning’…‘Is it possible I was daydreaming?’ Does the doctor believe I saw him- that I was telling the truth?” (245). Nancy assuming she saw “Rob Legler at the lake” creates a distributing atmosphere because Rob is deceased and this would mean Nancy is hallucinating. This would display Nancy as crazy and insane because …show more content…

In Where are the Children, Nancy gets a weird phone call giving her the answer to where her kids are located. Nancy then gets to the location and finds out who the abductor is: “A suspicion so absurd that it would be impossible to vocalize took shape. He sat Missy on the railing, holding her with one hand. ‘Don’t come any nearer,little girl,’ he said to Nancy. ‘Ill drop here if you do.’... That’s why I should’ve known you didn’t commit suicide. You couldn’t have drowned yourself” (279). Carl trying to kill Missy creates a very harsh environment for both Nancy and Missy. Nancy has no control over this situation due to how Missy is placed on the “railing’, if she attempts to rescue her Carl with “drop her”. Nancy thinking that “suspicion” is impossible, foreshadows the moment she finds out the kidnapper is her dead ex-husband. This makes her question the way he “committed suicide” years ago. Nancy coming to a realization about the truth displays confusion on how he “drowned” himself. Additionally, Dorothy finds Missy Mitten infront of someone’s apartment. Dorothy made excuses for being there without realizing it. “‘My dear Mrs. Prentiss, what is wrong?’ ‘It’s the mitten!’ Dorothy cried ‘It’s Missy’s. She was wearing it yesterday when I took her out for ice cream. She must have left it in the car”… Dorothy please help me. Where did you find that Mitten” (152). Mrs. Prentiss asking “what’s wrong” displays her

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