Identifying the power struggle between adults and the main character in the beginning of Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick allows one to gain a clearer understanding of Leonard’s actions and how his actions can lead to a father-son conflict between him and authority figures. This can then lead to clear predictions regarding Leonard’s future. As Leonard, a suicidal teenager, plots to murder his former best friend, he explains the occurrences of his day in which the struggle for power between him and adults becomes evident and causes repercussions for him. When confronted by the assistant principal at his school for being late, Leonard shows blatant disrespect as he “cross[es his] legs to let him know that [he’s] not afraid of him” …show more content…
and insists the authority figure has no power over him (Quick 36). Remaining tenacious and insisting on not moving, Leonard angers the assistant principal who doesn’t have the time for Leonard’s smart-alec remarks. This disrespect towards adults shows Leonard’s personality as snarky and pretty rude.
The “father-son” conflict in this section due to Leonard’s traits can be identified as the defiant teenager resenting any instruction from an authority figure, therefore straining their relationship and making it more likely for the authority figure to give up on the adolescent who refuses to change. These traits remain constant throughout the beginning of the novel and lead to authority figures being fed up with Leonard and ready to give up on trying to reason with him, creating great strain on Leonard’s relationship with adults. And that is all adults, not just those who attempt to ask him to follow a simple instruction. As Leonard speaks to his English teacher and argues about the topic of his essay, he gets frustrated at the “naive” teacher who just wants him to follow the given writing prompt. Again, Leonard describes his reaction to the ways teachers gain control when he says “[she] gives me this lame look that’s supposed to intimidate and control me” and disregards all attempts to understand what the teacher is trying to do (Quick 61). Eventually he gets so fed up with her comments that he erupts and tells her, “‘You can’t be that much of a shitty …show more content…
teacher. Come on!’” which greatly offends her (Quick 67). Leonard has trouble arguing in a respectful way because he is so vociferous, and this leads to a great power struggle in which adults end up feeling frustrated and hopeless because they are being talked to by a student in such a manner.
Considering this was Leonard’s intended last goodbye to each of these people, he left things in a very bad place because he felt that he had to be right in every situation, creating inadvertent feelings of pain and loss in those he argued with. As one recognizes this conflict throughout the beginning of this novel, he/she can see what Leonard’s future holds (that is, if he doesn’t commit suicide) in terms of his relationship with adults and the respect he will receive in return. He doesn’t know how to act in a professional setting, leading to a constant power struggle when he is an adult and has to work for someone. No one stops him now because they have given up, allowing Leonard to think he has all the power in the world and can control anyone by being rude and terse with them. The way he acts can be connected to his unhappiness and depression as a despondent teenager who has no parental figures who care about him. Because the adults in his life don’t respect him in his own eyes, he loses respect for them which makes the father-son conflict so
intense. This is important for one to notice in order to see what Leonard’s future holds in a mature and adult setting and why his emotions are so extreme when it comes to adults telling him what he’s doing is wrong. By understanding the struggle for power throughout the beginning of this novel, one can gain a better understanding of the father-son conflict that occurs and what will happen to teh main character as he grows up.
For someone who is very compassionate and always looking to help those less fortunate, Chris is, ironically, unable to forgive his parents’ mistakes. Krakauer reflects on Chris’s inability to forgive his father. “The boy could not pardon the mistakes his father had made as a young man…” (Krakauer 123). Forgiveness is important in Chris’ story because the resentment he has for his parents expands to other aspects of his life, and he begins to isolate himself. His isolation continues through college and ultimately leads...
Not every teenage girl or teenager gets along with their parents. Everyone sees things in different way. the difference in the point of view provokes the narrator's response, because they both see in a different view that they think their parents is selfish and neglecting or don't care about them but really their parents are helping them.
The clip ‘Trouble with Evan’ narrates the struggle of a boy named Evan that puts his stepdad Mike and his mother Karen through stress because of his ill manners. Despite him being at a tender age of 11 years and in 6th grade, his mannerism is worrying because he is already engaging in morally unacceptable activities such as shoplifting, smoking, and gross disobedience, bullying other children and even stealing from his parents. Therefore, this puts his parents under severe psychological stress as they try to figure where their parenting is going wrong in a bid together to make him grow morally upright (Henning, 2016). Evan’s behavior was also straining his relationship with his parents and this stressed the parents as they tried to figure out different ways in which they could once again improve their relationship with their son. In addition, the clip revolves around trying to uncover the mystery as to what could be causing Evan’s unacceptable behavior.
In "A&P" Sammy changes from an immature teenager to a person who takes a stand for what he believes is wrong which is reflected in Sammy's words and actions. This paper is composed of three paragraphs. The first paragraph deals with the immature Sammy, the second concentrates on Sammy's beginning his maturing process, and the last focuses on his decision to take a stand no matter what the consequences are.
In a restaurant, picture a young boy enjoying breakfast with his mother. Then suddenly, the child’s gesture expresses how his life was good until “a man started changing it all” (285). This passage reflects how writer, Dagoberto Gilb, in his short story, “Uncle Rock,” sets a tone of displeasure in Erick’s character as he writes a story about the emotions of a child while experiencing his mother’s attempt to find a suitable husband who can provide for her, and who can become a father to him. Erick’s quiet demeanor serves to emphasis how children may express their feelings of disapproval. By communicating through his silence or gestures, Erick shows his disapproval towards the men in a relationship with his mother as he experiences them.
Lanham is sure “would set this boy straight” (9). Through the child psychologist, Tyler portrays another adult who fails Donny when he should have helped. It is ironic that a trained professional tells the Cobles that Donny is simply being a teenager and that he “had no serious emotional problems. He was merely going through a difficult period in his life” (11). As a child psychologist, he should be aware that Donny may have some deep routed emotional problems which are causing him to act out and display poor behavior, and that this acting out is a cry for help, but instead he passes off the responsibility to another individual by recommending the tutor, Cal.
Being the “dominant discourse” in your family Wideman’s essay is different from the rest between his essay is about him and his brother and the struggle of the dominant discourse and the “other” in their relationship. Wideman is the dominant discourse and his brother Robby is the “other”. The problem is that Wideman is trying to understand his brother but he is having difficulties because him and his brother are two different people and they don’t have a common issues that they share. They are truly like those siblings that is no way are like each other. Wideman is successful and Robby is in prison.
Two people with two completely different characteristics have something alike. Both Dally and Johnny are mentally tough because of their parents. Johnny and Dally’s parents both do not care for them and could care less about them. For example, during Dally’s childhood he went to jail, been in a gang, and has been in many fights and his dad still would not care for him even if he won the lottery. Dally also talks about his dad's disgrace towards him in the car with Johnny and Ponyboy, “‘ Shoot, my dad don’t give a hang whether I’m in jail or dead in a car wreck or drunk in a gutter...’”(88). Dally could easily live without his dad and he does for the most part. Dally just hangs around with his friends and stays at their place. Similarly, Johnny's parents use him like a rag doll to blow off steam, “his father always beating him up”(14). The gang knows what happenes in Johnny’s house. Once Ponyboy was witnessing, “Johnny take a whipping with a two-by-four from his old man”(33). Ponyboy talks about how loud and mean Johnny's mom is and,“you can...
Since the beginning of the essay the narrator and her father lived in a house “like the Civil War battleground it was” (Kennedy 146). The narrator did not agree with her dad’s political views or understood his love of guns. Contrast to her twin sister, the narrator has a very artistic personality. Her difference in personality caused the narrators frustration towards her father. “Dad and I started bickering in earnest when I was fourteen” (Kennedy 147). The author shows the narrator and her father had started seeing different since she was young. The narrator was frustrated with her father stubbornness and the way she felt she was being treated. “My domain was the cramped, cold space known as the music room” (Kennedy 148). The narrator felt like she was lonely and excluded from her family because of her difference in views. As the narrator’s father tries to get her somewhat involved in his love of cannons and guns, the narrator notices that they have similar interests. “I’ve given this a lot of thought- how to convey the giddiness I felt when the cannon shot off” (Kennedy 150). In addition, the narrator and her father both shared an enjoyment for the loud noise the cannon produced and although they both had opposing political views, they were involved in politics. The author
The book “This Boy’s Life” by Tobias Wolff is a memoir written about the author’s childhood memories and experiences. The author shows many different characters within the book. Many of them are just minor character that does not affect the author much in his life choices and thoughts throughout his growth. But there are some that acts as the protagonist and some the antagonist. One of them is Dwight, the protagonist’s or Jack’s stepfather. This character seems to be one of the characters that inhibit Jack’s choices and decisions. This character plays a huge role in Jack’s life as it leaves a huge scar in his memory. The author here spends the majority of time in this character in the memoir to show the readers the relationship between Jack and Dwight.
The movie begins with the family and parenting styles concept of child development by introducing the audience to the main character James and his parents. James lives in a two-parent household with his authoritative parents who are providing him with warmth, love, and encouragement (Levine & Munsch, pp. 521-522). This concept of parenting styles is shown as the movie begins and James is seen spending time with his parents. Then suddenly, James’ world changes and he is abandoned as a result of his parents being killed. This causes James to become orphaned and forced to live with his authoritarian aunts, Spiker and Sponge. Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge are very controlling towards James and expect him to obey their rules without allowing him to express his feelings. This authoritarian behavior is seen throughout the movie. Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge are also uninvolved, neglectful, and abusive, using verbal and physical punishment on James when they feel it’s necessary, which is also seen throughout the movie (Levine & Munsch, p. 522). These behaviors cause James to develop lower self-esteem, show less intellectual curiosity, and feel lonely and afraid, which are typical outcomes of an authoritarian parenting approach (Levine & Munsch, pp. 521-523). Although James’ aunts’ authoritative parenting style has an effect on his emotional and social behaviors, it is his parents authoritative parenting that plays a...
The boy appears to play the role of the responsible adult more so than the father does. The boy has typical signs of a child from today’s broken family relationships; he does not want to disappoint either parent. The boy s...
The story provides many sources for the boy's animosity. Beginning with his home and overall environment, and reaching all the way to the adults that surround him. However, it is clear that all of these causes of the boy's isolation have something in common, he has control over none of these factors. While many of these circumstances no one can expect to have control over, it is the culmination of all these elements that lead to the boy’s undeniable feeling of lack of control.
In a typical family, there are parents that expected to hear things when their teenager is rebelling against them: slamming the door, shouting at each other, and protests on what they could do or what they should not do. Their little baby is growing up, testing their wings of adulthood; they are not the small child that wanted their mommy to read a book to them or to kiss their hurts away and most probably, they are thinking that anything that their parents told them are certainly could not be right. The poem talks about a conflict between the author and her son when he was in his adolescence. In the first stanza, a misunderstanding about a math problem turns into a family argument that shows the classic rift between the generation of the parent and the teenager. Despite the misunderstandings between the parent and child, there is a loving bond between them. The imagery, contrasting tones, connotative diction, and symbolism in the poem reflect these two sides of the relationship.
Adam, a corporal officer, starts as man who works everyday to catch the ‘villains’ of society, but is not spending enough time with his family, especially his son. He favors his nine year old daughter over his fifteen year old son. Adam views his daughter as a sweet child, and his son as a stubborn teenager who is going through a rebellious stage. However, when his daughter is killed in an accident, his perspective of family changes. In his grief, he states that he wishes he had been a better father. His wife reminds him that he still is a father and he realizes that he still has a chance with his son, Dylan. After his Daughter’s death, he creates a resolution from scriptures that states how he will be a better father. Because of the resolution he creates, he opens up to and spends more time with his son. By th...