The Silent Patient, a novel that deals with manipulation, possessiveness, and dysfunctional relationships. A mysterious yet instructive novel that teaches the reader about the impact of relationships. Beginning with an early traumatic childhood to adulthood that ends with more trauma. Readers get a sense of the consequences and the trauma that comes along with these negative experiences. In The Silent Patient, Michaelides illustrates the manipulation of women by a misogynistic society through Alicia's relationships with the men in her life. One of the main characters in the novel is named Alicia. She was raised in a traumatic environment, beginning with her mother's suicide while Alicia was in the car with her, and then later on her dad expressing …show more content…
Alicia ended up hating her father and wanting nothing to do with him. But once she heard about the passing of her father, she had a negative reaction to it. In the novel the text states, “After her father died, she took an overdose. pills or something. I can't remember exactly what happened. She had kind of a breakdown (Michaelides, 109).“ This demonstrates that even if Alicia did hate her father, she felt sad about the situation she got put into and deep down she wishes it was different. This added more trauma as a result and caused her to overdose. All of these things that her parents dramatically made Alcia go through and the bad relationships could have greatly impacted Alicia to remain silent and not want to talk. She had severe trauma at an early age, and it only became worse over the course of her life. This can have a huge negative impact on how she is as a person. In the article, Childhood Trauma and Chronic Illness in Adulthood written by Steven Mock and Susan Arai, explains how childhood trauma has a huge effect on a child and will still affect them as they …show more content…
It’s a feeling I’ve always had about Paul, since we were kids. I’ve always failed to live up to his expectations of me that I should be a mothering figure to him(michaelides 33).” This shows the highlight that Paul has high expectations of Alicia and how he wants to be treated by her. His relationship with her is no longer as tight as it once was, instead he only comes around when he needs money. This is since he is confident that she will help him out of feeling remorse. While Alicia was at the Grove, Paul did not visit her at all. Paul was aware of everything that Alicia went through as a child, as well as some of her later traumas. Even then, he did not take time out of his day to do so much as just simply visit her. Tying back to the childhood trauma in adulthood article: When a person goes through childhood trauma, they have long term consequences for their health. Paul was aware that Alicia was silent and not speaking due to the trauma and that she had PTSD. Instead of caring, he chooses his misogynistic behavior of not caring and thinking he is too good to care about her over being a good cousin. This relationship portrays Paul's dominance and power over
Pauls past relationship with his dad has been rough because of his dad leaving shawn. Paul feels as though his dad left the family so he didn't have to worry about shawn and their family problems. During the time his dad was gone paul has been angry that shawn hasn't been getting the fatherly support he needs to feel normal. “My dad couldn't stay with us and help us take care of my brother--no, he left me to handle all that so he could jet around and make a bunch of money whining about his tragic plight”(4). Paul realizes that if his dad really cared about their family situation he wouldn't have left the family in the position he was in.
Paul’s character relates to the central idea because he is an example of a person who was not accepted by others and fell down on a dark path of no
" That shows that Paul had always thought low of himself because his parents never told him the truth. This decision made Paul feel weak and miserable because he had always thought it was his fault. On page 265, Paul gets his parents to admit what had actually happened to make him blind. They said they didn't tell him the truth because they didn't want him to hate his brother. What Paul mentions is quite sad.
As previously stated, in the beginning of the book, Paul was super quiet, shy, and lonely. In fact, his only friend was his mom. Paul never tried to change anything, and never made his voice heard. He had terrible self esteem - mainly because he felt it was his fault he was blind, and had to
Paul suffered setbacks and dilemmas because he never knew his mother as she died around the time of his birth. Therefore he is lacking the maternal guidance of emotional stability that every child needs to grow mentally. Paul is withdrawn from society, and he resorts to the arts and music to feel comfortable and free from his disassociation and sense of loneliness. One should not be confused and believe that his father was not loving or caring of Paul because his father did what he could to support Paul and to do all he could to get Paul out of problem situations. He just was not very keen on Paul's needs, especially his manners or clothing. The narrator described Paul's clothes as being "a trifle outgrown, and the tan velvet on the collar of his open overcoat was frayed and worn" (67). Men are not the gender who is as observant and uptight about people's attires. Men tend to desire less than women do, and this was inflicted upon Paul since it was his father who was overseeing Paul's limits on material well-being. It takes more of a female's point of view to judge if something looks perfect, and Paul and his father did not have this type of direction around. A master of Paul's noticed "what a white, blue-veined face it was; drawn and wrinkled like an old man's around the eyes, and stiff with nervous tension . . ." (69). The wrinkles apparently came from the stresses that ruled Paul. HE was constantly dealing with the pain of no mother and his nervous tension was that he knew how he did not fit in with all the other boys his age. He lacked the maternal stability and reassurance that most children had in order to be string mentally and emotionally. This stood out when he was aro...
Paul believes that he was tricked into joining the army and fighting in the war. This makes him very bitter towards the people who lied to him. This is why he lost his respect and trust towards the society. Teachers and parents were the big catalysts for the ki...
As a child Paul and Norman were very much the same, for they both seeked love from their father but, growing up Paul strayed from his fathers teaching. We see that in fly fishing; Paul leaves the four tempo technique, and creates a technique called shadow casting. Paul seeks attention, for example when he danced with the Native American girl all eyes were on them due to the provocative dancing or Native American. Paul loves being in the center of attention whenever; he came home he would often tell stories with both parents giving him full attention. Paul’s character was very boisterous and quick-tempered. Paul tended to start fights and cause a scene. Paul is not reserved, and he will quickly tell you how he feels. Paul is a very independent person, and he does not like to receive help; for example after the gambling scene Paul tries to dissuade Norman away from helping him. Paul is not one to follow other people’s example, but rather sets examples like fly fishing. Paul has an alcohol and gambling problem, and he knows, but he refuses help due to his pride. Paul was equally loved as a child, but he craved for attention as an adult because he did not know what to do with the love that was given to him. In the movie Paul started to really act out when Norman came home, and perhaps this was because he felt as if he was in Norman’s shadow. Norman was called the “professor” in the family because he went to college, but Paul never left Montana, and he could never achieve what Norman achieved perhaps that is why he acted so immaturely to receive
Paul believes that everyone around him is beneath him. He is convinced that he is superior to everyone else in his school and in his neighborhood. He is even condescending to his teachers, and shows an appalling amount of contempt for them, of which they are very aware.
Paul's father is a single parent trying to raise his children in a respectable neighborhood. He is a hard worker and trying to set a good example for his son. His father puts pressure on Paul by constantly referring to a neighbor, whom he feels is a perfect model for his son to follow.
In Paul’s true reality he has a lack of interest in school. His disinterest in school stems from the alienation and isolation he has in life. This disinterest in school reflects Paul’s alienation because of the unusual attention he receives there that he doesn’t get at home. In class one day he was at the chalkboard and “his English teacher had stepped to his side and attempted to guide his hand” (Cather 1). Paul, at the moment of being touched, stepped backwards suddenly and put his hands behind his back. In other classes he looks out the window during lectures and pays little attention to his teacher’s lessons. Paul, growing up without a mother figure in his life, is unaccustomed to any affection or care from his teachers that mothers tend to give. Therefore, his alienation is portrayed in his attitude toward school, and the fore...
Paul, who is the father of the eight children, shows up sporadically throughout the book. LaJoe and Paul split up because he was addicted to drugs. Paul worked for the local sewer department, making $350 to $450 every two weeks. Instead of providing for his family, Paul would spend all the money on drugs. This put the family in a stressful situation because they could not afford the necessities that they needed. Paul was so dependent on drugs to the point where he would steal money from his own children. The children knew about Paul’s drug problem, which caused them to act out. One morning, Lafeyette could not find his dog anywhere in the apartment. He immediately assumed that his father sold the dog for drug money. Paul was at the apartment that day with his mother sitting on the couch watching television. All the sudden, Lafeyette stormed in the room and up to his father, accused him of stealing his dog and called him a dope fiend. Lafeyette was so angry his “right fist came smashing into the side of his father’s temple” . Paul said “You’re fourteen. You’re of age. You want to be a man, okay, you got a choice to be a man” . All of the sudden, Paul started hitting Lafeyette. LaJoe did not know how to handle the situation and began to break up the fight. This example displays how strain affects the relationship with the father and son because they used instrumental relief to relieve
In the beginning of the story, Paul seems to be a typical teenage boy: in trouble for causing problems in the classroom. As the story progresses, the reader can infer that Paul is rather withdrawn. He would rather live in his fantasy world than face reality. Paul dreaded returning home after the Carnegie Hall performances. He loathed his "ugly sleeping chamber with the yellow walls," but most of all, he feared his father. This is the first sign that he has a troubled homelife. Next, the reader learns that Paul has no mother, and that his father holds a neighbor boy up to Paul as "a model" . The lack of affection that Paul received at home caused him to look elsewhere for the attention that he craved.
He realizes that he has to lose feeling to survive, “That I have looked far as the only possibility of existence after this annihilation of a human emotion” (194). Paul loses all feeling, which may be one of the main factors keeping him alive in battle, so that he does not allow himself to process the violence and horror to which he is exposed. Even in the short time where he thinks about all that he has lost, he is immediately overwhelmed with feelings and there is no time for this on the battlefront. Paul has no empathy for the enemy and kills without even thinking, “We have lost all feeling for one another.
Victor Contreras Mx. -. Kim English P5 16 May 2024 Title In the novel The House on Mango Street written by Sandra Cisneros, the protagonist Esperanza is given the gift of family. Esperanza also finds her gift a burden at times. Esperanza's gift is advantageous to her because her family is a group that she can rely on.
The first indication the relationship between Paul and his mother is not one that is ideal is when we are first introduced to the mother. She reveals she feels her children, "had been thrust upon her, and she could not love them," whenever her children were present, "she always felt