Yet recently all the memories of her and I have come flooding back to me in tidal waves of emotions, and after consideration I feel I have not done enough. I did not cherish every second of every minute of every hour I was with her and it devastates me at this time, but that’s how it always goes I suppose. But not for her. Mrs. Mallard ensured my life was as simplistic and easy going as she could. Whether it was her loving support, physical labors, or the smiles she would give me which could outshine the moon.
The DeRosier’s were also the ones who shattered her dreams of a perfect family by saying “We take you in because your parents don’t want you"(35). The DeRosier’s left April with a shame of her background and an even deeper shame for her parents. Even though the DeRosier’s did so much bad for April and her identity, they still did some good for her. They made such an horrible environment but April stayed strong and grew as a person. She even said “I could let the DeRosier’s suck out my dignity for now and I could pretend they had me where they wanted me.
She descends into a psychological hell from being too caught up in discovering the answers. After many tribulations, she reaches her lowest level by feeling she has won when she realizes the truth about Miles expulsion. However, she really lost, since she failed her first job in taking care of the children, since Miles dies and Flora turns gravely ill. “I felt a sick swim at the drop of my victory and all the return of my battle, so that the wildness of my veritable leap only served as a great betrayal” (James; ch. 24, par. 44).
It’s the “bleeding wound” that she can’t get to clot – paying high interest rates and not being able to make a dent in the principal. Although she defaulted on her student loans and ran up considerable debt, she seems to know what the important things are on which she needs to spend her money … things to make her children healthy and wiser. It’s unfortunate that she finally had to declare bankruptcy because she had really tried to stand on her own and make things work. She must have felt completely defeated when she took that final step. Ann’s quote at the beginning of Chapter 5 made a strong impression on me: “People who don’t call when they can’t come to work probably don’t think they’re important enough to matter.” Until I read that I would always assume that people who didn’t call in were just irresponsible.
She married for love, and the love turned to dust. She had bonny children, yet she felt they had been thrust upon her, and she could not love them.” Even though she has everything she needs, a stable family and enough money to support her needs, she still wants more. She says that she is “very unlucky” because she “married an unlucky husband”. Instead of taking the responsibility upon herself that she is unlucky and does not have everything she wants, she blames others for her lack of happiness. In the end she turns out to be the luckiest character in the story because with Paul’s luck she gains all of the money he won.
Her psychological trauma begins with the brutality of the way her first daughter was taken away to die. “She was not prepared for what happened last time… Kavita felt her budding joy give away to confusion. She tried to speak, to articulate something from her thoughts swirling in her head” (page 6-7). This quote shows that she was at first happy with the birth of her first child, but her confusion of the moment left her with no response. She could only admire her child and she could not understand why her husband could not see
Melinda thought there was something wrong with her, like she was useless. She had a lot of trouble making friends and when she did make a friend her depression drove them away. Melinda's depression even caused her to cut herself and contemplate committing suicide. Melinda's depression could have been avoided if she had learned to overcome her past earlier. Next, if you don't overcome your past, you will never be able to get on with your life.
I really related to the character of Samantha who is afraid of being attached to someone because she’s seen how love can destroy a person which she has seen first hand from her parents rough separation. She has learnt to become a realist,‘avoid love at all costs’ is her motto. I believe this is very wise as no body is faithful these days, people treat marriage more like a hobby in this day and age instead of a full on commitment. The divorce rate in New Zealand has fluctuated since the 1900’s, we are at the highest percentage that divorce has ever been. I feel as though people these days have forgotten the real meaning of love, or just don't understand what a real commitment is.
He considers “The Little Engine That Could” a realistic story. He shares the story of a young adult who reminisced about her childhood and remembered the disappointment she experienced from this story. Bettelheim claims that she experienced this negative effect because the story was set in the present and the main character was a common, well-known prop. These associations caused the girl to apply the story directly to her life, and when she failed (unlike the tank engine in the story) she assumed that she failed at a task that anyone else could have accomplished. Bettelheim argued that “without any fantasy elaboration (Bettelheim 470),” this girl was doomed from the start.
In conclusion, I have lost everything I loved because I lost my temper and couldn’t control myself. I lost my girlfriend; the most women I have loved in my life. I lost my job; even though I was speeding and fighting with Nancy that day, because I didn’t want to be late to work and I didn’t want to lose my