Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Wintergirls
In the book Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, Lia is constantly struggling with her views towards authority figures. She refers to them constantly by their first names like "Jennifer" and/or their titles like "Dr. Marrigan" instead of "mom." Why do you think Lia does this throughout the book? Do you feel that this could come up with our future students? Is this a red flag? What would you do in a situation like this and/or how would you approach this with teenagers, who can often times be over emotional and sensitive?
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I believe this was Lia's way of creating distance between herself and the authority figures in her life. She was so angry about the divorce, her dad remarrying, and how her mom became so wrapped up in her work. She felt abandoned and distanced herself as a way to cope. I do think we will see some of this with our future students and I do think it could be considered a red flag. Perhaps the best way to approach this with teens would be to find literature they can read, literature where teens are feeling emotionally distant from their parents. My guess is there is a lot of teen lit. books like that out there. This way, discussion that is "once removed" from a teen's personal experience might open the doors for expressing themselves without exposing themselves.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kathy. I think Lia does this to distance herself. "Mom" and "Dad" are terms that are special and reserved for only your parents. By calling her parents by their first names, or even their professional titles, Lia turns her parents into regular people that have no meaning to her. This is her way of separating herself from them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you both. I think Lia is struggling with common teen angst on top of her eating disorder. She puts distance there but also puts these adult figures into a category that could never, in her eyes, be related to or understand her. By doing this, she has almost justified her actions because they just don't understand her. By not referring to them by there socially accepted pronouns it's like she has removed credibility from their opinions and criticism.
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