During the class discussion the question of sympathy for Anney came up. Of course it's impossible to say that I would have done this or I would done that in a similar situation. But I just don't feel that I would have stayed with Glenn like Anney is doing. While the lie Glenn tells can be very believable, it's just crazy that she would sit by and watch. The fact that he builds on old lies to justify the beatings makes it tricky. On the other hand, I feel like I would know my child well enough that she wouldn't say something like that. If Anney had asked Bone, said to her in private, is this what really happened then Bone might have opened up, because she was so emotional and vulnerable at that point. Instead, Anney almost accuses Bone, and repeatedly asked her what she did wrong. Of course Bone isn't going to open up when she has the feeling that her own mother might not believe her, and thinks that if her mother believes she had done something to deserve this abuse, then maybe she really has.
I guess looking back, I didn't really feel sympathy for Anney anymore after the whole bathroom incident. She enabled Glenn completely. I'm sure that she didn't think that Bone could hear her having make up sex with Glenn, but by doing that it was a slap in the face to Bone. But the major turning point for me came when she was accused of beating her child in the emergency room. Hearing the harsh words of the doctors, and the evidence of continual brutal abuse Anney had to know that Glenn was taking his "punishments" too far. After this I felt myself judging Anney. Get over yourself. I get it that she has had a hard life, with Bone's dad leaving and Reese's father getting killed. I understand that she just wants to be loved. I also understand her stubbornness, how she doesn't want to go back home to her family because then they would have known she failed. But come on, these are your children. The abuse that Bone has suffered is getting to the point that it's life threatening. She has a broken tailbone, a broken collarbone, tons of bruises that never go away. Anney is obviously in denial. I just can't feel sympathy for a woman who has an out, someone who has a way to get out of a situation that is negatively harming your child, but doesn't. If Anney was all alone in the world with nowhere to turn, then I might feel a little, tiny bit of sympathy. But I won't feel sorry for her.
3 comments:
I agree that Anney should have further questioned what Glen had done, and taken Bone aside to ask her exactly what had happened. This was the point in the book that I stopped feeling bad for Anney and began criticizing her lack of strength. She began at the beginning of the book being described as a strong character which fought to make sure that her child was not labeled a “bastard.” As the story has progressed she has become more and more weak. I think this is due to her dependency on Glen. Glen is an evil character that is a very weak individual, but looked at by his family as strong. Anney puts way too much emphasis on her relationship with Glen, and needs to reassess her priorities in her life. She must realize what kind of a person Glen is, and think about what he is doing to the family. Anney will not stand up and think about what is going on, and her family is being ruined because of it. Bone is being put through very traumatic experiences, and Anney doesn’t even help her.
I agree with you, I don't think that Anney should be given any sympathy. Those are her children. She should have done what you said, and maybe taken bone aside and asked her what really happened instead of realizing it after she is accused in the hospital because her daughter has a broken tailbone and a broken collarbone. I mean come on do we really need to give her sympathy because she needs all the affection she can get? I think that she should get over herself and really think about the fact that she brought two children into this world who are obviously affected by the man she is now with. So get rid of him. He's beating her child and it needs to be taken care of. I'm glad in the end that he gets the crap kicked out of him when it finally is revealed that he is beating Bone.
I have agreed with you from our first class discussion regarding Anney that she deserves no sympathy. When you enter a relationship already having children, the children need to be your first priority. Did she ever ask Reese and Bone whether they liked Glen and wanted her to marry him? No. Instead she told them they needed to love him and then they’d be a happy family. She always made it seem as though it was Bone’s fault if they fought, and Glen fed into this thought by continually declaring his love for Bone and whining that she didn’t love him. I don’t see how Anney went from someone who barely seemed interested in Glen and had him come to the diner for two years before dating him to someone who was so dependent on him. I guess Drew is right that Glen just had a horrible effect on her. His weakness brought her down. Anney had previously been someone who fought hard not to become “white trash” but then let her husband beat her daughter with his belt. How is this not a classless act? Even for punishment, a child does not deserve to be whipped. We all agree it was horrible when Frederick Douglass’ aunt got whipped in his Narrative, so isn’t it just as wrong for Bone to be whipped even as punishment?
You also make a great point that Anney was not alone. She could have easily turned to her family, since they all disapproved of Glen from the start and were so involved in her daughters’ lives anyhow. Also, it is not as though Glen was a source of financial stability, since he was always losing his job. Anney and her daughters would have been much better off if she had left Glen early on because her family would have stepped up to help Anne, and she could have still married someone else.
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