Every year, more than three million children are abused and these numbers only count for cases that have been reported in the United States (ChildHelp.org). Bastard Out of Carolina, written by Dorothy Allison, tells the story of young Bone as she learns to navigate her life after being sexually and physically abused by her stepfather, Glen Waddell. Bone is born into the Boatwright family to Anney Boatwright and an unknown father. Bone and her mothers’ future is indirectly affected by the words “illegitimate” that are stamped on her birth certificate. After failed attempts to try and legitimize Bone’s existence, Anney tried to find a good man to marry so she can lift this burden off of herself and marries Glen, a man from a well to do family
…show more content…
Their relationship starts off well, but troubles come up causing Glen to become stressed and take his anger out on six-year-old Bone by molesting her while Anney is in the hospital giving birth. The abuse escalates and he starts to physically abuse her which later results in Bone spending time in the hospital. The novel concludes with Glen raping 13-year old Bone, and Anney leaving her daughter to pursue a life with Glen. The novel deals with delicate issues such as the cycle of abuse and how this affects a child’s coming of age. The cycle of abuse includes three stages: the tension building phase, acute battering episode, and the honeymoon phase. In Bastard Out of Carolina, Dorothy Allison accurately portrays the Cycle of Abuse, showing that Glen only abuses Bone so he can show off his masculinity, and addressing how the abuse has detrimental effects on Bone’s health and normal coming of …show more content…
The Jefferson College of Health Sciences describes the first stage of the cycle when, “the abuser may become edgy and start to react more negatively to frustrations. The tension may rise to a point where the abuser feels that he/she has lost control over the behavior/actions of the victim” (Jefferson College). In this phase, tension starts to build around trivial household matters like children, jobs, or food and the abuser starts to verbally abuse the victim to show them that they are more powerful than the victim. Whenever Glen feels stressed or needs an outlet to express his feelings, he would shout, “Don’t run like that. ‘You’re a girl, not a racehorse…‘What did I tell you?” (Allison 104). Allison shows that even though Bone was just running through her house playing with Reese and not purposely trying make Glen mad, he still felt frustrated and lost control of the situation. Glen shook her, “back and forth till [her] head rocked on [her] neck” for being a child and playing with her sister. Allison hints that Glen is abusing Bone because that is the only way he had learned how to compartmentalize his feelings. After being abused by Glen for several months, Bone realizes that her family dynamic is different than others her age, and this causes her to lose all confidence in herself. She says that, “The
Their relationship starts off well, but troubles come up causing Glen to become stressed and take his anger out on six-year-old Bone by molesting her while Anney is in the hospital giving birth. The abuse escalates and he starts to physically abuse her which later results in Bone spending time in the hospital. The novel concludes with Glen raping 13-year old Bone, and Anney leaving her daughter to pursue a life with Glen. The novel deals with delicate issues such as the cycle of abuse and how this affects a child’s coming of age. The cycle of abuse includes three stages: the tension building phase, acute battering episode, and the honeymoon phase. In Bastard Out of Carolina, Dorothy Allison accurately portrays the Cycle of Abuse, showing that Glen only abuses Bone so he can show off his masculinity, and addressing how the abuse has detrimental effects on Bone’s health and normal coming of …show more content…
The Jefferson College of Health Sciences describes the first stage of the cycle when, “the abuser may become edgy and start to react more negatively to frustrations. The tension may rise to a point where the abuser feels that he/she has lost control over the behavior/actions of the victim” (Jefferson College). In this phase, tension starts to build around trivial household matters like children, jobs, or food and the abuser starts to verbally abuse the victim to show them that they are more powerful than the victim. Whenever Glen feels stressed or needs an outlet to express his feelings, he would shout, “Don’t run like that. ‘You’re a girl, not a racehorse…‘What did I tell you?” (Allison 104). Allison shows that even though Bone was just running through her house playing with Reese and not purposely trying make Glen mad, he still felt frustrated and lost control of the situation. Glen shook her, “back and forth till [her] head rocked on [her] neck” for being a child and playing with her sister. Allison hints that Glen is abusing Bone because that is the only way he had learned how to compartmentalize his feelings. After being abused by Glen for several months, Bone realizes that her family dynamic is different than others her age, and this causes her to lose all confidence in herself. She says that, “The