Child Abuse In Sharp Objects

Child abuse is unfortunately extremely common within society. A lot of the time, abusers were abused as a child, and they are continuing the circle. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn is an example of how child abuse can affect people as adults, years after the abuse had ceased, as well as the effects on someone who is currently being abused. Similarly, the play Fences has characters that have similar backgrounds, yet the way they functioned as adults sometimes very different. Salinger confronts this type of issue in his Literary Criticism on Sharp Objects. These three literary pieces contain similar information, and shows the effect of neglect and suffering as a child. Abusive parenting and family lives can make it so a child in unable to function …show more content…
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn certainly depicts the psychological damage that can derive from childhood abuse, “A child weaned on poison considers harm a comfort” (Flynn 251). This quote exemplifies how children who come from a past of abuse often are psychologically damaged in a way that causes them to be wary of anything other than abuse. All they know is pain and suffering, and it seems like a sense of home that they never really had to them. Camille is a perfect example of this. She was brought up in a household full of violence and drugs and she grew up to be someone who has an arsenal of psychological illnesses and has been hospitalized because of them. This connects to Gabriel in Fences, an example of how a history of violence can prove to be psychologically damaging for them as adults. Gabriel was injured in World War II and never recovered, which shows that what effects them doesn’t have to be abuse, but it could be any form of violence. Gabriel suffered in a much different way than Camille did, as he regressed into …show more content…
The tone of the quote is somber, which is due to her inability to become happy or not self-deprecating. The abuse she endured as a child prohibited her from being happy as an adult, and the way that she coped with that is cutting and hurting herself constantly. This is not healthy, so it proves that being raised in an abusive household eradicated her ability to refrain from violence due to her personal experiences. Her sister, Amma, although still young, grew up to be violent as well, but towards other people. She grew to hurt other people as her mother hurt her, as pain was the only thing she knew. This relates to how Troy was abused as a child in Fences and grows up to bully his son as well, creating a dynasty of violence. This shows how children that grew up in violent homes would be likely to be abusive as an adult. In his Literary Criticism, Selinger dives into Camille and Amma’s regression to what they knew - violence. He explains that because they only knew pain and suffering they can’t get rid of the memories they had of their mother, and of the torment they endured, “Growing up is hard and harder for some of us than others. Perhaps we never fully leave childhood behind. Camille can’t. Her sister Amma is in some ways eager to leave childhood (she behaves like a pro when it comes to the inciting the desires of men) but in other