October Country Analysis

Superior Essays
October Country

In the film, “October Country,” the Mosher family’s unhappy environment and personal troubles are openly shared with the viewers. The family is facing several social problems, like mental illness, teenage pregnancy, dependency of government assistance, etc. Above all, the most evident problem that is manifested by all of the family members, is the “vicious cycle” that persists within the women in the family. That is, the abusive partners that mother (Donna) and daughter (Danael) got involved with at an early age. They both became teen moms, endured verbal and physical abuse and eventually ended up being single battered mothers who struggled with parenthood. The Mosher’s are a dysfunctional family who seem hopeless with their circumstances because they simply don’t make much of an effort to change their life style and are accustomed to their habits. In the beginning of the documentary, when the family is introduced, we can immediately observe in the background that their home is unappealing. The house is disorganized and
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In this case, that depends on the younger sister (Desiree) to not follow the footsteps of her mother and older sister. Although, she’s still young and somewhat naive, there is something promising about her character. The perspective she has of her family and how she generally expresses herself about life, goes way beyond her age, which gives the family hope. Desiree knows that bad choice in men is the reason why her mom and sister are unhappy with their lives and she doesn’t want to follow the same path. However, I don’t believe she has the potential to lead a different lifestyle because she doesn’t have the appropriate discipline and upbringing. Unless she makes that change soon, than she could explore life outside of the “norms” that she has lived with under her family’s

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