We see Alison trying to understand why her mother and father have such a distant relationship. Dad comes into the kitchen and his body language says it all. He is clearly distancing himself from everyone else. After all, isn’t his family his main priority? Unfortunately, this is the downside to his façade.
Alison is becoming increasingly aware that there is something wrong with mom and dad’s relationship. Alison is having difficulty understanding why this is happening. Why can’t mom and dad show their emotions? It is obvious to her that when dad comes in the room, the atmosphere in the room changes immediately and it is not for the better.
Alison decides to break the silence by asking her mother a question. “When did you meet dad?” Her mother responds, “I can’t remember.” I think what she really wanted to say to her daughter is something like: “I can’t recall exactly when he started to change into the person he is today.”
Her mother feels she has lost herself in this so-called marriage. She feels that she still must support her husband’s so-called family life. She is also the peacemaker of the family and is constantly trying to find her own inner peace so she can keep things around her calm and peaceful. She remains silent about her feelings. She is unable to speak out against that which does not allow her to be free. There is no respect for one another as people. They seem to relate to each other as objects without feelings rather than the emotion-laden people that all human beings are.
When really looking at the pictures in this book, it is so evident that the family is in fear of the father. He is an abusive bully who the mother now sees clearly but doesn’t know what to do to change him back into the man she remembers (and married) or take the children and leave him. She seems to be an empty shell of the person she once was. She’s allowed herself to go numb rather than feel the pain he is inflicting on her and her family every single day.
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