"Bastard of Carolina" by Dorothy Allison is a great book. It was hard for me to put it down, after I began to read it. This story almost seemed familiar because we have heard of similar situations like this in society today.
I felt extremely bad for Bone while I was reading. All she wanted was attention, love and care from her mother, Anney. She was deprived of that positive attention that normal little young girls receive from their mothers.
I wonder why Bone was the victim of assault rather than her sister Reese. I think it could be because Reese was a stronger character than Bone. Bone was more acceptable maybe.
I really dislike Anney for the things she does throughout the story or does not do for that matter. It is frustrating to see her pretty much turn her head on the things her husband, Glen, is doing to her daughter, Bone. Most "normal" mothers would do anything to protect their children from anything harmful or anything that will take their childhood away. Anney represents a horrible mother for what she is doing to her daughters. She is ruining their lives, for closing her eyes and turning her head on what is going on in their lives. It's very sad and frustrating to see Anney do this, especially as a mother of two girls.
I don't have much to say about Glen, except I really dislike him as a character because he is a horrible person, father, wife or even friend for doing harmful things to human beings, like Bone.
I can not wait to finish reading the book "Bastard of Carolina". I really am excited to see what happens at the end. I really hope Bone can get her life back, and I hope her mother finally realizes she needs to take action in her life as well as her children's life. Hopefully there is a chance for Bone to live a normal life with her mother and her sister without being abused.
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I had a lot of trouble trying to figure out how I felt about Anney. In the beginning of the book she seemed like the best mother that Bone could have. It seemed like they had some sort of connection, and perhaps that's why Glen went after her, because he wanted what Bone and Anney had. However, when things started to get rough with Glen and Bone, I was really surprised that Anney didn't leave him right then and there. She was so close with her daughter it seemed that she would have risked her happiness for her daughter's safety. At the same time though it seemed like Anney had gone through so much and she was in love and happy with Glen. I don't think that she made the right decision by staying with Glen but I still feel for her, and I know that Bone does too.
Anney was a difficult character to figure out. In the beginning, I really sympathized with her. Her life was really hard, getting pregnant while she was a teenager, losing the love of her life in a tragic car accident, and losing her youth before she was even out of her teenage years. Quickly, my opinions changed. Yea, Anney had a lot to deal with, and she wasn't exactly grown up herself, but I feel like if you're in a situation, regardless if you put yourself in the situation or not, you need to stand up and face it. She should have taken responsibility for Bone, and opened her to eyes as to what was going on. It was more than obvious something was wrong since Bone was becoming more and more reclusive as she got older. No matter how "old and worn out" Anney was, she should have put her child's welfare before her own.
Nicole,
I also wonder why Reese is not a victim of Glen’s abuse and sexual assaults. I wonder whether or not Reese is experiencing similar sexual assaults and yet we, as the reader are just not told about it, for Bone is unaware of its happenings. Anney not stopping the abuse and standing up for her daughter is just dead wrong and there is no way that she could ever be considered a “normal” mother in my eyes. Because Anney is so reluctant to leave Glen, I also wonder if she might have been through some traumatic experience in her life that does not allow her to fully comprehend that what is going on with Bone being abused is wrong. She most certainly is however, ruining her daughters’ lives as you stated, and the experiences that the two girls went through or saw, will follow them and haunt them for the rest of their lives.
Anney is a complicated character I can't say I liked her or didn't. mostly I felt sorry for her. I felt sorry for her because see was so desparate, and lost. She wanted so much to be happy to have a good life, she wanted it so badly she she spent all her time praying for it stopped working for it.
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