DownSyn Forum

Tom · Posted: November 05 2007, 6:52 PM Post subject: Curious 2 - Mother

What is the effect of reading the letters Christopher's mother wrote to him? Was his mother justified in leaving? Does Christopher comprehend her apology and her attempt to explain herself [pp. 106–10]? Does he have strong feelings about the loss of his mother?

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LeeJo · Posted: November 08 2007, 3:13 PM Post subject:

The feelings of betrayal by his father really seem to eclipse the feelings of loss of his mother, this totally confounds me!!

I don't know if she was justified in leaving, but she is very human in her feelings and responses, and though I don't like her choice, I can see how she got to that point.

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Lee, mom to Alex 6 DS, ADHD, Ben 2 1/2 DS, Hirschsprungs/HOH (adopted), Hannah 9 typical, Chelsea 18 typical (adopted)

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jennifergg · Posted: November 15 2007, 10:28 AM Post subject:

It's difficult for me to imagine a character that would leave her children, and have much sympathy for them. I think that was one of the first stumbling blocks I had in identifying with David in MKD. It's something I judge characters harshly for.

But I though the letters were a good way of revealing the character's emotions and thought processes, and were especially brilliant in this case, where the narrator is a young boy who might not fully comprehend all the subtleties. Using the letters to give the mother her own voice was great.

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Jennifer Graf Groneberg

Tom · Posted: November 15 2007, 10:56 AM Post subject:

An excellent point, Jennifer. With Christopher being the narrator this was by far the best way to give voice to his mother. I could never see his mother going into this long explanation with Christopher in a face-to-face conversation.

To me it seems that Christopher has a much stronger reaction to having been lied to by his father than having his mother leave. I think Christopher is completely accepting of his mother's explanations, in fact I don't think he really needed an explanation.

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Tom

Dad to Beth (17) and Mikey (13 - Ds and PDD-NOS)
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