Normally, it would be kind of fun to watch the verbal sparring, like with Julia and Uncle Brian in the earlier scene, but it's not. Both Jason's mom and dad are kind of witty, sarcastic, and that would be fun if it wasn't for the war that killed someone's son. Mind you, someone close in age to both of their children.
Also, it's just frustrating to watch people who could be okay throw everything away just from stubbornness and lack of communication. Michael had a chance when Helena sat him down to talk about the finances, but instead he exploded. Helena had the chance with the mix-up about the delivery date. But instead, they chose to be spiteful and passive aggressive, and that gives me such a gross feeling. The solution to the problem isn't simple, no, but certainly there are better ways to make the situation better.
To sum it all up, and to quote Jason, "I want to kick this moronic bloody world in the bloody teeth over and over till it bloody understands that not hurting people is ten bloody thousand times more bloody important than being right"
So, if you're feeling passive aggressive towards someone or being spiteful or mean or whatever, please take a second to reconsider why you're doing it, if it's the best way to fix the problem, and if you can, just BE NICE for the love of the world.
That's a good point that I didn't even think of until you mentioned it, that Jason's mom and dad are so caught up in their own bullheaded drama that they don't seem to quite realize or feel the tragedy going on in their own town. Seems to mirror the two governing bodies of the countries at war not noticing the cost of their dispute until it's too late.
ReplyDeleteGO OFF on this you're so right there are SO many moments when people in this book, especially adults, could really just take a breath and listen for once instead of being snide. Sure, arguments succeed in court, but your life isn't one big debate. I was pretty surprised when Jason's parents were completely unaware of him being bullied in school, but I guess I now realize that they were just too caught up in petty drama to see any bigger picture. PREACH SISTA
ReplyDeleteWow I didn't even think about this. There is so much going on around them, but Jason's parents seem totally oblivious. I feel like it's really important for them to be there for Jason because he's pretty young and there's a war happening and someone in their community died. But Jason has to process all of these events by himself because his parents are too busy fighting.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good point. This chapter was my favorite in the book, because I thought the parallels of what was happening in Jason's house and in the outside world were incredibly well done and fascinating. Unfortunately, a part of growing up is realizing that adults also really don't know what they're doing and make mistakes and often don't act perfectly. I think Jason's seeing that in this chapter with his parents both acting rather cruel and self-absorbed, rather than looking out for their kids and reaching out to them in this hard time, and it's frustrating him as well as the readers.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time relationships can really suck and be stressful so while proper communication would have helped, it just might not have been possible. It's easy for an outsider to come up with a simple solution but things can be really complicated sometimes. I don't think we should be so hard on the parents because yes the war is horrible, but they are going through something devastating as well.
ReplyDeleteWhile in theory this is a great concept, it's hard to just "be nice." Even adults still don't really know what they're doing. We only think of them as adults because we put them up there as such. If you really think about, Jason's mom and dad are kind of just big children. Yes, if they had just calmed down and communicated, they might've fixed this. However, I think it's unfair to expect them to be mature about the situation. It's hard to think rationally when you're frustrated. Besides, this isn't their first fight. It probably would've been worse if they had stayed together and continued to be unhappy.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading this chapter, I think it's easy to see the ways in which Michael and Helena could be more understanding toward each other, and how they could improve their communication, but I think that overall, their splitting up was better for both of them. Michael was obviously more interested in his side fling than Helena, and I think that leaving Michael improved Helena's confidence and allowed her to explore her own interests without receiving criticism. I think that, even if they had been more civil here, they would've remained unhappy and unfulfilled in their relationship.
ReplyDeleteI think that the connections between Jason's parents fighting and the Falklands War show that aggressive actions have a cost. The war overseas leads directly to the death of a young man, so what will the result of his parents' fighting be? It's terrible to watch as Helena and Michael continue their fighting regardless of the cost. Thankfully, Jason seems to understand that his parents' behavior isn't okay, and I hope he won't reproduce that behavior in his own life.
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