Teenage Wasteland Analysis

He was often punished when his brothers weren 't, even if they were doing the same thing. He was able to be adventurous but instead was stuck with guilt. Throughout his years he also faced the emotional toll of abuse in many ways. One way his mother did this was by no longer calling him by his name, and not referring to him as a human. Dave states in his book, “that death would be better than my prospects for any kind of happiness. I was nothing but an “it”.” Children and adolescents go through a stage where they are trying to figure out who they are. With an abusive mother who takes away your identity it would be really hard to figure out who you are and you would be confused on what roles to play. Erikson’s stages emphasize family and culture. Erikson noted that psychological conflicts, especially in childhood within families, affect people lifelong.

In Anne Tyler’s “Teenage Wasteland,” the reader is given insight into the difficulty of parenting through Daisy’s desperate attempt to stop her son from his seemingly uncontrollable downward spiral. The paranoia of her “perfect” parenting techniques leads to the tainting of Donny’s innocence over time and eventually his mysterious disappearance at the end of the story. Through symbols of innocence and corruption, Tyler demonstrates the importance of keeping one’s head clear and focused while parenting, and that using common sense and logic is far more effective than relying on idealism and hope.

A little after starting to see Cal, a teacher had called Daisy about Donny’s academic problems he is currently facing. Miss Evans said, “Now here is the problem, back when you were helping Donny with his homework his grades rose from a D to a C, but now they’ve slipped back and they’re closer to an F” (Tyler 5). Daisy reluctantly put her trust in Cal to help her son, but his grades were worse than when she was providing help for Donny. When Donny got expelled from school, because he had some beer in his locker, Daisy was very untrusting of him when he denied it. When Donny said that his mom did not trust him, “Daisy drew in a breath to say that of course she trusted him - a reflex… but she knew that bold-faced, wide eyed look of Donny’s” (Tyler 8). She knew by the look on Donny’s face that he was lying, and of course a mother would question their child when something happens like this. Daisy may have been seen as untrustworthy of her son at times, but she was trying to help him and make sure that he did not make bad choices

Anne Tyler’s “Teenage Wasteland” is a story about a modern day family of four and the relationship issues they experienced with each other. The story is presented in third person limited; however, the reader is shown much about how the mother of the family feels and the troubles she experiences in her relationships with her husband and children, primarily her son Donny. Daisy is portrayed as a mother who worries that she had failed Donny because of his continual disobedience toward the authority figures in his life. Donny is a teen who constantly misbehaves in school and in the story is described as “noisy, lazy, and disruptive; always fooling around with his friends, and would not respond in class.” (188). These behaviors lead Donny to

For those of us that are parents, we know that raising a child to adulthood is not an easy task but one which we do lovingly (hopefully) and responsibly. I’ll go out on a limb to say here that everyone agrees that the teenage years are the most challenging. The general consensus is that teenagers are unruly, aggressive, careless, spoiled and dependent on technology. On the other hand, I believe along with a small group of other parents that teenagers are also brilliant and in the process of becoming and reaching their potential and that they deserve much more respect than what they are given.

“Teenage Wasteland” is a short story written by Anne Tyler that focuses on the relationship between teens and parents. Many times it seems like they live in completely different worlds but they just have a different understanding of what they both want from each other. The story focuses on the two main characters Donny and Daisy. Donny is a teenage boy who isn’t the best student and doesn’t necessarily follow the rules or obey what his parents say. Daisy is a stay at home mom to her two children. And she doesn’t seem too motivated on helping her children but just focused on pointing out all the bad things that Donny does.

The question must be asked, when did food waste become an issue? Jonathan Bloom writer of, Jonathan Bloom’s American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of Its Food (and What We Can Do About It) explored this question. Bloom’s book, discussed in Stacy Slate’s article “Who's To Blame for All We Waste? We Are. A Review of American Wasteland,” describes how our change in respect for food happened over many centuries. In the 1700s people were just starting to make settlements, so their goal was to live as simply as they could. They only grew food that was needed. In the 1900s, the Great Depression and World War II resulted in non-existent food waste. Waste was considered unpatriotic. By the end of World War II, food was cheaper because

Instead, she wants her daughter to live a happy life full of ignorance. Although Daisy wants her daughter to live a better life than her, she preps her daughter to be beautiful at a very young age. “That’s because your mother wanted to show you off” (117). To Daisy, her daughter is more of a doll than an actual human being. She plays dress up with her daughter as if she’s a barbie instead of having her daughter play with barbies. Her daughter’s only existence is to be Daisy’s entertainment.

     How many people have conflicts with there parents? This is not a uncommon thing for young adults to show conflict with their parents. Conflicts are something that occur very often and it seems as though young adults have lots of conflicts with their parents. Some young adults feel as though, if they are eighteen, nineteen, or twenty that they are able to make their own decisions. Whether it be staying out past curfew, borrowing the car, or staying over a friends house, the young adult or teenager doesn’t see eye to eye with their parents and this is where the conflict comes into play.

“The psychologist said Donny has no serious emotional problems. He was merely going through a difficult period in his life. He required some academic help and a a better sense of self-worth.” (Anne Tyler. “Teenage Wasteland”) When children become teenagers, they begin the confusing yet enlightening journey into adulthood. At this point, they make important decisions which may change the course their lives. Teenagers are still influenced by others, but they are now responsible for their own choices and actions. Entering into young adulthood can be very confusing. At this stage, young people are deciding who they are and who they want to be. They also feel as if they should take responsibility for themselves but do not feel like a complete adult. Donny was basically deciding that school was not for him. He was cutting class and getting in trouble. Daisy took it upon herself to make the decision for him to go see a psychologist.

This ability of reasoning leads adolescent to be rebellious, because they can understand that adult’s rules are not necessarily legitimate all the time. For instance, “A 14-years- old becomes acutely aware of the difference between what adults say they do and how they really act.” Billy showed this kind of cognitive ability, and he was rebellious towards his father Billy Ray and especially to Norm. He said to Norman “don’t tell me what to do”. Adolescents develop a hostile perception about adults. They become critical about their parents and the community they live in as a whole.

Daisy had an accident, she was immediately viewed as too old to drive by her son. That accident was a life changing event for Mrs. Daisy. She seemed to be a determined, strong, stern, and independent woman. When Boolie informed his mother that she can no longer drive and that she would be chauffeured places, she declined and insisted that she would find a way to get to her destinations. It seemed that she did not want any outside help from others that affected her directly. She simply did not want to change the way she did things or her routines, which to her means losing quite a bit of her independence. This is when another life changing event happened to Mrs. Daisy. Boolie hired an African American gentleman by the name of Hoke to chauffeur his mother around. She immediately gave him the cold shoulder and informed him that she did not need his services. She even accused Hoke of stealing a can of salmon from her pantry. Indeed, he did take the can of salmon and openly admitted that the accusations were true, also with a can of salmon in hand to replace the one he had eaten. I believe this was another turning point for Mrs. Daisy. Even though she turned her nose up at Hoke, he was persistent, humble and honest, something she just could not shake easily. His patience instilled trust within Mrs. Daisy opposed to her son who just was too busy to spend quality time with his

Throughout the story teenage wasteland there are many structures of education's. There is the school,the teachers, Cal's house ,and donny house. In gerneral the story itself is not about education but says a little about it. We know in the feelings and details of the main character daisy in the story ,however we do Donny's. Thought Donny's actions with schooling and being educated there is there is a way to show the nature of education that is being portrayed.

Everyone remembers fighting with their parents at some point in their life, whether as a young child who wants a toy or as a teenager who isn’t allowed to go out. It’s normal to want to challenge authority when growing up, because it helps young people to make their own decisions and become individuals. Teenagers rely on few close friends and the last people expected to be confidants are their parents.

Daisy Miller is breaking these social norms by constantly associating with different men, drawing the attention of many others and Connie expresses her sexuality by abandoning her friends to spend time with a boy in his car; this ultimately leads to society’s metaphorical murder of these women.