If he allows Cully to take responsibility for his actions that means he has to let go of how Cully used to be and see him as he is and he can’t, because if he does that it means he’s letting go of the past. Hal cannot let go of the past. A part of him wants to keep the good in the past and the other part of him cannot get over the bad things in the past. He also does not want to take responsibility, he does not want to deal with Cully’s behavior so he pushes the blame for his failure to identify and do something about Cully’s behavior onto Darlene. “He was too angry to say anything else to her-how could she not notice?” (Steinke 130). None of this is Darlene’s fault, but Hal projects his frustration and responsibilities onto her so that he does not have to be responsible and neither does Cully.
I think Dex is trying to be genuine, because he does still like Willa, however, he may also be reaching out to her due to his own guilt for not doing anything. He knows so much about what happened because of what the football players tell confide in him and what he himself saw but he’s afraid to come forward and speak. “You’re threatening me?” (Steinke 208). Dex is not so subtly threatened by one of his ‘friends’ on the team. He wants to stand up for Willa but he feels like he can’t really do anything yet.
One of the institutions in Friendswood that is using blame is the institution of family. Willa’s mother is putting blame on her to criticize and punish her inability to remember. She is in pain about her daughter being raped and failed to protect her so she is displacing her anger and pain onto Willa. She also blames Willa’s best friend, Dani, for being a bad influence on her even though Dani is doing whatever she can to protect Willa. Hal on the other hand is using blame to absolve Cully of his responsibility and his actions. He blames his wife Darlene for Cully’s drinking. He’s not letting Cully learn responsibility or accountability. Hal idolizes Cully and cannot accept anything about him that does not adhere to the image he has of his son.
Works Cited
Steinke, Rene. Friendswood. New York, New York: Riverhead Books, 2014. Book.
You successfully conveyed how blame weaved through each of the presented scenarios. It was clear that blame and guilt influenced Dex's decision to befriend Willa, that blame was one of the foremost reasons that Hal has eluded the inevitable truth about his son, and that blame has caused the parents to find other outlets to project their pain and anger. Your post thoroughly addressed all necessary parts and was backed by textual support that referenced where the blame was most prominent. Perhaps digging deeper and elaborating further would have brought about more instances of blame.
ReplyDeleteI found your images to be appealing as well. Both complimented the content successfully. Your first image regarding father-son relations was incredibly intriguing in that it offered valuable insight that changes the reader's perspective regarding the Hal-Cully dynamic. No matter what sage words of wisdom leave Hal's lips, Cully will learn through mimicking Hal's actions. Your second image was also visually crucial to arousing a deeper emotion from the audience. The evocative image allows the reader to almost become inundated with the suffocation and suppression of the rumors going around and to feel like a voice has no sound.
In class, I know we did extensive discussion regarding the connection between blame and shame. You mentioned guilt in your post. How does guilt correlate with blame? What's the connection between the two? What delineates between them?
Your comments were thorough and reflective.
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ReplyDeleteHalina--your images and quote wonderfully weave together blame and accountability.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, I would have liked for you to more thoroughly elaborate on your points by developing why each of these characters actions were significant. Does that make sense?