Linda answers “Did anyone else just HATE Betsy? ...”

Patty asked this question about Home Front:

Did anyone else just HATE Betsy? Seriously, a 12 year old is allowed to be THAT narcissistic? Not in my family and not in most I think. Betsy's character wrecked the storyline for me.

Linda I think that there may have been more to the background of Betsy and Lulu than the author allowed us to see. We do learn that there are years between …moreI think that there may have been more to the background of Betsy and Lulu than the author allowed us to see. We do learn that there are years between the two births without an intervening birth and that the mother in law helped keep Jolene positive while she hoped for another conception. If the author had indicated a history that documented Betsy's dethroning and subsequent antagonism toward the little one and also the reason why each of these kids is nearly sacred to the parents--and not necessarily realistically disciplined--we could take them more seriously.
[Note: I have been a middle school teacher. "Meteoric" and such is not sufficient to explain the rudeness of Betsy. Kids in 7th grade still believe a little bit in magic, etc. They swing from childish to comically worldly. But they also understand that they are pushing boundaries and are constantly testing parents and teachers, which is actually in part a security thing. They want reliability in their lives, so they can be unreliable and test things.] What bothered me more was that the parents didn't give the kids tasks. They have no responsibilities. These kids essentially have two slaves who are incidentally their parents, plus a grandma who gives too much leeway also.

I was bothered by the way that the son of Betsy's close friend was treated. There was some kind of lesson in friendship, parallel to their mothers' friendship, which was never developed. Perhaps it is that friendships develop between people, not between people who are incidental to a different friendship of someone else's. (less)

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