Kasia Żukowska
asked:
I don't understand Vanessa's mother approach. She knew what happened but pretended there was no problem. Why didn't she send her to a therapist?
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My Dark Vanessa,
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Kaitlin
I think Vanessa's mother is a flawed character herself and like many people when suddenly confronted with a terrible situation she dropped the ball and chose denial. This choice was encouraged by the fact that Vanessa herself repeatedly denied the abuse and refused to elaborate on it. However, it's clear that her mother suspected the truth the entire time and didn't know how to deal with it - would reporting Strane and putting Vanessa at the center of a criminal investigation help her or destroy her? Should she force Vanessa to see a therapist despite her refusals and denials? Instead of stepping up as a parent and making a tough decision she chose to ignore it and hoped it would simply go away. A terrible choice but unfortunately an all too common one.
Heather
Throughout the book we see Vanessa secretly wishing that someone would know the truth. That someone would protect her. Instead it seems like everyone dropped the ball and knew what was going on but refuse to do anything about it. These were her teachers, her parents. The enablers are major characters in this book and I think it's important that we know that they contribute as well.
Loukia Borrell
I think Vanessa's mother was more concerned with her own life (work, her schedule) and didn't want to get too involved with what Vanessa was doing at Browick. I felt like she lost confidence in her daughter and was so disappointed in her, that she left Vanessa to figure out what happened on her own. I never got the impression there was a close mother/daughter relationship, even before Vanessa began her relationship with Strane, so it wasn't going to be there later. Also, there may be a bit too much similarity between mother and daughter for them to be closer. We learn the mother keeps expired food in the kitchen, finishes a college degree later in life, and lets the house get messy after her husband (Vanessa's dad) dies. These are all points the author makes, I think, to let us know Vanessa's behavior is a little more like mom's than the mother wants to admit.
Francesca Amy
It’s actually very common for this to happen. We expect all mothers to jump in and protect their child and I think most of us would! But sadly there are so many stories out there where mothers have failed their child in this way. Either by not believing their story or just choosing not to acknowledge it. It’s difficult to believe but it does happen :( The mother in this story infuriated me but she was a believable character.
Shanie
Not only sending her to a therapist, but a normal mother will definitely drive back to the campus and stand up for her daughter. Mothers usually have protections over daughters. I feel like she didn't want to face it, and thought maybe putting this behind is helping her daughter get over with this situation. However, it didn't work out, Vanessa still can't put this behind even when she's 32 years old.
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