5. Stanislaw is one of the more complex characters in the book.

[Kristel]

Stanislaw is one of the more complex characters, in part because he is not in control of his own destiny but is instead subject to the whims of his mother and other adults. Though he is no innocent, he is in some ways a victim. Return to some sections of the book that deal with Stanislaw. Try to imagine the story from his point of view. Who would you trust in his situation? What would you hope for?

[Eadie]

Valentina used Stanislaw to translate the love letters and poems that she received from Nikolai. He should not have been put in that position because he really seemed to young to be reading all of Nikolai's feelings for his mother. Stanislaw seems like a very nice boy but his mother was very wrong about him being an A student. His final grade ended up being a C and this caused a big problem between Valentina and Nikolai. Valentina sent him to the court to explain what she wanted from the divorce. This put Stanislaw in a position that a child should not have to speak in front of the court. In these ways, I do feel as though he was victimized. He also missed his father very much which seemed to be resolved in the end when his father came and took them back to the Ukraine.

[Pip]

Stanislaw is not really developed as a character, so I wouldn't describe him as complex. He is certainly put in some difficult situations - not least having a baby sister of uncertain paternity! He probably was uncertain who to trust, when even his father was prepared to abandon him and agree to a divorce for monetary purposes.

[Kristel]

Oh, Pip. And Eadie, you bring up such hard things in your comments. Poor child.
Mother treating him as an adult by bringing him into the "love relationship" of his mother, sending him to court.
Fatherless
Children from different fathers
He was either very resilient or heading for a world of hurt.

[Judith]

I think you are all correct here. He was not well enough developed for us to know the extent of the damage done to him, but I would expect he would have many problems as a teenager after all he went through. I would have said he could trust his father, but Pip brings up such a good point. I doubt he could understand why his father let his family break up so that Valentina could emigrate to the UK....especially after they did not find good lives for themselves while there.

[John]

Again, I agree with Pip. I also agree that the children of abusers, even if they aren't the direct victims of the abuse, often have great difficulties in their own lives. I think this would be compounded by the fact that Stanislaw was effectively abandoned by his father.

[Lynn]

Stanislaw was another victim of his mother. I agree with Shuva his dad will likely bring stability to his life.

[Diane]

Stanislaw is definitely a victim in this situation and I feel sorry for him. Like Lynn and Shuva said I hope that going back home as a family, it will provide a stable life for him.

[Wolf]

I hope so, too. And looking closer at it, for how little we learn about him, he is surprisingly complex. I didn't realize while reading how sad it actually is that he turns from the boy who can't shut up about his favourite everything (even graveyards, maybe ;) ) into the boy who doesn't say much at all and runs crying from the courtroom because his mother once more put him into an impossible situation.

[Jen]

I agree with Pip. I did feel incredibly sad for him and it made me wonder how his childhood experiences would play out for him as an adult.