Introduction What causes Donny to feel the need to rebel from his family? The story “Teenage Wasteland” written by Ann Tyler revolves around an over protective mother and her rebellious son. Donny’s rebellious attitude is caused by three factors.
The first factor is Donny’s mother is very strict. For example, Donny’s mother shows how strict she is by implementing rules such as, no TV on school nights, and no talking on the phone till he finishes his homework.
As shown in the text on page 189 paragraph 3. Another example, Daisy would sit next to Donny everyday checking his assignments and the quality of work he put into them as is supported from the text in paragraph 4 page 189. Also Donny was forced to attend psychologist appointments to correct his behavioral issues as set forth by his mother. Which is supported by the evidence on page 189 paragraph 9. Overall a strong factor in Donny’s rebellious attitude stems from the fact that his mother is overbearing and Donny feels that he has no freedom, therefore Donny feels pressure and continues to act out.
The second factor in Donny’s rebellious attitude is the freedom he receives with having Cal as his tutor. For example, on page 191 paragraph 48 Donny uses the tutor as a crutch to get him out of trouble because he was talking I class instead of listening. Donny continuously takes advantage of the fact that Cal is his tutor for example, he goes to a rock concert with him which his mother would have never aloud before he had his tutor. As supported by the text on page 192 paragraph 56.
The Essay on Joyce Maynard’s: “Honoring Mothers: Four Generations”
Written by authorJoyce Maynard, the essay, “Honoring Mothers: Four Generations”, begins with a description of the relationship between mother and daughter. The first few lines illustrate how a daughter, typically, would grow up to be much like her mother. (“The kind of mother I am is all wrapped up with the kind of mother I had.”). In the first paragraph, the author ...
The final Factor that Donny used Cal to his advantage when his rebellious behavior got him kicked out of school. Donny was caught with a locker full of beer and used Cal in the sense to defend his word to his mother that he was not at fault. I found the support for this evidence on page 194 paragraph 94. In conclusion uses the factor (Cal) as his crutch to hide behind the actions that his mother would not approve of.
Three factor cause Donny’s attitude towards rebellion. A very strong factor out these 3 that led to Donny’s rebellious behavior was when he gained the freedom that he had with Cal. Since then Donny had more freedom then he did beforehand, as a result Donny seized the opportunity to rebel even more. Overall Donny’s mother kept trying to fix her sons attitude problem, but the more she tried the worse it got.
