Students will write a Critical Book Review (100 points). The CBR is a 1,000-word essay critically addressing the assigned prompt. The College’s bookstore can assist students in purchasing titles. Stud
1Is the primary protagonist portrayed in the novel a good mother?
Aditya Parmar
PSY 1012
Prof Liebert
11/13/21 2
Is the primary protagonist portrayed in the novel a good mother?
The reading of the novel which is not for every person’s novel concerns the story
surrounding a family which is starting as the sound of music ideality. In the house, they have
gotten four children, a loving mother as well as a father, a huge family besides centering on
home as well as the family for Harriet together with David. For the entire third of the novel
where we read its loving and a story revolving around a successful marriage, the family as well
as an inclusive large family which is extended.
When it comes to having the fifth child in the novel, named Ben. The child can be seen as
completely different from the other four children born in the family, they do not know what is
wrong with the child. According to their assessment what they see it’s not like the normal
condition which is known, the child appears to be sort of some semi-human in the novel, as well
as even as the tiny child starts to disrupt the family ideality as well as joy.
After the couple has enjoyed their marriage for years, they are not in a position of dealing
with the situation of Ben who was the fifth child, is being sent off. For Harriet who is the mother,
she cannot accept this hence going where she had not been sent as well as discovering that it was
a place where it will be allowed to die. She is not in a position of dealing with the matter and
brings the child back home.
With time Ben ends up destroying the family and the lives. In the other two-thirds of the
novel, the story is like a horror where Ben starts wrecking the lives of the family. Nevertheless,
the entire story seems much large than the story of destruction for society in the mid of the 20 th
century. It’s a phenomenon where none of the individuals seems to fully understand, but many
seem to be seeing horrors that are coming to the human race in our time. 3
Given the story of the novel, the family has been living a peaceful and happy life with the
other four children but the coming of the fifth born was like a curse to the family. It has been a
great challenge for the family to deal with the matter. Though children are a blessing the situation
which the two parents were facing was seen as a curse. For them getting a fifth child was
supposed to bring happiness to the family while the results were the opposite. In this case, the
parents have tried their best, for the mother what she is thinking with the child is because she has
reached the end and is unaware of what she can do in this case. She wants her family to remain
together though the child is bringing a strain to the relationship leading to the verge of collapse
for a family which did not expect things to turn in this manner.
Harriet is telling the family they do not intend to take hiatus from having other children
due to the experience she has faced with Ben, but she will try for the baby who is number five.
When a time comes, the pregnancy is far from crying from the previous four. For Harriet, she
was uncomfortable from starting as well as the baby moving around most of the time where was
trying to kick the way to get out of the belly. For the son Ben, child was born when eight months.
There was no connection immediately between Harriet as well as the new baby. The child was
strange looking as well as whispering that the child could be more changeling than the human
child. For Ben, he was very aggressive. He was pulling the brother through rails for the crib
where Paul's wrist was almost broken. Harriet confined Ben in a room to stay alone since he was
a great threat to the wellbeing of the siblings.
Looking at the acts of the child who could not be with the siblings in peace was terrifying
for Harriet. She thought to have the safety of the other children then Ben has to be locked in a
room. In a way, this was a solution for protecting the other children but for Ben, it could be seen
as if she did not care. When a mother reaches this level where she treats a child in that manner it 4
means she has gone through a lot with the child hence she was somehow tired and lacked the
necessary skills which are required for the upbringing of the child. From reading the novel
Harriet was a good mother when you look at the case of bringing up the four siblings to Ben
there is no complaint about the children. For the case of Ben, it was extraordinary which resulted
in strain in the relationship of the family. For the mother, she wanted the best for her child but for
Ben, he could not even play in peace with the siblings where he started to beat them that making
the mother feel the child Was a threat to the wellbeing of other children. At times the mother
might not be having a means for staying with the child all the time and the siblings have to be
with the brother but what occurs in the case makes the mother decide to lock Ben in a room to
avoid any kind of injury to the other siblings.
In conclusion, being a good mother depends on the situation one is going through. For a
childlike Ben, the mother tried her best since this kind of child leads to rejection of the parents
even within the society. The parents end up being stressed in the upbringing of the child which
could negatively impact them. From the story there was a strain on the marriage life of the family
and impacted the happiness of the parents. The mother had to try her best to ensure that her
marriage did not break. 5
Reference
Lessing, D. (1988). The fifth child . Vintage.
