Abuse

The author uses this theme to provide a frank and forthright account of the abuse that she and her mother suffered during and after Gwendolyn's marriage to Joel. The details of the abuse highlight the profound emotional and physical damage that such mistreatment can inflict. For the author, the abuse began shortly after Gwendolyn started dating Joel when she was around seven years old. Joel would be left to babysit her while her mother was at work, and when he would get upset with her, usually for “some transgression he invented” (84), he would make her pack a bag and get in the car. He then drove in a loop around Atlanta, claiming he was going to leave her somewhere alone. She was terrified every time, believing she would never see her mother again. In the present, she wonders why she never told her mother about this at the...