The protagonist, who's name is Jasira, in the novel "Towelhead" is a perfect example of a young teenaged girl struggling with the aspects of teeenage life. She also struggles with her divorced, overly-strict parents who make her think that everything she does is wrong.
Jasira's way of thinking is a bit mature for a girl of thirteen years, not to mention, depressing. A given example is when she is on plane being sent to live with her father: "I really and truly [hope] we [will] crash (pg 2)."
The reason she is sent to live with her father is because her mother's boyfriend has an inappropriate infatuation with Jasira. Jasira insists she can't control who likes her. Although that may be true, there probably is a part of her that actually enjoys the love and attention. She most likely feels this way to fill an emotional void. Her parents don't seem to give Jasira the love and emotional support she needs, so of course she'd feel the need to get it elsewhere. This character can be relatable. A lot of young women go through life having dictating parents. Religious matters and even culture can be huge factors. Jasira recalls having spilled juice on her father's rug and he tells her that "[she] will never find a husband ( pg 1)." Putting that kind of mentality into a child's head doesn't seem age appropriate.
Jasira's coping mechanisms will progressively get worse as the story goes on. She has repressed her problems for a long time and dealing with such matters while growing into a young woman doesn't help, either.
Hi Geraldine! You're post is quite shocking! Just by reading your description of Jasira, I recall watching the Tyra Banks show about a week ago. Anyhow, the episode presents these teenage girls who are depressed and unfulfilled. The topic was the show was about the shocking secrets of these promiscuous female teenagers that seek affection from other men. There was one girl who had divorced parents; her shocking secret is that she had over twenty five affairs with different men. The thing is, I really feel sorry for these girls because they were unfortunate they didn't have that emotional and physical bonding to their parents. In my point of view, they would be better off if they had loving parents that seek out for their emotional needs. Young teenagers don't deserve to be adultified and abused. I hope Jasira will seek a better care taker. Please keep me posted on this novel! (Oh and by the way, if it would be okay to enlarge the font on your blog that would be superb!)
ReplyDeleteHi Geraldine,
ReplyDeleteYour novel sounds really interesting, especially Jarisa, because she is a girl who many girls can truly relate to. After reading your description of her, I find her to be a really lonely individual. Her parent's divorce has affected her deeply and has changed her into a rebellious, young girl. What really surprises me, is how she would rather have her plane crash, than have to live with her father. This reveals the terrible relationship between her and her father. I also agree that Jarisa likes the attention that her mother's boyfriend is giving her, because she is lacking this attention from both her parents. The love of a mother is extremely important to a young girl, but instead, Jarisa's mother is neglecting her by focusing her attention on her boyfriend, and sending Jarisa away.I'm really curious about what will happen to Jarisa in the end!
Hi Geraldine,
ReplyDeleteI feel very sympathetic towards the protagonist in your novel, Jarisa, in that she has to live through her teenage life with strict and unloving parents. I think her rebellious and independent nature is revealed when she chooses to rather die from a plane crash than to see her father. I agree that she desires for some form of attention due to the lack of love her parents fail to provide her with. I think Jarisa is a very relatable character to actuality because a lot of teenage girls go through an emotional turbulence due to family issues and yearns to attract attention from others when they cannot receive love and care from their parents. I hope Jarisa will find a way to cope with her stress and problems. Thank you for sharing an interesting post about your novel with us. :)
I understand Jasira's experiences because I have met teenagers that are constantly under their parents control and sometimes they are not allowed to choose for themselves, making them think or feel that everything they do is wrong. Its scary too, because like the quote from the book, those people had have suicidal tendencies or thought about death. Jasira is a very relatable character because of her vulnerable and sensitive character, and her neediness of a teenager. People like Jasira who have been denied the attention from their loved ones, desire the attention of others. I predict that her neediness might go to the extreme somewhere in this novel. I'm curious to what else Jasira will experience and if she will find the strength to be independent, confident and not define herself by her strict and unloving parent's expectations.
ReplyDeletePost more :)
Hello Geraldine!
ReplyDeleteYour post makes me interested in how the story progresses. I too, can relate and agree on teenage girls having dictating parents. This often causes conflict between my parents and I myself too. Growing up in a stereotypical culture, adults often think that boys generally have more ability to protect themselves than girls do (which is obviously not true in my opinion). I also agree on how thirteen year old girls now have a more mature thinking than I did when I was thirteen. Generally, girls are developing much quicker physically and emotionally now due to the infuential things they face in school, online and at home. I find that during your teenage years, having someone love you can make everything less stressful. Hence, that can probably explain why teenagers have boy/girlfriends at such a young age despite being forbidden to by parents. Meanwhile, I also believe that Jasira has a depression problem because of her parents. Family problems worsen a teenager's life. However, instead of being unhelpful, I believe that these matters may actually help Jasira become a young woman, as she will then have experience from going through so many problems in order to encounter her future problems.
(: