CARSON MCCULLERS' "THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING" & BEVERLY ANN DONOFRIO'S "RIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS".   Term Paper ID:21112 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Analyzes causes & effects of misbehavior of novels' adolescent female protagonists.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Analyzes causes & effects of misbehavior of novels' adolescent female protagonists. Paper Introduction: This study will analyze the misbehavior of adolescent girls as exemplified by the character of Frankie Addams in Carson McCullers' The Member of the Wedding and by the character of Beverly Ann Donofrio in her autobiographical Riding in Cars With Boys. The study will consider what makes an adolescent girl a "bad girl" or a "good girl," what leads them to misbehave, how each of the two girls sees herself, how each girl's culture judges her, and how this reader sees each of them. There are similarities and differences between the two girls in terms of why they are "bad" in the eyes of those around them. They come from very different socioeconomic backgrounds, Beverly from a poor neighborhood, Frankie from a wealthier family with a cook and other conveniences. They live in different era---Frankie in the 1940s of World War II, Beverly in the 1960s, but both eras Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Works CitedDonofrio, Beverly. Beverly has a lot of friends and her life circles around her"bad" behavior with them. We each one of ussomehow caught all by ourself" (McCullers 113). Thetwo books are fascinating to read together, because they are so differentin terms of their personalities. Theylive in different era---Frankie in the 194 s of World War II, Beverly inthe 196 s, but both eras were ones of great turbulence. This is shown when she throws an egg at an innocentprep student: "I'll remember [his] look of disbelief as it changed tosadness till the day I die" (Donofrio 22). Then little John Henry dies and she feels more separatethen ever from the world.It seems that she is finished with being a "bad girl," because she hasenough experience to know that being bad will not bring her what she wants.Both girls have tried to be "bad" so they will have their own identity, butall it brings them is more pain and confusion and unhappiness. Both girls are not made happy by their acting "bad." It bringsBeverly nothing but misery as she tries to raise a child while being achild herself, and Frankie is confused and frightened, while at the sametime being excited, when she gets in over her head with the soldier(McCullers 67). She buys a dress and tries to at least look older. With respect to her turning into a "bad girl,"Beverly says the "beginning" was when her father told her she couldn't ridein cars with boys until she was sixteen (Donofrio 17). It makes her feel completely alone and frightened in the world.The cook Berenice explains the position both girls are in which brings thempain and confusion and drives them to be bad: "No matter what we do westill caught. She cuts her hair very short andengages in such misbehavior as firing her father's gun in a vacant lot andstealing knives. She has grownquickly and is taller than other girls. We do not know whatis going to happen to Frankie, but we know that Beverly was able to surviveand change into a "good" woman from a "bad" girl. They don'tlike who they are, but they don't know how to be somebody else and getpower in the world, so they act "bad." Beverly gets into trouble, gets pregnant, and struggles from thatpoint on to recover herself, her life, and to make a life for her child.Frankie goes to a hotel with a soldier, hits him over the head when hetries to rape her, and runs away from home with a gun. Children as well asadults were troubled and doubtful about the future. Her father is not as mean as Beverly's father,but like Beverly's father he stopped paying much attention to her aftershe began to mature sexually. Without any guidance, they are trying to create identitiesseparate from those around them, and they are doing things that make senseto them but are considered "bad" by their cultures. Frankie's story focuses on her brother's wedding day and Frankie'scomplex effort to make sense of her place in the world. The Member of the Wedding. Frankie is a brilliant younggirl in a richer environment who is "bad" more in her head than in reality.She could have gotten in a lot worse trouble than she did, but the troubleshe got into may have been enough to lead her to be a "good" girl. She is as angry as Beverly and as alienated from adults,but she is much more intellectual than Beverly. First, she is a highly spirited young girl at 12 or13 when the book begins. New York: Bantam, 1973.----------------------- 1 She clearly regrets her younger years,and especially how her misbehavior carried over into destructiveparenting of her son. She thinks she haskilled the soldier. The "bad" behavior of thesegirls are attempts to get "uncaught" in who and what they are. When Frankie runs awayand is found by the police who were warned to look for her by her father,she is resigned to whatever punishment awaits her. There are similarities and differences between the two girls in termsof why they are "bad" in the eyes of those around them. Beverly writes her book on her adolescent misbehavior from theperspective of a grown woman whose "nervous breakdown" leads her toreconsider her younger years in the hope of making sense of what she wasand what she is now: "Lately, I've been looking at my life like there'ssomething to learn" (Donofrio 1 ). I believe both girls are troubledindividuals, "good" girls in pain who act out their anger and pain by being"bad." We see both of them are "good" at heart, and both of them haveseemed to learn a powerful lesson from the added pain and trouble that theybring on themselves by being "bad." Beverly has changed her life as aresult, and it seems that Frankie is on her way to a more peaceful andfulfilling life. The cultures of both girls certainly see both of them as bad, simplybecause they are not being obedient children who do what their elders wantthem to be. She is certainly as angry as Beverly aboutnot feeling at home in the world, and just as confused about her place inthe world. Her "badness" is more inher head than Beverly's is. Her parents and other authority figureswanted her to be a "good girl," which means doing what she is told, workinghard in school, honoring her parents, not getting into trouble, stayingaway from other "bad" boys and girls. Being a "bad girl" is the"natural" reaction to being told to be a"good girl" by the authorityfigures she hates. New York: Penguin, 199 .McCullers, Carson. Riding in Cars With Boys. Beverly is an average girl in a poorculture who becomes pregnant and has to fight hard to win some peace andwisdom and learn to love herself and others. Also, she comes from a patriarchal Italian family inwhich females are second-class citizens, adding to her anger and feedingthe fires of rebellion. She willalways be a unique individual, and it is hard to imagine her ever leadingthe kind of "normal" life that it seems Beverly will be able to lead. Beverly is also behaving like other teenage girls when she letsherself go along with such things as being "felt up" simply because shebelieves that what the other girls are doing. She feels powerless like Beverly, and wants to dothe grown-up things that she sees as symbolic of having a place in theworld. At the sametime, they are similar in that they are both adolescent girls going throughgreat physical, social, emotional, psychological and sexual changes whichupset them. From the beginning, however, Beverly had the conscience of a "goodgirl" inside of her. The girls see themselves as unhappy and angry, and do notreally know why they do what they do. Her story makes clear that her misbehavior is causedby a number of factors. This study will analyze the misbehavior of adolescent girls asexemplified by the character of Frankie Addams in Carson McCullers' TheMember of the Wedding and by the character of Beverly Ann Donofrio in herautobiographical Riding in Cars With Boys. However, Beverly and her friends haveno respect for their parents or authority, so they are determined to dojust the opposite of what they are told. Itis not a culture which starts children thinking early about going tocollege and creating a career. Beverly is an average,outgoing girl who doesn't really think much about her behavior or worrywhere it will lead her, until years later when she is a mother of a college-bound son. Allthat happens, however, is that they become girls who are in trouble. They come from verydifferent socioeconomic backgrounds, Beverly from a poor neighborhood,Frankie from a wealthier family with a cook and other conveniences. Beverly is on her own in trying to find outabout life and herself, and she behaves like a "bad girl" because the worldaround her gives her little choice. She is troubled deeply by the wedding of her brother,because it symbolizes a happiness that feels so far away from her it seemsimpossible. Just likeBeverly, she acts out her "badness" by turning to a man, a soldier, just asBeverly turns to a "bad boy" and becomes pregnant. Frankie's best friend has moved away and now heronly "friends" are her six-year-old cousin and a black cook. Frankie is a very bright girl with an active imagination who isthinking all the time about herself and her place in the world and what shewants to do. Me is me and you is you and he is he. She is the product of an unhappy home in a poor neighborhood fullof unhappy children who are looking for some way to build an identity. Neither girl is truly "bad." They are simply young girls who aregoing through what every adolescent goes through as they start to becometheir own persons. In addition, Beverly is alsoinfluenced by the socioeconomic culture in which she is growing up---theproject. The study will consider whatmakes an adolescent girl a "bad girl" or a "good girl," what leads them tomisbehave, how each of the two girls sees herself, how each girl's culturejudges her, and how this reader sees each of them. But still the problem is inside her: "the world was toofar away, and there was no way any more that she could be included"(McCullers 148). It is in the nature of adolescents to testauthority, to rebel, and there are certain traditional avenues which thatrebellion follows. For Beverly, it was boys, and especially boys whothemselves are breaking the bonds of authority and conventional behavior.The child who goes through this stage and emerges ready to make her way insociety has generally had some kind of adult guidance or help, but Beverlygets no such help, especially not from her frightened mother or herdistant, dogmatic father. She certainly takes a different approach to finding heridentity, changing her name and choosing to run off with her brother andhis bride (McCullers 43). The girls are similar in that they are trying to be"bad" because they don't like the culture they live in or the people in it,or themselves, and they believe that by being "bad" they will have power,they will get identities of their own, and they will become adults. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.