FAMILY...
The author shows us glimpses of what both Travis and Abby's
life was like growing up.
If we compare their upbringings and family life experiences, do you feel that there are more similarities or differences?
How does the way they were raised affect their approach to relationships? {or lack thereof}
5 comments:
Honestly, they both grew up in completely dysfunctional families and that has made them codependent personalities. It's an addiction just like alcoholism is an addiction. They need that codependent relationship...no matter how fucked up it is.
Christi posted exactly what I was going to say. They both grew up in such screwed up families, that they become addicted to each other and that relationship.
I think Abby's home life was more screwed up than Travis' though. His mother died and yes he and his brothers all fought- but in the end they really love each other and he has that foundation. Abby on the other hand had a drunk for a mother and a father who didn't love her because he thought she stole his luck. Other than America and her family, she had no one. I think they both got what they were missing from each other but both were afraid of losing it that they kept messing up.
I don't know about you- but I wanted to shake/slap one of them or both at throughout most of the book. lol
Honestly, I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't think Travis's childhood justified his behavior. Yes, he lost his mom. Yes, that's devastating. However, his dad and brothers seem like really great people and they all seem extremely close.
Abby on the other hand had it really rough. I grew up with a parent that resented me and one that wasn't around. I guess I should have felt more empathy for her but honestly, she didn't come across that likable.
I understand Abby's need to feel like she's moved passed people like her dad and I see where she's reluctant to see that Travis has changed. I agree that they are completely codependent and that might blow up in their faces if there was a book 2.
Travis's brothers and dad were good in the present, but it said at the beginning of the book that when he was young, he was regularly beat-up by all of them...and that his father had been an alcoholic....now reformed.
Post a Comment