Child Abuse and its Role in Bastard Out of Carolina by...

While reading the semi-autobiographical, Bastard Out of Carolina, by Dorothy Allison, I was stunned by the explicit nature of the novel. We were introduced to a young narrator and protagonist named, Ruth Anne â€Å"Bone† Boatwright. Bones family, like that of the author, experienced a impoverished life, all the while she tried to find her place in a society that had literally labeled her â€Å"illegitimate.† Merriam-Webster defines illegitimate as being: (1) not recognized as lawful offspring; specifically: born of parents not married to each other (2) not rightly deduced or inferred- illogical (3) departing for the regular- erratic (4) not sanctioned by law- illegal (5) not authorized by good usage. As a young girl, how would it feel being†¦show more content†¦It was not until the early 1870s that child abuse was first brought into light. The Child-Protection Movement started with the news of one eight year-old orphan named Mary Ellen Wilson. After the passi ng of her biological mother and father, Mary Ellen was left in the care of her biological fathers widow, Mary McCormack Connolly. Mrs. McCormack Connolly badly mistreated Mary Ellen, and neighbors in the building were well aware of the childs predicament (Mary Ellen Wilson, 2013). It was not until Etta Angell Wheeler, a caring Methodist mission worker, visited the residence and noticed Mary Ellens condition. Ms. Wheeler describes her first meeting with Mary Ellen, as such: â€Å"It was December and the weather bitterly cold. She was a tiny mite, the size of five years, though, as afterward appeared, she was then nine. From a pan set upon a low stool she stood washing dishes, struggling with a frying pan about as heavy as herself. Across the table lay a brutal whip of twisted leather strands and the childs meagre arms and legs bore many marks of its use. But the saddest part of her story was written on her face in its look of suppression and misery, the face of a child unloved, of a child that had seen only the fearsome side of life. These things I saw while seeming not to see, and I left without speaking to, or of, the child. I neverShow MoreRelatedI Am My Mother s Abuser2054 Words   |  9 Pagesfurther apart. I found myself in my own physically abuse relationship at the age of fourteen till seventeen. When I look at myself, I see so much of my mother and the women she is. The most complex relationship a female will have is the one with her own mother. Because of this natural and special connection that exists between a mother and her daughter. A mother is eeply connected to their daughter as soon as she gives birth to her. She believes this child is everything that is good and innocent within