Good Parent
“When the woman realized that, she did what she had to do.” In “How Far She Went,” by Mary Hood, a grandmother sacrifices the life of her dog to save her ungovernable granddaughter. Being a good parent involves more than just physical care, it involves making the right choice for the child, even if it hurts them in the process. If a child is unwanted, who should take care of them? Should they go to the next of kin or someone who can love them? The granddaughter lives with her grandmother in a house, yet it is not a home. She is taken care of physically but her emotional needs are left unnurtured. The walls in her room are empty, there is nothing but a bed and the suitcases that she will never unpack. “She forgot why she had gone in the girl’s empty room, that ungirlish, tenuous lodging place with its bleak order, its ready suitcases never unpacked…” She feels unwanted by her own father, as well as her grandmother, these relationships are broken... but the granddaughter has no
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In the end, the grandmother realizes she needs to put an end to the destructive behavior that seems to occur in every generation. The grandmother driven by her selfish mistakes of the past, tries to change the destiny of her and her granddaughter. In a time of desperation, the grandmother murders her beloved dog to save the life of her granddaughter. The granddaughter, in shock, has a newfound respect for her grandmother. The grandmother steps into her new role as a good parent, and the granddaughter follows along, and in this act their lives are changed forever. As the grandmother accepts the task of being a parent she realizes something that every good parent should, you can’t change the past… but you can learn from your