Psychological Abuse In The Silver Star By Marni Feuerman

599 Words3 Pages

In the past, living a successful and cheerful life was difficult. Abuse wasn’t taken seriously, and those who have a tendency of manipulating others who are susceptible have free reign to do so. This can be shown in many distinct way, differing the amount of seriousness it shows. In The Silver Star, by Jeannette Walls, Jerry Maddox, the boss of the Holladay sisters, demonstrates his cunning, but obvious behaviour. This boss-employee relationship would be unhealthy, as Maddox emotionally and physically abused the children, and eventually got away with his inappropriate behaviour. As such, unhealthy relationships are built off of verbal, emotional and physical abuse. In the info text ‘Warning Signs of an Emotionally Abusive Relationship’ by Marni Feuerman, it states that “Psychological abuse occurs when a person in the relationship tries to control information available to another person with …show more content…

The very information that would have been given in a sign of trust, this will affect the victim immensely, perhaps increasing their paranoia or keeping constant vigilance. This type of manipulation is shown in The Silver Star, by Jeannette Walls. In chapter 24, Maddox verbally abused the younger Holladay sister. Maddox says “I asked what you wanted, but I didn't tell you that I was going to get you what you wanted… you made a bad choice about the cheetos, so I had to overrule it. That’s what I have to do when people around me make bad choices. So shut up and eat your damned pringles.” (131) The effect of control in a relationship of any kind is that a person might not trust them anymore, and might be frightened to around them, as shown when the older Holladay sister, Liz, states that