Children are mostly influenced by their parents of what paths they should or should not take. Nevertheless, some of them are left to find their own roads to choose. While some lead successful lives, some walk follow the path of self-destruction and bad behaviors. In Tobias Wolff's memoir, This Boy's Life, the author presents his mother's and his own life that is full of self-sabotaging decisions causing many miserable situations. Rosemary is the mother of Toby. She is painted as a important figure to him, bearing only the best intentions for her son. Intention and their love and care for each other does not meet the requirements as a good mother. Rosemary's attitude towards Toby warps her reasoning, and because of this she acts on her emotions that are damaging to her son despite her wholehearted intentions. …show more content…
A key example of this behavior would be her resistance to verbally or physically scold him, no matter the situation. Having been victim to child abuse, Rosemary does not punish Toby in worry of imposing the same trauma on him the same way her father did. " Daddy spanked her almost every night on the theory that she must have done something wrong that day…She'd never been able to spank me….she couldn't even raise her voice convincingly" (Wolff 59,60). She wants better for Toby. Instead, she overcompensates. Afraid of crossing the line, she fails to enforce rules rather than setting up simple ways of disciplining. Because of her father's lack of trust Rosemary will believe just about anything Toby says or does. His lack of rules and her refusal to use a firm hand are the essential marriage for destruction. When Toby and the boys