Summary Of Average Waves In Unprotected Waters

Written in 1977, “Average Waves in Unprotected Waters” by Anne Tyler, encapsulated the struggle that parents of disabled children faced in the time period. In the 70’s not much was known about mental disorders, leaving parents to either give up their children to an institution or face the challenge of raising a disabled child. This is the internal conflict that the main character, Bet, faces throughout the short story; she contemplates whether sending her child to an institution is wrong. Considering that society was so critical of her son, along with the fact that Bet, herself, was abandoned, she has to reach a solution, a compromise. Whether sending her son to an institution is wrong or not, Bet comes to prevail over her emotion to realize

Being a single mother, her son, Arnold, was getting tough to handle. He was, “small though...strong, wire; he was getting to be too much for her.” This made daily tasks such as eating or getting dressed very strenuous if Arnold did not desire to cooperate. With a miniscule income and a difficult, costly child, caring for Arnold became almost impossible. This is why Bet had to find another option; she would have to send him away, but was this the right thing to do? This is the internal question or conflict that Bet must resolve. One aspect that Bet considered was that hated to have people staring at her child and underestimating him in the outside world. For example, “ [as] people stared at him, she would have liked to push their faces in…” Bet feels sorry that Arnold gets stared at by strangers, and this makes her upset in turn. She may feel that if he is not exposed to the world around him, he will not be judged

The whole time on the train, all she thinks about is Arnold’s sake; either she would have to abandon him and have him face change, or keep him and have him face the judgment of the cruel world. The fact that every moment on the train expresses the extent to which she cares about him makes this decision even harder, but it becomes a matter of which situation will benefit both Bet and Arnold, along with overcoming the emotional uncertainty of deciding what plan to follow. After a long ride, Bet makes a decision. She decides that it is best for Arnold to go to the