Summary Of Sharon Olds The Victims

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In “The Victims”, a poem by Sharon Olds, the narrator gives a recount of their feelings when their parents got divorced, but the main victim in the story is the narrator. Spousal abuse is common in this poem, since her mother “took it and took it in silence, all those years and then kicked you out, suddenly, and her kids loved it” (1-4). It is implied that the father beat his wife and kids, so it makes sense for them to be happy once they are freed of abuse by their parent’s divorce. That event, the divorce, is an action taken by the mother that saves her and her kids’ lives, while acting as a form of revenge, as “[they] were tickled to think of [the father’s] office taken away, [his] secretaries taken away, [his] lunches with three double