Reader Response Journal #4

A big part of the story was about Christopher's Mother. His Father tells him that she has died of a heart attack, although he doesn't get to see his Mother. I knew from the start that there was something fishy about that whole situation. So eventually Christopher figures out that his Father has, in fact, lied to him, and his Mother ran away with their neighbour, Mr. Shears.

I thought a lot about this aspect of the story.and how Christopher doesn't really feel sad about his Mothers' "death". To a regular person, this can be very confusing, because we have all had personal experiences with losing loved ones(R.I.P. Abi Kempton & Great Uncle Bruce), and we all know that it hurts, and we feel sad and cannot help but show it. It is so overwhelming that it is impossible to hide, knowing that you will never see that person again. Especially if you were really close with them, like I was with Abi. But with all due respect, it would feel so much worse losing a parent, someone who loved and nurtured you and never left your side unless absolutely necessary. Like for Christopher, one minute his Mother was home and there to love him and hold him(figuratively, because he doesn't like being touched) and the next she was torn away from him. I guess he doesn't understand that he never would have seen her again had she actually died. Maybe he just didn't understand her love for him.

From his Mother's perspective, she has to be very stressed out. When she left, her son didn't write her back. If it were me, I would think that he was upset that she left and never wanted to talk to her. However, because of Mr. Boone's lies, she didn't get in contact with her son until he ran away. As well, her relationship with Mr. Shears sounds stressful. Whenever Christopher is there, he is mean to the poor boy. Mother, I know, feels bad, because he is the man she loves, but Christopher is her son, so she must be torn. As well, she must feel really bad that she cannot hug her own son. She must feel that she is not showing her love for him, because that is how I would feel if I were her.

I can kind of relate to this because my Mom and Stepdad have split up recently, and I know that their relationship was very stressful. But now that I live with just my mom, I can see that she is a lot better off, because she is a lot more laid back etc. The difference though, is that I know my mother would never cheat on anyone, because she is too good of a person to hurt someone like that. Even if she were not happy in a relationship.