Does the book explain why her mother abused her and disliked her?
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Sponiatowski — 14 years ago(May 20, 2011 07:40 AM)
It never stops if just the thought of a person or the whiff of disinfectant causes a person to disassociate. That's why it's the "cycle" of abuse.
I can't find much information on Hattie, but I believe that she went back to the "rest" home where she eventually died.
This quote about her is from Wikipedia: Shirley "Sybil" Mason was born and raised in Dodge Center, Minnesota, the only child of Walter Mason (a carpenter and architect) and Martha Alice "Mattie" Hageman. In regard to Mason's mother: "many people in Dodge Center say Mattie" "Hattie" in the book "was bizarre," according to Bettie Borst Christensen, who grew up across the street. "She had a witch-like laugh.She didn't laugh much, but when she did, it was like a screech." Christensen remembers Mason's mother walking around after dark, looking in the neighbors' windows. At one point, Mason's mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
The IMDB Topic: "I wonder what 'Hattie' would have thought of the book and movie?" offers differing opinions on what happened to Hattie.
!!!Scrooge for President!!! -
Skylightmovies — 14 years ago(July 01, 2011 03:57 AM)
This makes a lot of sense to me.
If talented creative people are abused it's bound to cause severe depression directly proportional to the kind of abuse and how that personality is able to express it. It's only a question of how that will manifest it self later on.
Geez, that never ending cycle HAS to be broken and maybe Shirley managed that in her own way by sadly never having children of her own. -
fiatlux-1 — 14 years ago(July 10, 2011 08:03 PM)
Sadly, Sybil (Shirley) was told she'd likely never bear a child because of the internal scarring from Hattie's abuse. I wonder if she ever tried though.
It seemed that she wanted children on one level, and didn't on another. Very understandable there, given her past.
"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush." -
indy_go_blue44 — 14 years ago(July 14, 2011 04:49 PM)
Just about anything that can be said other than the documentation in the book is pure speculation. Hattie definitely had an abivalence about having children, we know she miscarried (IIRC) at least 3 times, and she was severely confined (ie, bedrest and close observation) during her pregnancy with Sybil, so it doesn't seem likely that Wilbur had anything to do with attempting or actually aborting her. She was 14 when her sister left home and she was TOLD that she was going to work in her parent's music store (demolishing her dreams of being a concert pianist) and in those days you didn't argue with your parents. Following this job placement, she did become severely depressed and as far as I can tell, this is when her problems started but that's speculation also.
I imagine 99% of this generation of kids would think they were abused if they were raised by 1900 parents.. and they may be right. It was a different world, and a man's home was definitely his castle, and he was lord of the keep. -
fiatlux-1 — 14 years ago(September 02, 2011 11:41 PM)
Agreed, anything else is conjecture.
Following this job placement, she did become severely depressed and as far as I can tell, this is when her problems started but that's speculation also.
I think the novel had mentioned that Hattie had shown signs of schizophrenia from youth, but it became virulent when she was forced to leave school and her dreams were crushed.
It also almost looks like it got worse yet again when or around when Sybil was born (maybe because of the ambivalence and stressor of having a baby), and again when Sybil was five and Walter went broke.
"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush." -
fiatlux-1 — 14 years ago(January 07, 2012 09:22 PM)
Hattie dreamed of being a concert pianist. But when her sister got married, her father yanked her out of school and forced her to work in the family music store.
"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush." -
fiatlux-1 — 11 years ago(December 15, 2014 03:26 PM)
OP: the mother was schizophrenic. This was explained explicitly in the movie. Are you really that dense?
Schizophrenia in no way "guarantees" someone will be violent or sexually abusive.
That is an incorrect stereotype.
I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus.
Didn't he discover America?
Penfold, shush.