04 December 2006

Gamma Rays Post #5 - What type of mother is Beatrice?

This is the 5th, and final homework blog posting of Gamma Rays... Have you completed them all to earn full credit?

Now that we've gotten to see Mrs. Beatrice Hunsdorfer in the play, how would you categorize her as a mother? Go back and re-read the article on dysfunctional families that we studied in an earlier post. Using information from the article, decide what type of parent category Beatrice fits into. In what way will her parenting style affect her children, either now or in the future? Explain your reasoning by pointing to specific examples from the play.

46 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think that Beatrice is a mentally abusive parent. She constantly picks and ridicules her girls on their looks and what they like to do. An example is when Beatrice finds out that the kids at school were makeing fun of Tillie and she tells her that if she didn't dress the way that she did then she wouldn't be made fun of. I think that when Tillie gets older she will be useing the way that her mother is as a motivation to be successful. I don't think that she wants to become what her mother was. I think that Ruth will turn out more like her mother because she tends to favor her mother and follow after her.

Jesse S.
Period 4

Anonymous said...

I think that Beatrice was like no other character that I have seen. She is cruel and unusual in her actions sometimes which make me want to hate her, but then she seems so lonely and I pity her. From reading the play and the article on disfunctional families, I'd have to say that she is very abusive to her childrens mental health. She creates an atmosphere in which stress and conterversy opress the childs life. Beatrice fits the description of an abusive parent who looks at anything wrong with their child to make fun of them. She brings down their self esteem to raise hers and sees no problem with the way she is. Her parenting style will affect her children for the rest of their lives. They will have difficulties not only growing up in the house, but making the transition into adulthood. They will have tust issues and self esteem problems. They will never be able to exscape he paini they felt. An example fromthe play is in the begining when Beatrice is yelling at Tillie and her only response is, " Yes moma" or" I understand".

Anonymous said...

Beatrice can not be easily categorized as a certain type of mother. She is a combination of an abusive mother and one that has not had any success in her own personal life or in raising her children. This limited success builds tension which is released onto her children. If she was to be related to a certain category according to the article on dysfunctional families, she would be an abusive mother that affects her children's mental health. During the story this category is evident in the personalities of her children. In the future these affects may determine how successful or unsuccessful the children are at reaching their goals. I think that Ruth will not be successful because she seems to have the personality her mother has, as Tillie is completely opposite and has a strong heart that will lead her to success.

Anonymous said...

I think Beatrice is a parent that abuse mentally. She wouldn’t really hit or physically hit someone but, she would give attitude to everyone and is very unfriendly. I think it comes from her loneliness. Deep inside she isn’t high confident with her self “self of steam” so she takes it out on other people. She makes fun of her children to make her self feel beter. Its werid how Tillie is the complete opposite of Beatrice. I think Tillie will be like Beatrice when she grows up because it most of the time gets passed down. I dont understand why she would never go against Beatrice she always does what she says even know its rong. It goes to shoe Beatrice creates stress and aggravation all around her so know one wants to be around her. If she was to be compared to a certain category according to the article on dysfunctional families, she would be an abusive mother that affects her children's mental health because she isn’t good for r the children because she sets a wrong example like smoking cigarettes bad drinking all the time.

Anonymous said...

I feel like Beatrice has different characteristics of a dysfunctional family. One of them is being an abusive parent. Beatrice verbally abused Tillie and Ruth, rather then physically. She would tear them down mentally by saying that tillie was "ugly" and by saying her children weren't perfect, and that she had a half-life. Another characteristic that Beatrice has of being a dysfunctional family is being an alcoholic parent. Beatrice always has a drink in her hand and it's not a good example on her children. She also offers Ruth cigarettes all the time to calm her down, which is not good at all.

Anonymous said...

I think Beatrice is a Alcoholic parent and an abusive parent. She drinks alot and on a regular basis. She dosn't seem to care about anything when she drinks. She seems to just drink her probelms away. She is also an abusive parent. Not physically, but a verbaly abusive. She yells at her kids alot. She yells at everyone else as well.

Anonymous said...

I would categorize Beatrice as mean and verbally abusive because she says thing that put them down.she uses achool to get away from problems in her life and in her past. I think because when she is druck all the time she dosent now how she treating her kids. like when she kills the bunny because she get made when her daughter does good in the science fair. She also not a good role moldel because her kids are going down the same past as her. I think that in the future the kids might be good parents but they could grow up like her and treat her kids the same way.
Piriod 4

Anonymous said...

If I had to categorize Mrs. Beatrice as a mother 1-10 I would give her a 3 because she doesn't treat any one with respect. She also is not a good mom because she drinks on a daily basis because she thinks the alcohol help her with her problems. When she drinks she doesn’t care about any thing and she’s not giving a good example when she drinks in from of her kids. An example of not being a good mom is when she made her daughter scratch her back for a cigarette. By not giving a good example now what would happen to them in the future. I think when the kids are grown up they would be a better mother then their mom because there going to realize what kind of parent there mom was.

period 4

Anonymous said...

Beatrice is verbally abusive, she’s an alcoholic, and just sets a horrible example for her girls. Beatrice drinks pretty much everyday and acts horribly when she is drunk. She yells at her girls all of the time and lowers their self-esteem, especially Tillie’s. Beatrice thinks that the whole world revolves around her and only wants to make herself look good. At the end of the book, when Tillie won her science fair competition thing, her mother doesn’t even acknowledge her one bit because she knows that her daughter had done better than she would have ever done. Beatrice tends to drink when she’s angry and thinks that drinking will solve all of her problems. Since she does this around her girls so much, they will probably end up being just like her. Beatrice shows no respect towards others and is raising her daughters completely wrong. When she has Ruth do things for her, Beatrice will give Ruth a cigarette, which is awful for a mother to be doing. In the future, maybe Beatrice will realize how cruel she is and change, or maybe her daughters will stand up to her and tell her that she is being a horrible mother. Hopefully Ruth and Tillie will grow up to be nothing like their mother.
Period 1

Anonymous said...

I would have to say that Beatrice fits into the category of mental/verbal abuse. Throughout the entire book she is always criticizing both of her daughters, but mostly Tillie about her science projects. These types of abuse as stated can have lasting effects on the child. Beatrice never really gives her children complements at all too. Verbal abuse is mostly aimed at their looks, intelligence, capabilities, or basic value. Sometimes Beatrice will even laugh at some of the comments she makes because she thinks there humorous. I think in the long run Tillie and Ruth will finally be unable to handle what their mother is doing to them and hopefully try to get help. If they keep living like that then it will come to a point when it is considered unhealthy. Beatrice really does a number on their self esteem. Tillie is constantly put down about her projects that she loves so much. This is why Beatrice is a mental/verbal abuser.

Anonymous said...

In my opinion, after reading this play, I feel that Beatrice is mostly an abusive mother to her two daughters. I also feel that she has so many regrets from her past that she is taking out her anger on everyone else around her, instead of taking the full responsibility of blaming herself for her own lifelong regrets. Her behavior is most definitely affecting Tillie and Ruth’s lives. For example, in the present, Beatrice constantly criticizes Tillie and makes fun of her love for science. But Tillie remains strong and still has confidence in herself to succeed. Ruth, on the other hand, is following along with her mother’s words and actions. Because Ruth has an illness, Beatrice’s attention, if any, is shown more on Ruth. I would think that if Beatrice took the time to look at what Ruth really goes through, she would try to lesson her abusive tactics and cruel choice of words. But, unfortunately, she does not. An example of this is when Beatrice yells at Ruth for going into a seizure, because she found Beatrice had killed their pet rabbit. Just because Tillie goes around listening to Beatrice does not mean she is blind to her mother’s problems. I think that Tillie fully understands where her life would be going if she did not look within herself, and become her own person. However, I feel that Ruth has given up hope and has stopped trying to go against her mother’s wishes. As a result of this, in the future, Ruth will most likely become just who Beatrice has become. Fortunately, Tillie will oversee her life problems and become a very successful person. Just as they say; what you achieve in life is not as important as the person you become.

Period 1

Anonymous said...

In my eyes, I see Beatrice as an abusive/alcoholic parent. She frequently is drinking alcohol and smoking ciagarettes almost 24/7 around the house and around the kids. That however is not really the main idea, but it does add to her abusivness. She is not abusive physically but verbally. She says things to her kids, mainly Tillie, that crush their spirits in order for her to feel better about herself. Examples are evident like when she refers to Tillie as "ugly little you.." and when she does not want to go to the science fair simply because she doesn't want to look bad, and is unconcerned about Tillie.

Anonymous said...

I think Beatrice is a terrible mother. I think she has a mental illness. She probably means well in her heart, i'm sure she wants to be a good mother but she needs help. I would catagorize Beatrice under "Alcoholic parents" and "Abusive Parents. She fits as an alchoholic parent because she drinks alot and it controls how she acts and wut she says to her children. And when Beatrice is drunk she may not remember the hurtful things she does or says but her children always will. And Beatrice isn't just hurting her kids emotionally when she is drunk but she is also influencing her kids in a bad way.Kids who's parents are alchoholics have a much higher risk of becoming an alchoholic themselves than a kid who's parents aren't alchoholics. Beatrice also falls under the catagory of an abusive parents because even when shes not drunk she still says inapproprate things to her kids that shouldn't be said. Like when she told Tillie that her teacher was a "faggot". You shouldn't have the need to say that to your child. And when Beatrice called Tillie ugly and when she told ruth that when she doesn't get her way ruth always trys to ruin things for everyone else. Parents aren't soposed to say those things to their children, its not healthy because then the kids who are affected by this abuse are going to grow up and have a family and think that its alright to trea their children like this, the cycle will just keep continuing.

- Liz Pirrone

Anonymous said...

After finishing the play, i feel that Beatrice fits into two of the categories for parents under a dysfunctional family. These two categories would be Alcoholic parents and abusive. Beatrice is an alcoholic parent because she she has a drinking problem and drinks whenever shes in a bad mood. She is also an alcoholic parent because in the article it says that,"Alcoholic families can be chaotic and unpredictable." This mainly explains Beatrice's behavior throughout the play. The second category she fits into is abusive parents. Beatrice is an abusive parent because she verbaly assaults her children on a daily basis. It states in the article that,"Criticism can be aimed at the child's looks, intelligence, capabilities, or basic value." These are all areas that Beatrice attacks during the play. These are the categories that Beatrice fits into as a parent in a dysfunctional family.

-Period 6

Anonymous said...

I would say that Beatrice verbally abuses her daughters. She constantly criticizes her daughter. Beatrice is affecting the future of her daughters and their self esteem. In the article on dysfunctional families it states “Criticism can be aimed at the child's looks, intelligence, capabilities, or basic value. Some verbal abusers are very direct, while others use subtle put-downs disguised as humor.” Sometimes when Beatrice abuses her children she makes a joke. While other times she is direct and says an abusive comment to her daughters. Beatrice told Tillie that she can’t go to school dressed badly because it is embarrassing to Beatrice. This would be considered criticism to the Childs looks. Beatrice’s parenting style will affect her children in the present and the future. In the present Ruth and Tillie will have low self esteem that might continue into the present. Those are the reasons why I think Beatrice verbally abuses her children.

Period 1

Anonymous said...

The types of parent categories that I believe Beatrice fit into are an abusive and alcoholic parent. She was always being chaotic and unpredictable or full of surprises. She had many mood swings. One day Beatrice would have somewhat of a positive attitude. Then the next day, she would mostly have a negative attitude and be crabby and yelling at Ruth or Tillie. She also had no emotional expressions toward her daughters like showing any love or care for them. She also never talks about her alcoholism with her daughters and none of them talk about any of the problems that they have. This really makes Ruth and Tillie insecure and angry. Ruth gets so hyped up and angry that she has seizures. Even though Ruth has not started drinking yet, she probably will since she is allowed to smoke just like her mother. Beatrice is quite verbally abusive when she is always criticizing people like Tillie with her work, teachers, intelligence, and capabilities. She is also sarcastic or funny even though the others don’t think it’s funny like when Beatrice made fun of Tillie’s teachers and Tillie didn’t think it was funny. Beatrice also urges to hit her daughters like Ruth, but doesn’t and restrains herself from Ruth after Ruth made fun of her. Tillie will become stronger and learn more form her childhood when she becomes an adult.

Anonymous said...

I would categorize Beatrice as an alcoholic and abusive parent. I believe she is an "alcoholic" because she likes to drink her problems away. Although she doesn't get physically abusive and forget things, she just likes to drink a lot. I also believe that she is an abusive parent because she emotionally hurts her children. She tells Tillie that she is ugly and is a failure in life (verbal abuse). Even though Tillie is told that, she is the one who survived and will be a complete success (in my opinion).
This would effect Beatrice's children in a bad way, because they depend on her to live and copies what she does. When Beatrice gives her underage daughter, Ruth, a cigarette, she will soon become addicted if this continues to go on.

Zack F.
Period 6
English 10

Anonymous said...

Beatrice is most definitely an abusive parent. She verbally abuses her children constantly. Beatrice would often call her children ugly and stupid. She verbally abuses Ruth more than Tillie. She would make fun of Ruth and how she looks. This would affect Ruth later on in life. Ruth would grow up very insecure about herself, since she was constantly being told what was wrong with her by her mother. She would most likely also turn out very narcissistic and selfish like her mother. Tillie was also verbally abused, but Beatrice was more of a deficient parent to Tillie. When Tillie won first prize for the science fair, Beatrice completely ignored that fact. She didn’t even congratulate her daughter. However, I feel Tillie has it better off. That’s because Tillie won the science fair even though her mom didn’t go. I think that Tillie is going to grow up successful because she actually does something to help her accomplish her dreams.

Anonymous said...

I think that Beatrice is a really bad mother, and does things that are harming her kids now and will continue to cause them problems in the future. She is constantly putting them down, verbally abusing them, setting a bad example...killing their rabbits. All of these things will have a very negative affect on her kids. Ruth, has already been affected, and she will probably turn out the same way Beatrice is. Tillie, hasn't given up on her future, but she will probably be affected in one way or another, because she also had to deal with abuse from her mother. I don't even think Beatrice tries very hard to be a good mom, because she can't just deal with her own issues and focus on being there for her kids. Instead, she resorts to drinking, or verbally abusing her kids.. I would categorize Beatrice into the "alcoholic" and "abusive" parent. She drinks a lot, and this causes harm to her kids, who have to deal with her when she's drunk and does something like kill their rabbit with chloroform. She's also abusive, because she puts down her kids more often than not, and forces the kids to have to put up with her and her own problems. I think Beatrice is a very bad mother, because she can't put the past behind her and just try to be a good parent for Ruth and Tillie.

Anonymous said...

I believe that Beatrice is a lost soul and shouldn’t be a mother. She displays mental abuse to her children. Beatrice has so many problems in her life and her children has just complicated everything further more. Beatrice isn’t fit to be a mother, she neglects there needs (Tillie’s education). She also was so angry that she killed the rabbit, this demonstrates her anger issues. Ruth also had the nerve to provoke and hurt her mother, if Ruth cared for her I don’t think she would have said those things. What Ruth does is a direct reflection on Beatrice’s parenting. Beatrice also couldn’t put behind her past and just go to Tillie’s contest and be there for her, she let her own personal needs or embarrassment get in the way of that.

Anonymous said...

Beatrice Hundsfurd I think can be a good mother if she had some heart in her once in a while. I feel that she critizes her kids way to much and is using verbal abuse against her kids which is not good at all. She can have her times where she cares a lot about her children. For example when Tillie wanted her to go to the science fair made an effort to get her self and Tillie all dressed up. To me that was a sign that she cared for her kids. But Beatrice really needs to understand that the way she treated her children was in a very disresepctful way. At times i think that Beatrice isn't fit for a mother. All of the put downs she puts on her kids is so cruel and if your a mother no mother should be an impact on there children, not in that way. I feel that Beatrice is almost jealous of her kids she did follow through on her dreams so she is really upset about it and she finds a way to take it out on her kids. Beatrice really needs to watch what she says to her kids becuae it has a huge affect on them.

Anonymous said...

I think that category of the kind of mother Beatrice is an alcoholic/abusive mother. She is constantly drinking alcohol. She physically, mentally, and emotionally abuses her children. Beatrice is ashamed of her daughter, Tillie. When Ruth comes home from school and tells Beatrice that all the children were laughing at Tillie, Beatrice gets upset and says that they are also laughing at her. She has no sympathy for anyone but herself. Beatrice is upset that she had two kids and her dreams were ruined and she can not put that in the past. She says very hurtful things to her daughters and makes them feel like they are not worth anything. Beatrice is a terrible mother to her children, and she doesn't know it may effect them for the rest of their lives.

Anonymous said...

I think that Beatrice Hundorfer is a horrible mother. She isn't nurturing to her children at all, not to mention that she is mentally and verbally abusive. Her children suffer from lack of self-esteem due to her illness of miserable self absorption. Beatrice is a mother who is not involved in her children’s lives, and frankly could care less. She doesn’t think that they are smart or pretty, and rarely to never compliments them. All together she isn’t the type of mother that children would be grateful to have. I think that Beatrice doesn’t quiet understand the meaning of motherhood. She is too interested in herself and what people think about her to worry about her children, their lives and their feelings. I think that Beatrice is not a motherly person, who cares for others the way that mothers should or are expected to care for their children.

Anonymous said...

I think that Beatrice is an abusive and alcoholic parent. Her abuse mentaly harms her kids. She constantly yells and complanes about things and never encourages them into anything. She doesn't treat them with respect which they deserve to have. She also killed the rabit which was physical abuse to it and mental abuse to the kids who loved it. Beatrice is also an alcoholic parent because she drinks a lot and doesn't care. She constantly drinks to try to escape from her life's problems.

Anonymous said...

I think Beatrice is a terrible mother.She has two kids that she can't raise infact she can't even deal with her self.Her hole life is destroyed and she lets it out on her kids;yelling,emotional,mentall and physikaly abuses her kids.Tillie can deal with her problems and puts effort into her school,not like Ruth she tries to help Tillie and just doesn't show in the story that she has any kind of effort.Beatrice is trying to drink away her problems and not being there for her children.I think Tillie is going to be something in her life,like a science teacher or something and Ruth is to become like her mom: being pregnant with 16,having a misserble life and regret it.At the end of the story the mother is drunk and kills her daughters rabbit(while she's drunk)and doesn't regret it.That showes how cold a mother can be.

Anonymous said...

Beatrice is one of the worst mothers I have ever seen in a play or movie. She fits into three of the categories: Controlling, Abusive, and Alcoholic. She is controlling because everything is her way or no way. She tries to get Tillie to not like school because she herself hated it. She is also considered abusive because she yells at both of her children to the point where they don’t want to be around anymore. She swears towards her kids, makes them do very random choirs, sets bad examples, and killed her daughters’ bunny. And lastly she is considered an alcoholic parent because she basically is one. I’d bet that through out the play she was drunk ¾ of the time. So all in all Beatrice is one of the worst parents I think I have ever seen.

Shane
Period 1

Anonymous said...

I think that Beatrice falls under a lot of these types of parents. She is deficient because she doesn't let her children live life as a child but making them do everything by themselves. She is controlling because she makes them do things even if they don't want to. For example when she was making Tillie wear the bow or was going to make Ruth watch over Nanny. She is also abusive but in a verbal way. She criticizes them and makes them feel bad. She constantly makes fun of them and doesn't want them to look foolish for her own sake

Anonymous said...

In my opinion, Beatrice can be categorized as both an alcoholic and an abusive parental figure. Beatrice’s alcoholism explains the frequent unpredictable events that happened in the play and the impulsive moods that Beatrice finds herself in. It seems that one day Beatrice is one person, and the next day she an entirely different individual. Beatrice’s alcoholism not only affects Tillie and Ruth’s present, but also there future. I would not be surprised if they both turned out to become alcoholics or to have issues developing relationships with other people. The alcoholic habits of Beatrice are the obvious causes of abuse in the household. The abuse that Beatrice inflicts onto her children is of a verbal nature. She is never hesitant to criticize how Tillie or Ruth looks or acts. I believe that these criticisms will eventually wear Beatrice’s children’s good qualities thin and turn them into what Beatrice herself has become.

matt r / period 1

Anonymous said...

I think that Beatrice is both categorized as an alcoholic and abusive parent. She’s abusive because she is always putting her kids down if its not cause of their intelligence its because of their looks. At one point in the play Beatrice told Tille she could use beauty school. When the school had laughed at her during the assembly instead of trying to make her feel better she put her down even more saying things like how could you do that and ambaries me like that. She doesn’t think of their feelings only hers. She is an alcoholic parent because the rules and expectations are usually changing every day. Also her mood is never the same. One minute she is acting like she cares a little and the next she is threatening to kill their rabbit. At the end of the play Beatrice was drinking a lot, which caused her to act rationally and do thing like kill the rabbit and turn the house into a teashop.

Anonymous said...

There are different types of dysfunctional families. There’s the alcoholic parents, abusive parents, controlling parents, and deficient parents. When it comes to Beatrice, I think she can fall into the category of an alcoholic parent, abusive parent, and in some ways a controlling parent. I see Beatrice as the type of alcoholic parent because she would drink on and off and have her drunken moments were she would then turn into an abusive parent and verbally abuse her daughter, by calling her ugly and stupid and saying she should do something with her self and not mess with man-in-the-moon marigolds. At times Beatrice can also be a controlling parent. Not in the aspect where she organizes everything Tillie or Ruth does in their lives but she tells Tillie what she should do to be a prettier girl, or what school she should go to or what type of carrier she should take up. She tells Tillie what she’s interested is useless and she could be doing something better with herself. So Beatrice is kind-of a mixture of an alcoholic, abusive, deficient parent. And that’s why her family is a dysfunctional family.

nicole t
period 1

Anonymous said...

Beatrice can be described as many of the catagories. She is an alcoholic parent. This is because she sometimes would drink her problems away, which would in turn alter her feeling towards her children and others in the play. In turn, this would cause her to become an abusive parent. She would constantly verbally abuse her daughter Tillie by criticizing the way that she dressed, acted, etc. When, years ago, Beatrice was that same person, and her dreams were lost, which caused her to become this sort of a human being. Beatrice is also a deficient parent. Tillie and Ruth constantly find themselves acting as the adults of the family due to how immature and incapable of being a normal parent Beatrice is. She can't act like a proper adult so sometimes the responsibility is put in the hands of her children. In sum, Beatrice is an alcoholic, abusive, and deficient parent in all aspects of the play.

Anonymous said...

Beatrice can be categorized as an alcoholic parent and an abusive parent. She drinks all of the time, so she is never really there for her children when they need her. Because she drinks, she can become abusive. She isn't physically abusive, but she is definetly mentally abusive. She always yells at her kids, especially Tillie now, and tells her how ugy and stupid and things that like that she is. Because of her alcoholism and abusive ways, she is not a very good mother. She needs to stop being those things so she can be there for her children.

Anonymous said...

I think that Beatrice is very abusive and alcoholic mother. She is always drunk even in front of her children. She is the one who is still living in past. That means she is not planning anything for future and past has still affected her. She is controlling mom sometimes. She yelled at Ruth and Tillie several time in the play using words like ‘shut up’. It shows that those children were not given all the care and love that they deserve. Beatrice can also be categorized in abusive mom because she is unsupportive to her children. She didn’t even feel happy when Tillie when she won at the Science fair at her school. She use chloroform to kill the bunny and kicked out Nanny from home. So, I would categorize Beatrice as the cruel mom.

Anonymous said...

Beatrice is an abusive,alcoholic mother. She drinks way too much and then meantally abuses her children. She has no resposibilities and she only cares about her self. She is a very selfish mother. Telling Tillie that she is basically ugly and not letting her go to school will negatively affect her in the future. Tillie wont have social skills because she is always home and never around friends.She will have problems creating relationships because of trust issues. She will grow up with alot of social problems and no self esteem and that is Beatrice's fault. Tillie is more of an adult than Beatrice is.

Per.4

Anonymous said...

Beatrice as a mother can be described in many, many words. But if I put myself in her shoes I think that it's easier to understand why she is the way she is. She isn't a very good mother, but she does have her good moments. She was proud of Tillie when she was one of the five contestants to be in the science fair, but at the same time she killed the bunny. So she's not a good mother, but she is a mother which gives her some credit.

Actually, I think that she did a very good job. Think I'm nuts? Well listen. Over the years Tillie will spend with her mother she will realize all the things he mother taught her how "not" to be as a parent. When she eventually has kids she will remember her mother and the way she felt how her mother treated her and she will be the one to say "I won't ever let that happen to my children."

The things that don't kill us in life only make us stronger and I think that as a mother Beatrice is horrible, but has taught Tillie all the things only a mother could teach her daughter.

Brandon
Period 1

Anonymous said...

Beatrice is an awful mother. She categorizes under abusive (verbally and slightly physically), controlling, and alcoholic. Her values are rediculous, her way of expressing them are even more rediculous, and her lack of care and respect for her daughters is appalling. Tillie was able to have a positive outcome from Beatrice's parenting techniques, but this shouldn't be credited to Beatrice, if anyone, it should be credited to Mr. Goodman. Look at Ruth. The impact Beatrice's parenting had on Ruth makes any success with Tillie, fade away. The yelling, the drinking, encouraging her own daughters to smoke...she's training them to be like herself. The values that Beatrice has taught her daughters and the lessons that they'll take from her examples may make them stronger, but judging from the impact they've had on Ruth, I'd also say that those same things that made them stronger, also have the strength to destroy them.

Anonymous said...

I believe that Beatrice is a deficient mother. She doesnt physically abuse her two children but she mentally abuses them. The fact that she cant even handle herself doesnt help the fact that she has two other people to take care of. Her emotions are always up and down. You cant predict what she is going to be like. Tillie and Ruth always have to take on responsibilities like cleaning and such. They also had to help their mother a lot with Nanny. Beatrice is also an alcoholic parent. She is always drinking and smoking. These things like smoking rub off on her children. Ruth always wants a smoke from her mother. The bad habits she has are rubbing off on her children. Beatrice is not a good mother or role model for her children.

Anonymous said...

Brandon's pretty nuts. :D

Ruth could grow up to be just like her mother, because she might not fully understand that a mother is *not* supposed to be like that (drunk, verbally and mentally abusive, etc). Or maybe she does understand that a mother is not supposed to be like that, since it seems like she resents Beatrice, but with all the issues she has now it's very unlikely that Ruth will turn out all right.

As for Tillie, she seems to have a good head on her shoulders. Her mother is an ominous cloud over her head, but Tillie does seem to distance herself from the clamor.

Beatrice is a verbally and mentally abusive parent. She constantly picks at her daughters' feelings as if they were only possessions and not humans. She's called her daughters ugly and such, which would most likely damage their self-esteem. No child of any age should be treated that way by their mother; the one who is supposed to protect them and care for them forever, even after they've moved out of their parents' house.

By the way, I'm not saying Brandon's wrong...Because I tend to think about both sides of the story a lot. So he's absolutely right, in his own way. :]

period 1
Steph

Anonymous said...

Beatrice is a mentally and abusive mother, she had made so many mistakes in her life, and i think since she had a bad life she takes it out on her kids and that isnt right, i dont thin she realizes that she is hurting them in that way. She is constantly critisising Tillie but not Ruth but Tillie dosent seem to care i think she is just used to it because her mom has been doing it for her whole life. beatrice deffinatly needs some help, she cant really change her life right now they way it is going, but she can help her childrens a nd make sure they dont end up with the life that she had, but she dosent realize what she is doing to them and i dont think she ever will.

Anonymous said...

In my opinion, Beactice is a controlling parent. She is always controlling everything that her kids do. In her opinion she thinks that her kids are incapable of doing anything by themselves and is always commenting on their desions as far as goals, friends that they may have, assignments and classes they might be or already be taking on. She doesn't know how to let go and is so involved with trying to make their lives the way that she wants them to be that she has forgotton to think about herself.

She is incapable of letting go of Ruth and Tillie and letting them grow up to be what THEY WANT to be. In my opinion I think she is suffering form "extreme parental rigidity" and "control interfere".

I think that her parenting skills will affect her kids later in the future because they will have become so frigid and so involved in making their mother happy with everything. Other poeple that they may met, that they may want to be in a serious and intimate realationship with will be so depressed (from their early childhood) and scared if they are doing something wrong that they will just break down, not knowing that there really was nothing wrong.

Anonymous said...

I think Beatrice can be categorized as an abusive and a minor alcoholic. She always drinks making her very seldom there for her children. Because of alcohol and her past experiences, she can become abusive. Her abuse is strictly verbal , but she is definetly hurting her kids mentally too. She always yells at her kids, especially Tillie, and tells her she dresses weird and Beatrice shoots down all Tillis‘s interests. Her being an alcoholic and an abusive parental. I think she has to begin to act as an adult and care for her children.

Anonymous said...

I believe beatrice can be catorgorized as a abusive and controlling parent. She constantly abuses her children with words in the play. When she does this she brings down her childrens self esteem and hurts them mentally. She is controlling because it seemed at the beginning of the play that she kept Tillie home from school and told her to lie to the teacher. This might effect her children in the future by not setting a good example for them, when they grow up they might treat their children the same way because they dont know any better. Beatrice is also very selfish. She only thinks about herself and doesnt really care about many other things. She gives her kids cigerates and doesnt even think of what that will do to them in the future. Overall she is one of the worst parents i have heard or read of and i dont even think she realizes she is doing a bad job.

Anonymous said...

I think that beatrice is a terrible role model and is the reason why the Hunsdorfers' are considered a disfunctional family. She is an alcoholic, abusive verbally, and never helps her children when they need it. She killed the rabbit, making the pain on her children even worse, and she destroys everyone else's dreams just because she lost hers. Her abuse will affect both Tillie and Ruth in the future. Tillie probably won't be as affected as Ruth will be. Ruth, if she becomes a parent, may have gained the same parenting "skills"(if you can call it that) as Beatrice. Tillie, despite her problemed childhood, will likely go on to do great things, maybe a scientist or something. At least she wouldn't be as heartless and would probably help her mother if she did earn enough money. It really was a toss-up the way Zindel ended the play; Tillie could be as bitter as Beatrice when she is older.

Joe Sierejko

Anonymous said...

I think Beatrice would be categorized as an abusive and alcoholic parent. She is abusive because she is always verbally abusing her two children Tillie and Ruth. Even when they might do something right, she still says mean things to them. For example, when Tillie wants Beatrice to come to the stage with her, Beatrice's remark is something like, no, do you think I want to look as ugly as you? She also tends to have a lot to drink, as well smoke. Since she is constantly drinking, she won't remember something that she has said. At times she very strict, while other times indifferent. Overall, she isn't a very good parent and needs to try to get better.

Mike
Period 6

Anonymous said...

In my opinion, Beatrice is a very mentaly abusive parental figure. Because Beatrice drinks she often has vairous mood swings. She is a horrible parent in my opinion, always putting her children down, and she also is a horribe role model for her children. She has made nothing with her life besides many dreams that she had for herself but never carried out/ worked for. Later on in both Ruth's life and Tillie's lives I suspect there will be problems. Because Beatrice is an alcoholic I bet Tillie and Ruth will also become alcoholics, using alcohol to clear their horrid past. Beatrice is a figure that is lacking a self worth. She has made nothing with herself and often blaims it on her children or her injury when infact it is her falt. I believe that Beatrice needs to move on with her life and stop dwelling on the past.

Anonymous said...

In my opinion, beatrice is not a good mother, this is because she takes out all the hate she has for herself on her children. she blames them for all shes done wrong and all the things she has messed up for herself. I think beatrice is also physically abusive because she lets her kids basically smoke cancer. I think that they should be immediatly taken away, or else they will be insanley messed up when they are older.