Teenage Wasteland Essay

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Teenage Wasteland

A heart-wrenching coming-of-age story, Anne Tyler's "Teenage Wasteland" is told primarily from the mother's point-of-view. The opening and ending of the story rapidly flash through key growth points in Donny's life from the time he first hits puberty to the time he runs away from home. Although the narration is in third person, Donny's perspective is not taken into account to underscore the mother's pain and suffering at not understanding her child as he grapples with the confusion of adolescence. Having had a troubled teenage life herself, the mother demonstrates compassion toward her son, which is never reciprocated. Irony permeates "Teenage Wasteland," as the mother becomes like a child: lost, lonely, and confused.

At the opening of "Teenage Wasteland," the narrator quickly goes over Donny's transformation from the soft-featured boy with a cowlick to the sullen boy with a "sharp, new Adam's apple," (Para. 1). The Adam's apple is more than a mere emblem of male puberty; it is also a symbol of the Biblical story detailing the fall from a state of grace and the innocence of childhood. Thus, the opening paragraph encapsulates the theme of the story, which is the human condition and the struggles people endure as they seek a sense of wholeness, love, and belonging. The opening paragraph also contains the necessary foreshadowing that hints at Donny's downfall.

Tyler liberally uses irony in "Teenage Wasteland," in order to emphasize the core themes and motifs. Irony helps to expose the complexity of the issues that are addressed in the story, emphasizing the moral ambiguity that makes the story compelling. One of the notable ironies in the story is the way the parents become infantilized at several moments, first by the school and then by Cal.

From the first meeting Donny's mother Daisy has with the school principal, it seems that the school represents at least in part elements of social control, authoritarian rule, and arbitrary discipline.

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The narrator wants the reader to sympathize with Donny and Daisy, as Daisy enters the meeting nervous, "clutching her purse," and feeling intimidated -- even though she used to be a teacher (Para. 2). The principal veritably scolds Daisy, or at least that is Daisy's perception. Yet Daisy is eager to please as if she is a child looking for approval. Daisy even starts to ignore her daughter Amanda, Donny's little sister, who exists as a character mainly to underscore the lack of balance in Daisy's approach. Daisy also finds herself snapping at her husband when he returns home from work. Clearly, the anxiety that the school engrained in Daisy is counter-productive, but Daisy fears for her son's future.

The next time the parents are noticeably infantilized is when both parents are asked to attend a conference about Donny, and the narrator describes them as "two bad children," (Para. 7). Daisy does what she can to try and impress the school, even though she feels like a failure. Her sudden self-consciousness about her and her husband's clothing is a clear reference to social class status. Daisy feels intimidated by the school because she perceives her role in the situation as being powerless; the school represents power and authority. This is why Daisy tries to put on airs with a "firm, responsible handshake," rather than defend her son in a more rigorous manner (Para. 10). All these references to the patronizing methodologies of the school's relationship with parents help the reader sympathize with both Daisy and with Donny.

Cal becomes the next ironic figure in "Teenage Wasteland." At first, he seems like the anti-establishment answer to all of Donny and Daisy's problems. He relates to teenagers because in many ways, he still is one. Instead of helping the students improve their grades, he focuses on what he calls the "whole child," (Para. 54). His methods seem attractive at first,.....

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