Literary Analysis #3

Don't Hurt Laurie 
GENERAL:

1) Laurie is a child of an abusive mother who can't summon the courage to tell anyone what's going on.  For as long as she can remember her mother, Annabelle, has been abusing her as a result of her father abandoning them.  Annabelle always says that Laurie is a spitting image of her father, and it saddens her to just look at Laurie because it just brings back so many painful memories of her ex-husband.  Annabelle ends up remarrying an older man named Jack with a younger son and daughter.  Laurie becomes quite close with her step brother and comes to him with her problems about Annabelle.  As a result of the doctors and nurses becoming accustomed to Laurie visits at the hospital, Annabelle decides to move the family into a quit neighborhood, closer to a new hospital to get rid of any suspicious   At the new house, Laurie meets a new friend named George, who has health issues of his own.  Laurie and George become very close, and the bond they make finally lets Laurie's guard down and tell George what has been going on.  Laurie wishes her mom would just die so she wouldn't have to live with the constant fear of being pushed down the stairs, or cut with a knife; Until one day Laurie's wish comes true.  Annabelle has been hit with a car and is in critical condition.  Laurie and her step brother are relieved knowing that she won't be beaten for awhile.  As Annabelle is on bed rest from her return home from the hospital, everyone finally had a chance to be free and actually be a kid for once.  It doesn't last long though.  Annabelle reached her breaking point and even had the nerve to hit Laurie's step brother too.  The kids decided enough was enough and ran away to the kids' grandmas house because they knew it was a safe haven.  There Laurie had to tell the grandma what was going on so she finally put an end to all the abuse.  They sent Annabelle to a doctor to seek the medical attetion she needed and Laurie finally felt the huge relief she had been looking for.
2) The theme of this novel is to know that you can go to anyone with your problems.  You shouldn't have to hold such a big secret like Laurie's and think that you're alone.  There is always someone out there to help.
3) The authors tone of the story is sympathetic because Laurie is being tortured in her own home.
4) Dialogue:  Throughout the whole book, the only person Laurie ends up feeling comfortable talking to one-on-one is to her step brother.
Irony: its ironic that Annabelle isn't feeling any mercy towards Laurie because as a child, Annabelle was abused too.
Allusion: Laurie dreams of bad things happening to her mother because she just can't take the abuse anymore.
Flashback: Laurie thinks back to when her dad was around and how she loved everything about him.

CHARACTERIZATION:

1) Two examples of indirect characterization are:
-Jack's mother and Jack.  The author describes them the way Laurie sees them.  Jack is hardly ever around always on the go because of work.  Jack's mom is a very sweet woman you can tell by the way the author make Laurie describe her.
 Two examples of direct characterization are:
-Laurie and Annabelle.  Laurie is a shy, depressed girl because she has no one to go to about her problems.  Annabelle is a harsh woman that is very strict and abusive to her daughter.
2) The main thing the author uses here is syntax.  When switching to different characters the author uses a distinct set of words so that the readers know what the mood and tone are.
3) The protagonist is a dynamic character because throughout the book Laurie ends up getting stronger and realizing that she can put an end to all of this abuse she has been going through.
4) After reading this book I left it feeling a lot of sympathy towards Laurie because I realized a lot of people probably are holding a terrible secret inside them like this.  They need to know that you can talk to someone about these sort of things and that you're not alone.  When Laurie stated that it made her sick to think about telling an adult about what was going on I wanted to jump into the book and help her myself and let her know everything was going to be okay.


 




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