Patrick McEvoy-Halston

English 403/501
ProfessorK. D. Neill
25Mnch2003ll|

Greedy for Your Hurt

One of the hardestthings we can ever admit to ourselvesis that the sourceof our fears of

deathoften originate in our parents'behaviourtowards us as children. We dependon them so

much for love and security that we often resist,even in adulthood,acknowledgingthe effect that

either their own hostility towardsus, or their failure to defendus againstthe hostile wishesothers,
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had uponJas children. Though Del Jordanin Alice Munro's Lives of Girls and Women, the
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narratorof JeanCocteau'sLes EnfantsTerribles, and Andrea Ashworth in her Once in a Houseon

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Fire all associatedeath with parentalviolence and/orbetrayal,eadhvary in their ability to admit I *l'r"'i
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parentalsadismand thus the degreeto which they concealit in their na:ratives. /

As there is nothing we more want to deny than our parents'hostile impulsestowards us

(Rheingold 19), it is astonishingand exceedinglyrare for Del to not only recognizebut to demand
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you haveto facethings
thatwe attendto tlem. After recountinghermothersaying,rtithat
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sometime"(52), Del facesup to the fact that manyparentswant "you" to suffer. Whensherelates

her insight to us, shedoesso fully awarethat this is an insight manyof us suspectis true but wish

to deny. "Yes," shetells us, after beginningby dispensingher insight softly, referring to the

hostility in "people" ratherthan isolatingit in our parents,this "greedfor your hurt" is "in parents

too; in parentsparticularly'' (52). But whatDel doesnot so overtly relateto us is the effectthat this

sadismhadupon her. Given that shesandwichesthis insight betweenher recollectionof how she

tried to "desecrate"(49), to humiliate,a deadcow andher desperatebut successfirlstruggleto

resistseeingher Uncle Craig's corpse,we might intuit that it madeher think not only of death,bul,

of the horrifying potentialto find oneselfpowerlessin the presenceof death.

It is whenDel reflectson herfather's attitudewhenhe decidesto shoottheir dogMajor that

betrayalanddeathin Del's mind. Iust as

we more overtly haveparentspairedwith powerlessness,
 thatthey
thatparentswanttheirchildrento suffer,sheemphasizes
shewasableto acknowledge
(6want"(126;
emphasisin original)othersto die. But with this powerfulinsight,t1:l.t than
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keeping us tightly focusedon the sourceof her inspiration, she allows the fact thatfs,was her
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father's "reasonable,blasphemousface" (126) that inspired her insight to lose its distiqct

importance. While her mother's hostility was loosely concealedwithin the generalcategoryof

parents,her father's desirefor deathcomesclose to completely merging with that sharedby

I
I "adults, managersand executioners"(126).

Del's relative evasivenesshere is likely the product of afear that, put in a position where

otherswant her to suffer a sternpunishment,her fathermight not be relied upon to defendher. Her

Aunt Agnes had told her previously that she was a "mad dog" (61) who should be punished. Del

felt that biting Mary Agnes, the causeof her Aunt's anger,would draw upon her all the hatredof

everyoneat the funeralan-{gthoughshehoped that biting Mary Agnes would put her "where no

punishmentwould ever" (61) reachher, shedependedupon her parentsto defend her againstthe

accumulatedweight of the hostility sheimaginedwas directedat her. Her mother immediately did

defendher reluctanceto participatein a "barbaric" (62) ritual, bulrgiven that Del had previously

discussedher mother's betrayal,her mother's own desire"for her hurt," she neededto know that

her father could be dependedupon for supportand defence. She thereforeunderstandably

understandsher father's desireto shootMajor for his own maddog behaviour as evidencethat he

may not be the absolutepillar of supportthat sheboth needsand wants him to be for her. Her

dreamsof her "kind, [. . .], calm, [. . .], reasonable"father"cutting off [her] t. . .l head" (I25),her

fearsthat he may not be countedon, inspire her to temporarily look elsewhere--toGod--for

support.

However,Del's father'sreactionto Major's behaviouris unusualenoughfor Del to deemit

"blasphemous"(126). And Del's mother, while sheis simultaneouslycontinuing her own private
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 war againstDeath that we seesuch strong signsof elsewherein the text (eg., in her explanationof

what Death is l42l),is strong in her daughter'smoment of need. If Del f,lOn't had parentsupon

whom shecould, for the most part, rely upon for protection,or who were the sort of people she

most neededprotection from, shewould likely have written a novel that betraysthe sameneedto
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deny vulnerability to deaththat we encounterin Les EnfantsTerribles

i_,/ Del demonstratesstrength,not weakness,when she tells us of her desireto humiliate a

deadcow in an attemptto masterdeath. Del is able to acknowledgehow greatly awareand

affectedby death she was as a child. Weakness,instead,lies in trying to persuadeyourself, as the

narratorof Les Enfants Terribles does,that children are simply "unable to imagine death" (18).

What this narrator shows us is that, while adulthoodcan surely bring about a greatercapacityto

understanddeath,with children who have experiencedextremeparentalabuse,adulthoodis more I

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notablefor it bringing about a greatercompetencyat self-deception. /,/"-

While the narratorclaims he tells us the story of two children, it is more likely, given the

way in which he describesElisabethandthe way that sherelatesto Paul,that he tells the storyof an

extremelyimmaturemother's (probablyhis own) possessiverelationshipto her son. Very

immaturemothers,motherswho wereso unlovedandunattendedto in life that they requiretheir

children to supplytheir own unmetneeds,interprettheir children's individuation asrejection.

Their matemalangeroften leadschildrento fearthat, unlessthey somehowstopgrowing,t$t they

will suffera catastrophe,evendeath,aspunishment@heingold137). They fear,in short,thatthey

would suffer what Paul suffersat the handsof Elisabethwhen sheunderstandsnot only that "her

. ur nursling was a child no longer" (62), but that he wantsto grow-up.

While the narratorcohstantlydescribesElisabethasmother-like(we aretold, for instance,

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that shespeaks"in the mannerof a matemal. . .l52fl, we areeventold that her own mother"still

lived on within het'' [69]), it is whensheis describedasan old womanthat we shouldbeginto

 4

suspectthat Elisabethis a representationof the narrator'sown mother. The horrifying

characterizationof Elisabethas"a madwomfn [who] hunche[s]over a deadchild" (67) captures,

with its characterizationofher asmadandwith its link to a child's death,exactly the experienceof

a child who fearss/hewill be destroyedby his/herangrymother.

So,too, doesprettymuchtheentiretyof parttwo, asit chroniclesElisabeth'srelationship

'Tear[s]thatPaulhadturned
of him tryingto individuate,Elisabeth
to Paulwhen,asa consequence

againsther andwas deliberatelyavoidinghet'' (107). While it is true that sheis describedas

tenderlymotheringhim (she,for example,"drie[s]his tears,kisse[s]him, [and]tuck[s]him up"

[119])andasdirectingher"killer instincts"(119)ontoothers,sheultimatelyplansto useher"two

andoblivion" (148)to destroythemboth. Deathis a way for herto possess

weapons--death Paul

forever,while life, growth,continuouslyopposesherplans. And while it is Dargelos'spoison

which eventuallyslaysPaul, given the numberof timesElisabettris retired to asa poisonous

spiderin part two, we may havetroublenot imagining that the mad "mother" Elisabethis

ultimately the one who is responsiblefor the deathofher "child," Paul.

But if thosewho experienceextremeparentalsadismtendto displaceits origin onto others,

ownkiller
thenwhatexplainsAndrea'sAshworth'scapacitytq,aoiranklyportrayherstep-father's

instincts? Onereasonfor her strengthmay be, assumingthat the narratorof I,es Enf44ts.Terribles

- thatElisabethrepresents
wasoncein Paul'sposition,andassuming Andrea
Paul'smother,because
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differs from him in having anotherparentthat shecancounton for support. However,the mrLrked
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that Andreasetsup, with her motherashero andher step-fatherasvillain, may reflect
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i'l, othersthat the narratorof ks EnfantsTerrible likely demonstrates.Shemay also(and so unlike
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I \.1/ Del), in an attemptto keeponeof her parent's"purc," rationalizeher mother's behaviour.
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asif they are
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o Early in her account,Andrea'smotherandstep-father

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 t.'polar-opposites:Peteris brutal, a villain, andher mother,a helpful guardian. Peterpoundsupon

his family with "his hairy fist[s]" (18), brutally beatingboth Andreaandher mother. He is anogre,

a creaturewhoseresemblancecould be found in the book of fairy taleshe rips up. And Andrea's

motler is describedasthe sort of personwho frustratesthe desireof ogresto pummeltheir prey.

JustasDel wasexpectedto look at her uncle's corpse,Andreais told by a guideto look at a "nasty

ogre"(27) hiddenin thecave'sshadows.And while Del's motherwasagitatedandcombative,

Andrea'smothersoothesher child by tenderlysqueezingher handand askingher, "Well, who

'
. ; . : wantsto seean ogre?"(27). Andreaknowsthat hermotherwould help defendher against"ogres,"

andshedoes,tellingPeter, 'Not in front of the girls!'," while her "headwhippedbacklike a

doll's" (49)asa resultof beinghit by him. And alsolaterwhenshedirectsthe knife-wielding

, / Peter'sattentionontoherself,tellinghim, "[t]his isn't aboutthe girts" (66).

But while Andrea'smotherdefiantly declaresthat Peterwould "not lay a finger on them

hadbeatenherup thenight
[herchildren]"(11),Andreaalsoknows,giventhatherstep-father
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before,that s!i! hadnot beenableto preventPeterfrom doing so. Knowing how muchthe

knowledgewould devastateher mother,Andreaprotectsher by not telling her aboutthe abuse.

to explorewhyft is\hermotherfrequentlyallowsback
Shemay,however,also,with herreluctance

into the hornepartnerswho routinely beatup her children,be protectingherselffrom seriously

consideringthe possibility that hermothernot only knowsaboutthe abuse,but may actuallydesire

. ftotrh". childrento suffer. Shecertainlyshowsus instanceswhereher mother--shownto behaveso

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rig differently than shedid previouslywith Peter-seemsto align herselfwith Terry andappearto
' I ',,,'betray
,. \ her children's needfor her support. Shetells us that her sistersactuallyfelt that her mother
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had "betrayed"(228) them,but Andrea,speakingwith more textual authority than her younger

- t' sisters are granted, suggeststhat her motler was not motivated out of a desire to harm her children.
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r ..., ll , .",' But while Andrea likely displacesand rationalizesher mother's hostility, there are some

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 6

signsin her text that she suspectsthat her mother may indeedbe "greedy for her hurt." For

instance,the importanceof Andrea's schooling as her meansof escapingfrom an oppressive,

dangerous,potentially even deadly home life is madeclear in the text. And Andrea choosesto

place her mother's decisionto move to Manchester,where there are no grammar schools,just one

pageafter sheinforms us of her admittanceto LancashireGrammar (99-100). The dangersthat

lurk in her neighbourhoodsare overtly presentedin the text, too, and,just one pageafter describing

an incident where a man tried to stabher, Andrea tells us of her pgm'_s decision to move where a

"poor lassgot draggeddown . . . and raped" (153). However, thereis always enoughwiggle-room

provided in her text that if we (and/or she) would prefer to understandher mother's motives as-
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perpetuallybenign, we are able to do so without too much difficulty. *. \ri(
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Andrea's mother is, by the end of Andrea's account,a more ambiguousfigure than shewas

at the beginning--butsheis no ogre. If Andrea's motherretainssomeof the heroic statusat the end

of the accountas she had at the beginning,doubtlessthis is becauseshe,)despiteher periodsof

withdrawal during Andrea's adolescence,often was, or at least wanted to be availableto help

Andrea. However, it is also likely that Andrea neededto have someonewho could defendher

againstall the perils associatedwith living in a "house on fire," and to some extent createdthis

personin her narrative. The narratorof Les EnfantsTerriblesmay do the samething when, despite

the almost innumerablecomparisonsmadebetweenElisabethand monstrousthings, he also likens

her to "a captain on a bridge" (69) and to "a merciful judge" (Il4)--that is, to an empowered

individual who might help rather than devour him. If we allow ourselvesto imagine how

awesomelyterrifying our own parents' sadismwas to us as children--indeed,how it might have

made us feel as if they wanted us dead--wecan better appreciatejust how brave their attemptsto

explore it, to face it, are. As for Del, who looks to God but who can stareDeath right in the face,

sheis the sort of hero that we might all want to look to for support.
 Works Cited

Ashworth,Andrea. Oncein a Houseon Fire. [.ondon: Picador,1998.

Cocteau,Jean. Irs EnfantsTerribles. Trans. RosamondIrhmann. Toronto: PenguinBooks,

r96t.
Munro, Alice. Lives of Girls andWomen. Toronto: PenguinBooks, 1996.

Rheingold,Joseph.The Mother . Anxiety. andDeath: The CatastrophicDeathComplex.

London: Little, Brown andCompily, 1967.

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