- Jan 12, 2021
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- 2,689
I think it was here that we learn in the course of the plot that the father got away with murder/killing because he knew the right people.
Secondly, if I remember correctly, the threat was something along the lines that if she turned up again he would hurt the son.
I'm not sure about this, but I seem to remember that although he wasn't a good father, he never actively harmed the son. Unlike the guy who had an affair with the protagonist's ex, if I'm not mistaken.
So there was definitely a potential for danger from the father, and we mustn't forget that the mother was simply afraid, not just for her own health - I think that was secondary - but for her son's safety. After our protagonist was living alone, she simply didn't seek contact because she was ashamed of abandoning her son. But I think that falls into the category of fear making people irrational. How often do people do stupid things for outsiders because they are afraid either for their families or for their own well-being?
Apart from that, this situation is also an important one in the context of her second marriage, something that had a lasting impact on her: When she was pregnant with Lucy, her second husband urged her to have an abortion; she refused because she didn't want to abandon another child like the protagonist and decided to divorce.
I would even go so far as to say that her decision to adopt Alice (the daughter of her first husband and half-sister of the son she has with the man) was influenced by this: in principle, Alice, like her older half-brother, had lost a lot because of their father. I assume accordingly that she not only saw a lot of her son in Alice, but possibly also wanted to atone for the fact that she never took legal action against her first husband and that another woman had to suffer because of the man.
Secondly, if I remember correctly, the threat was something along the lines that if she turned up again he would hurt the son.
I'm not sure about this, but I seem to remember that although he wasn't a good father, he never actively harmed the son. Unlike the guy who had an affair with the protagonist's ex, if I'm not mistaken.
So there was definitely a potential for danger from the father, and we mustn't forget that the mother was simply afraid, not just for her own health - I think that was secondary - but for her son's safety. After our protagonist was living alone, she simply didn't seek contact because she was ashamed of abandoning her son. But I think that falls into the category of fear making people irrational. How often do people do stupid things for outsiders because they are afraid either for their families or for their own well-being?
Apart from that, this situation is also an important one in the context of her second marriage, something that had a lasting impact on her: When she was pregnant with Lucy, her second husband urged her to have an abortion; she refused because she didn't want to abandon another child like the protagonist and decided to divorce.
I would even go so far as to say that her decision to adopt Alice (the daughter of her first husband and half-sister of the son she has with the man) was influenced by this: in principle, Alice, like her older half-brother, had lost a lot because of their father. I assume accordingly that she not only saw a lot of her son in Alice, but possibly also wanted to atone for the fact that she never took legal action against her first husband and that another woman had to suffer because of the man.