Indledning
Some say that mental abuse is much worse than physical, especially when it is domestic abuse relating to children.
A vast majority of children experience abuse from their family which has consequences in their future relationships and mental health.
However, many children fight back the mistreatment and even becomes resilient to the trauma. MuliAmaye’s short story Streamlining explores this and is set in Manchester in the United Kingdom.
Uddrag
The dangerous act of favouring on children over another can be detrimental and explains why Jocie dislikes her brother’s behaviour.
She simply envies him for being the favourite child and she resents the way her mother mistreat, criticize, and blame her for everything since her father left the picture:
“Her earliest memories were about being responsible: for waking up Brandon with her crying; for giving Mummy a headache with all her chatter; for making Daddy leave because she was always naughty.” (ll. 28-30).
This can explain why Jocie is successful in her job carrier, yet whose attitude to work is professional, perfectionistic, and dismissive of criticism (ll. 84-85).
It stems from the relationship with her family who would even criticize her as a young child. Even though Jocie left home years ago as a teenager, her mother still seems to hold a certain power over her. It leaves mental scars in children which it has in Jocie.