Clark Zlotchew's Blog - Posts Tagged "young-moherhood"
At What Cost: A Pregnant High School Girl's Internal Struggle
A POWERFUL PUNCH: My reaction to the novel, At What Cost, by J. Andersen, surprised me tremendously. The book is classified as young adult, which is not my preferred type of reading. In fact, I had never even read a novel in that category, since I am far from being in the projected audience. In addition, it concerns a sixteen-year-old high school girl who finds herself pregnant.
In today’s world, this is not an uncommon occurrence. I assumed it would be a maudlin account of a wayward teenager. But once I began to read the novel, I began to like the protagonist and to feel a great interest in this vulnerable girl’s fate. This immediate interest, of course, is the result of J. Andersen’s writing skill.
Maggie, the protagonist, is sincerely in love with Justin, the handsome, charming and reluctant father. Maggie’s family is dysfunctional. Her mother is a perfectionist; everything has to be absolutely perfect. She is always expertly coiffed, her dinner table must be set following all the rules of etiquette, and, as she often tells Maggie, everything the members of the family do reflect on the family’s honor, on the family’s reputation in the community. Maggie and her mother are constantly arguing about what to most people would seem petty: e.g. the right clothing to wear when leaving the house.
Maggie’s father is the strong, silent type who spends so much time at his business –he feels it his duty to work as much as possible in order to give the material best to his family—that he has no time to enjoy his family, to interact with his daughter. Maggie, like any teen-age girl needs a certain rapport with her father, but feels it is missing.
Naturally, the protagonist interprets the behavior of her parents –constant nagging and arguments with her mother, lack of interaction with her father—as lack of love. She seeks the closeness, the love she yearns for in the arms of her boyfriend, Justin.
Justin strongly urges her to have an abortion. Maggie feels that such a procedure would be a tremendous relief for her anxiety, would free her from the prospect of being disowned by her family and mocked by her classmates. Following Justin’s advice would certainly solve all the problems that bearing a child at the age of sixteen would entail.
In addition, no one other than Justin would even know of her pregnancy. She would be free to pursue teenage fun with no encumbrances. At the same time, she is frightened of the procedure, and has to contend with her feminine mother instinct.
The bulk of the novel revolves around the struggle in Maggie’s mind over whether to abort or to carry full term and be a mother at the age of sixteen. There are forces tugging at her in both directions. In the end, she is the one to make the decision. This is a heavy responsibility for a sixteen-year-old girl.
A novel with the premises described above could be a tawdry, pedestrian and overly-sentimental narration that would ineluctably bore the reader. This is absolutely not the case in At What Cost. On the contrary, Andersen is a highly talented and accomplished writer. Her writing skill engages the reader from the very beginning, builds up tension through a deep penetration into the young girl’s psyche, her internal struggle between early motherhood and all its ramifications, on one hand, and the potentially liberating procedure of abortion.
My description of this novel does little to convey the tension, suspense, drama and emotion generated by a reading of this book. The only way to experience these elements is to read the book.
At What Cost seizes the reader by the heartstrings from the very beginning and never lets go. The various characters are drawn with absolute clarity; the reader knows each one of them intimately. This novel packs a powerful punch and will be long remembered by the reader..At What Cost
In today’s world, this is not an uncommon occurrence. I assumed it would be a maudlin account of a wayward teenager. But once I began to read the novel, I began to like the protagonist and to feel a great interest in this vulnerable girl’s fate. This immediate interest, of course, is the result of J. Andersen’s writing skill.
Maggie, the protagonist, is sincerely in love with Justin, the handsome, charming and reluctant father. Maggie’s family is dysfunctional. Her mother is a perfectionist; everything has to be absolutely perfect. She is always expertly coiffed, her dinner table must be set following all the rules of etiquette, and, as she often tells Maggie, everything the members of the family do reflect on the family’s honor, on the family’s reputation in the community. Maggie and her mother are constantly arguing about what to most people would seem petty: e.g. the right clothing to wear when leaving the house.
Maggie’s father is the strong, silent type who spends so much time at his business –he feels it his duty to work as much as possible in order to give the material best to his family—that he has no time to enjoy his family, to interact with his daughter. Maggie, like any teen-age girl needs a certain rapport with her father, but feels it is missing.
Naturally, the protagonist interprets the behavior of her parents –constant nagging and arguments with her mother, lack of interaction with her father—as lack of love. She seeks the closeness, the love she yearns for in the arms of her boyfriend, Justin.
Justin strongly urges her to have an abortion. Maggie feels that such a procedure would be a tremendous relief for her anxiety, would free her from the prospect of being disowned by her family and mocked by her classmates. Following Justin’s advice would certainly solve all the problems that bearing a child at the age of sixteen would entail.
In addition, no one other than Justin would even know of her pregnancy. She would be free to pursue teenage fun with no encumbrances. At the same time, she is frightened of the procedure, and has to contend with her feminine mother instinct.
The bulk of the novel revolves around the struggle in Maggie’s mind over whether to abort or to carry full term and be a mother at the age of sixteen. There are forces tugging at her in both directions. In the end, she is the one to make the decision. This is a heavy responsibility for a sixteen-year-old girl.
A novel with the premises described above could be a tawdry, pedestrian and overly-sentimental narration that would ineluctably bore the reader. This is absolutely not the case in At What Cost. On the contrary, Andersen is a highly talented and accomplished writer. Her writing skill engages the reader from the very beginning, builds up tension through a deep penetration into the young girl’s psyche, her internal struggle between early motherhood and all its ramifications, on one hand, and the potentially liberating procedure of abortion.
My description of this novel does little to convey the tension, suspense, drama and emotion generated by a reading of this book. The only way to experience these elements is to read the book.
At What Cost seizes the reader by the heartstrings from the very beginning and never lets go. The various characters are drawn with absolute clarity; the reader knows each one of them intimately. This novel packs a powerful punch and will be long remembered by the reader..At What Cost
