Reader Response Essay

Christina DeFilippo
Reader Response Essay
Wendy Sumner- Winter
10-18-07
In this paper, I will try and show you my thoughts and response to the story The Rake.
When I first read this story, it made me sad. To think that children could go through something
like this at home is horrible. From the first example of the kitchen table, to the school play, and
of course the rake it showed me again the idea of silence.
The first thing that really stood out for me was blood and how the kitchen table
symbolized that for them. “So the table was associated in our minds with the notion of
blood. (pg.1, Mamet) A kitchen table should be a place where families come together to eat and
catch up on everyone’s day. It should not be a place where there is fear and guilt. I know at my
house the kitchen table is a place where we get together and laugh and talk.
Another thing that stood out from the beginning was this idea of beautification. The
stepfather wanted the kids to keep up the yard. It struck me as if the author was trying
to say he wants to keep appearances up so no one would suspect anything. If you look
at something and you do not see anything wrong at first glance, odds are you will think
everything is fine and dandy. I think the children resented the fact that they had this
responsibility. He even said “Why this chore should have been so hated I cannot say,
except that we children, and I especially, felt ourselves less than full members of this
new, cobbled-together family, and disliked being assigned to the beautification of a
home that we found unbeautiful in all respects, and for which we had neither natural
neither affection nor a sense of proprietary interest.” (pg. 1, Mamet) One can only imagine how
it must have felt to be in a family that you did not really feel apart of. I cannot really
understand that feeling, but I can imagine how it must have felt.
Now on to the school play story. This really affected me, because there was no
reason for the mother to have been that harsh and not understanding. I just do not
understand how you could not let your child be in a play because they were not hungry
and did not finish their dinner. Has she no understanding that her daughter might have
been a little nervous. “My sister sat down with the plate and pecked at her food and she
tried to eat a bit, and told my mother that, no; really, she possessed no appetite
whatever, and that was due, no doubt, not to the food, but to her nervousness and
excitement at the prospect of opening night.” (pg. 2, Mamet)
To me, the author is trying to show the heartlessness of this mother. How could she
be like that? How could she let her husband act the way he does to her children. The
author even says his sister told him every Sunday night she was always being
physically abused in some way. One example would be when their grandfather
had gotten to a certain age he had come to live with them. Her brother was gone one
night and she stumbled upon an incident going on between her mother, stepfather, and
grandfather. When her stepfather realized she was there, he hit her and slammed the
door. “My sister pushed the door open farther and said-I don’t know what she
said, but she asked, I’m sure, for some reassurance, or some explanation, and
my stepfather turned around and saw her and picked up a hairbrush from a
dresser that he passed as he walked toward her, and he hit her in the face
and slammed the door on her.” (pg. 3, Mamet) There is no excuse for physical abuse. But one
thing we come to understand is it did not start here. Their mother was abused. In the text, the
author shows you that she was exposed to this when she was a child too. Her family was silent
about it too. So I guess she did not really have anyone stand up for her, so why do it for your
own children. One would think that you would want it better for your kids than what you had
yourself.
It is so sad to me that the only good memory they have is a family joke. When they
would all go out to eat the parents would act like they were leaving them and of course
would always come back and get them. “The happy trips were celebrated and capped
with a joke. Here is the joke: My stepfather, my mother, my sister, and I would exit the
restaurant, my stepfather and mother would walk to the car, telling us that they would
pick us up. We children would stand by the restaurant entrance. They would drive up in
the car, open the passenger door, and wait until my sister and I had started to get in.
They would then drive away. They would drive ten or fifteen feet, and open the door
again, and we would walk up again, and they would drive away again. They sometimes
would drive around the block. But they would always come back, and by that time the
four of us would be laughing in camaraderie and appreciation of what, I believe, was our
only family joke.” (pg. 4, Mamet) I do not know what I would do if I only had one happy
memory of my childhood. When I think of my childhood, I have so many happy memories, from
wrestling with my Dad, to eating lunch with my Mom at school. I am sure there are children out
there who can relate to the author’s story though. Maybe that is why he is sharing it, so others
will see they are not alone. They can find a common bond with these people.
Now to the last and most anticipated story, the rake incident. This one struck me as he is
just doing what he has seen his whole life. He is angry and his sister says something he does not
like, so he hurts her. I think the author left this one till last so he could build up to it. In my
opinion, the first stories were examples to show that if you see something like this going on your
whole life; it will eventually become a part of you. Another thing about this, they were both
silent! The sister did not even tell on her brother and he did not admit what he had done. The
fact that silence is so prevalent in this story does not surprise me as to why these children did
not speak up and say what had happened.
As I read this story and the others I had to choose from, I saw an ever present theme of
silence and appearances not always being what they seem. From the Hashish story, to Street
Haunting, to this story, and the alcohol abuse essay, they all have these themes. Though all are
different stories, they all have this underlining meaning. If you are a witness to such things as
what went on in this story and you do not speak up you are just as guilty as the stepfather. Like
keeping up the yard, so simple yet so much meaning lies beneath it. Keeping up appearances as
so no one suspects what could be going on behind closed doors. One cannot really see what is
there until we are there in it ourselves. Appearances and silence they go hand and hand really.
To keep up appearances, you must be silent sometimes. You must hold in it and give up
something for the sake of how something must look. I think that is what Wendy is trying to
teach us. Do not be silent just to make sure everything and everyone looks okay. Be loud and
proud. Voice it when you see something that is wrong. Stand up for what is right and do not let
anyone tell you otherwise.