Family Relationships
Based on the first chapter of The Wednesday Wars, I would say that Holling's relationship with his parents is not a very strong one. They seem to love each other very much but they have their flaws. Holling has a problem because he thinks his teacher, Mrs. Baker, hates him after only the first day of school. When Holling tells his parents they appear to care about their own concerns then their child's. When he asks his mom for help she just says that it is impossible for his teacher to hate him because they hardly know each other. After Holling realizes that his mother is of no help he asks his father for guidance. Mr. Hoodhood owns an architect company called 'Hoodhood and Associates' and he really cares about his job. Mrs. Baker's family is the owner of one of the companies that Mr. Hoodhood hopes to be designing a wonderful building for. He wants his son to be nice to Mrs. Baker so her family will choose his company for designing their building. Neither one of Holling's parents will sit down with him to discuss his dilemma. I would get frustrated at my parents if they just ignored me and Holling also feels the same way. He feels annoyed that parents never realize what you are trying to say and that they always think that they are right. Also, Holling's mother is expecting him to keep a secret from his father. Mrs. Hoodhood smokes and she know that her husband will go nuts if he knew. Holling knows that she smokes and he is not allowed to tell his father about it. This is dishonest which is not good in a family relationship. I think that Holling sometimes wishes that his parents were more kind and always had open arms for him. They are definitely a unique family with distinctive characteristics which is part of what makes this book interesting so far.
-Ashley
Good job! Very true about what you are saying about their relationship especially when you consider his father's business. I agree with your last line but at the same time I do not think it is a very good family.
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