Hover Parent

Since the dawn of time, children have rebelled against their parents. Classic movies such as The Breakfast Club and Freaky Friday demonstrate the adolescent need for freedom, and Elizabeth Strout demonstrates the effects of this timeless conflict in her novel Olive Kitteridge. Although every three out of ten young adults live at home, Strout, a Pulitzer Prize winner, illustrates the opposite scenario with Olive and her only son Christopher. Olive’s commanding personality creates resentment in Christopher that I believe may never resolve, therefore showing Olive’s flaws. Olive’s husband, Henry, first brings this conflict to Olive’s attention, claiming that Olive “‘took over that boy’s life’” (121). By indirectly characterizing Olive as overbearing, Strout asserts the effects of bossy parenting—eventually, the child will see reason to break ties. Although I love Olive dearly, I can see why Christopher could not stand this life. Olive herself acknowledges his cold shoulder when she secretly begs her son to “do something for me!” (149). Through both the italics and exclamation point, Strout emphasizes Olive’s desperate tone. But when Chris ignores his mother, the author implies the son’s bitterness. Although Olive hovered over Chris’ childhood, he will not do the reverse. The pained mother finally accepts her son’s separation when she thinks how he remains “in California…gone” (175). With the absolute connotations of “gone,” Strout creates an aggrieved tone from Olive. She put all her love towards Chris, but her rude demeanor wins out. Although Strout relies on pathos to create empathy felt by other mothers, I believe the empathy would remain just as strong if told from Christopher’s point of view. Strout writes to these mothers in order to encourage them to love their child yet never overbear. She addresses the opposite goes for their children: try to understand their parent’s love, because they may not have the ability to fix a broken relationship. I see this conflict with kids my own age as well. I hope that they can redirect their frustration in order to better relate to the elder generation, a task that Christopher Kitteridge thoroughly ignores.