Should You Stay or Leave?

Ellie Norred

Mrs. Petch, Choudrant High School

DE English 102 – Primary Source Essay, 634 words

2 February 2017

Should You Stay or Leave?

It is very common for people to have to make the choice whether to join or abandon a family, group, or community in their life. Often times the decision the person makes can and will change the person in countless ways. In “Stepdaughters,” Max Apple presents the reader with a family that is full of people making decisions on whether to stay with or abandon the things they love the most.

The narrator of “Stepdaughters” is a man who has married into a family with a daughter. Being a stepfather, or a step-parent in general, is already difficult enough, but the narrator is becoming the stepfather of a girl whose father has passed away and already had two previous stepdads that did not care about her. Helen, his wife, tells him that “Al and Jerome ignored her,” so he tries to take her out to do things as much as possible (129). To add on to the difficulty of being a stepfather is the feud his wife and stepdaughter are going through. Though the narrator feels neutral he is constantly being accused of being on his daughter’s side; Helen is always telling him “secretly you condone the shot putting, secretly you’re on her side” (130). The stepfather is stuck in the middle, he wants to support his stepdaughter, but he also wants to support his wife. All of the conflict and arguing between the mother and daughter, makes it extremely difficult for the narrator to feel as though he has become part of the family.

The daughter, Stephanie, has faced a very rough life. After the death of her father and two failed stepfathers, Stephanie feels alone. She has formed a club at school for other stepdaughters that feel alone. It is called Stepdaughters. The club is not enough though, Stephanie also looks to shotput as a way to feel accepted. Stephanie loves shotput, and she is one of the best at it. Her mother, however, strongly dislikes Stephanie throwing it. Her mother thinks it is ripping away Stephanie femininity and wants her to stop. Stephanie refuses to stop. This causes major conflicts within the family. As long as Stephanie stays with the sport, her and her mother will argue over it.

Due to all the arguing between Stephanie and Helen, Stephanie assumes the narrator will leave them just like the other stepfathers. Stephanie even tells her stepfather, “You can just pack up whenever you want. You [do not] have to put up with us” (134). This is a huge decision for the stepfather; he has been put into such a complicated situation. While he could have easily just walked out on the family, he decides to stay with them. When Stephanie tells him the fighting between her and her mother will not stop and he