The Red Badge of Courage

When Marianne first told her mom about the rape, her mom was very supportive and tried to get Marianne to talk about it. Their relationship was good, however it changed over time. She helped Marianne out with everything and told her to keep rested. Corinne tried to talk to Michael Sr. about what happened and what he was thinking, but he insisted that it would be best if Marianne lived somewhere else. After Marianne moved out her mom stopped phoning her. Corinne did not tell Marianne or invite her to Patrick's, the second oldest, graduation. Marianne's grandmother died, and Corinne did not tell her. Marianne found out through her mother's cousin. "The funeral is Thursday at eleven, as I've said. At their church...But your mother doesn't want you to attend, I'm afraid" (324). Even after this, Marianne didn't realize what her mother was doing to her. Whether she knew what her mother was doing to her and didn't say anything or, she knew but just didn't want to believe what she was doing to her.

The reaction of the brothers was a bit different from the reactions of the parents. The oldest son Michael Jr. moved out of the house and into the city. Patrick, the second oldest, stayed quiet until he graduated out of high school. After Michael Jr. moved out he did still work for his father. After some time though, he found out, through his younger brothers, how his parents were treating Marianne. After he found out, he wanted nothing to do with his parents and quit his job working for his father and joined the Marines. He lost all contact with his family, except after many years he got a hold of his father and made arrangements to meet him. Michael Jr. went but ended up leaving in disgust, his father had turned into an angry, pitiful man. "Dad, my God! What's happened to you? (394).

Patrick knew how his parents were treating Marianne, but didn't have enough guts to confront his father. After he graduated he knew he had to express himself. His mom had asked him on the phone about not coming home for Christmas, "Oh Patrick-how can you"", Patrick replied, "Well, Mom-how can you"" (208). His mom asked if he was talking about Marianne and assured him that his father wasn't ready to see her yet. Patrick just responded with, "Good-bye, Mom. And Merry Christmas" (208). He moved away to college, and rarely phoned his parents. He did however, come into contact with Marianne. He become close to Marianne, they always talked on the phone, and had each other over for visits. He told Marianne how their parents were doing and how their dad was heavily drinking. Marianne did not believe, the part that her parents were mistreating her. Patrick tried to convince her, but there was no hope.

Judd's reaction to the event, was different from the rest of the family. He wanted to talk about it, understand what was going on, but his parents