Within the book “We The Animals” by Justin Torres a common issue is the lack of parenting. Jonah’s parents have negative parenting skills towards their children and within each other. Such as physical abuse, absence of parenting, and lack of motivation. Each of these factors has affected the boy’s behavior and childhood experience.
Each parent has its own flaws and negative behaviors. The father’s overall character is abusive, aggressive, and “macho”. Throughout the book, he does take advantage and physically abuses Ma. The first scene where it shows his abusive character is in chapter “Seven”. Ma comes home with her mouth purple and Pa makes up the idea that “the dentist had been punching on her to losen her teeth” (Torres 12) when, it was Pa that hit her, as she states “What did he do to me?” (Torres 15). Having an abusive husband and father does affect the way a child thinks, especially at such a young age. Within this scene Jonah knows that Pa has beat her. The boys have experienced and seen their mom get abused multiple times. Seeing their father be so aggressive towards the mother begins to reflect the children’s behavior as well.
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For example, when Jonah kisses Ma’s bruised mouth, he feels adrenaline “those bruises looked so sensitive, so soft, so capable of hurt, and this thrill, this spark, surged from my gut, spread through my chest, this wicked tingle, down the length of my arms and into my hands” (Torres 17). The fact that Jonah likes the feeling of having her mother hurt and not feel bad about it says a lot about his mentality and how it was affected by his abusive dad. Another scene that occurs within the book is when Manny relieves his anger by hitting his mom in chapter “You Better Come”. * Usually a child would relieve their anger by talking or yelling at their parents not beating them.
Another negative characteristic that Pa has is his absence. He leaves Ma and the boys on their own. This action leads to tension and hatred within the family, especially towards Pa. For example, when Manny wants to answer the phone thinking it’s Pa, Ma throws a bowl at the linoleum (Torres 51). Showing that Ma wants no contact with him at all especially with the abuse that she’s been through. Not only does this hate exist within the parents but with the children too because Ma is not letting them have contact with their father.
This issue is very common within Latino families. In the book “Drown” by Junot Diaz, the father also leaves his family behind. Like the phone call scene, Yunior (the main character) doesn’t let his mother speak to the father, “She opens the refrigerator door slightly o that the whir of the compressor masks their conversation. I walk in on her and hang up the phone. That’s enough I say” (Diaz 101). Yunior doesn’t want her to talk to his father because he’s a liar and wont benefit them.
In chapter, “Wasn’t No One to Stop This” the boys imitate their father by saying “This is for raising your voice-. And this for embarrassing me in public-. And this is for doing something-. And this is for doing nothing-. And this” (Torres 86) The boys are shouting out what they’re father normally tell them. All of these quotes are an example of verbal abuse and neglect. It shows that Pa yells at them a lot. It makes the reader question whether Pa’s abusive actions are the reason why the boys misbehave, curse, and have an adult mindset.
Then there’s Ma. Ma has negative parental skills that has affected her children too. Although she is not as abusive as Pa, she does lack the motherly roles that are expected as a mother. The first scene that shows Ma neglecting her children is when Pa leaves. Usually when a parent is a single parent or divorced, they put in the extra effort to support their children and become more independent. Ma does the opposite. In chapter “Lina”, Ma stops working and neglects the boys. The boys become dependent on one another instead of their mother. There’s a scene within this chapter that the boys realize that they have to survive together no matter how long it takes:
“So what are we going to do?”
“Well, we’ll do whatever it takes I guess,” Joel said.
I was confused about who he was pretending to be.
“What does it take?”
“I’m not sure yet.” (Torres 43)
This is also a common issue that occurs within single mothers that come from a rough or low-income home. In the book “Drown”, Yunior describes how his mother and him had a rough lifestyle without their father around. As stated in before, Yunior didn’t like that his mother would talk to his father. This should that both mothers from both stories have trouble to be independent from their husbands. It shows that they can’t handle being a single mother without help or go though a mental rough patch.
Both Ma and Pa show that they aren’t capable to be parents. In chapter “Night Watch”, Pa states, “Nobody,” Paps said. “Not us. Not them. Nobody’s ever escaping this.” He raised his head and swept his arms out in front of him. “This.” (Torres 60) This is a scene where Pa doesn’t act like his “macho” self and blurting out his feelings. This scene demonstrates how he feels as a parent. That he can’t escape the rough family lifestyle that he has. Like dealing with his three sons, the truck, and trying to support his family. Pa mentions “not us” which may be towards him and Ma. Maybe both parents lived a rough lifestyle like how the boys are now and as parents they are reliving it.
Ma also has a breakdown moment within the story. In chapter “Ducks”, she takes the children to the park and asks them, “We can go home, but we don’t have to we don’t ever have to go home again. We can leave him. We can do that. But I need you to tell me what to do.” (Torres 72) This is Ma’s breaking point of being a mother trying to support her children while she’s getting abused by her husband. Having her ask her own children what to do is a sign of desperate help and need.
The boys also realize that they’re parents aren’t the best parent due to their lack of parenting. In chapter “You Better Come” Manny slaps his mom and says “ you were suppose to come find us” (Torres 50). On page 51, Jonah explains his protest on how his parents are bad and they never “do what they’re suppose to do”. This scene is important because it demonstrates the rage that the boys have towards their parents. It sums up all the neglect and bad parental skills they have on them. They are tired of it and they want their parents to be the supportive and present.
In conclusion, the book “We The Animals” by Justin Torres demonstrate how lack of parenting can negatively affect children and their childhood experience. Ma and Pa both lack parenting skills that are common within other Latino parents, such as the parents from “Drown” written by Junot Diaz.
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