January 2nd, 2014 at 05:52pm
This was so heartbreaking and tragic and brilliant.
I think part of the reason it was so heartbreaking was because it could easily be a news story and not just a fictional tale. Things like this have happened before, I'm sure, and lots of times children are disregarded by their parents because of their gender or because they don't look a certain way. It's so, so sad.
I liked that you used the fact of adults not thinking that kids understand things to add to the tragedy of the story. Everything you’ve written about is incredibly realistic.
Everything was really simple, as well. You didn’t go into detail about the murder or Nathan’s parents or what actually happened to him, and it worked really well for you.
Amazing job.
Wow. Just wow. Even from the start I see Judy as being totally detached from Nathan. Using it to describe Nathan in the first chapter when she's feeding him really did just make me sad, it's almost as if she doesn't see him as a human being, more of an object that she has to take care of. It makes him seem like a chore and that's such a shame. That continues on as you begin to explain how little Henry had to do with Nathan's growing up and how him going off to school is a good thing. It's all so against what I see as the norm, so I think that's why it hit me so hard.
I definitely agree with the other comments. This could be a news piece and it does happen frequently and you've written it so matter-of-factly that it does seem like a real occurrence documented in a newspaper. I think that a lot of people choose not to write about these things because it seems to be taboo, but not only did you choose to write about something rather unique on the site, but you've done a really good job of it too. I really enjoyed reading this piece and even though it was absolutely heartbreaking, I think it does a great job of highlighting just how many people can stop these things, but due to ignorance or assumptions, don't ever mention it until after the deed is done.