Free Essays on White Oleander

Astrid Magnussen, the teenage narrator of Janet Fitch's engrossing first novel, White Oleander, has a mother who is as sharp as a new knife. An uncompromising poet, Ingrid despises weakness and self-pity, telling her daughter that they are descendants of Vikings, savages who fought fiercely to survive. And when one of Ingrid's boyfriends abandons her, she illustrates her point, killing the man with the poison of oleander flowers. This leads to a life sentence in prison, leaving Astrid to teach herself the art of survival in a string of Los Angeles foster homes. As Astrid bumps from trailer park to tract house to Hollywood bungalow, White Oleander uncoils her existential anxieties. "Who was I, really?" she asks. "I was the sole occupant of my mother's totalitarian state, my own personal history rewritten to fit the story she was telling that day. There were so many missing pieces." Fitch adroitly leads Astrid down a path of sorting out her past and identity. In the process, this girl develops a wire-tight inner strength, gains her mother's white-blonde beauty, and achieves some measure of control over their relationship. Even from prison, Ingrid tries to mold her daughter. Foiling her, Astrid learns about tenderness from one foster mother and how to stand up for herself from another. Like the weather in Los Angelesthe winds of the Santa Anas, the scorching heatAstrid's teenage life is intense. Fitch's novel deftly displays that, and also makes Astrid's life meaningful. Katherine Anderson This text refers to the Hardcover edition.... Free Essays on White Oleander Free Essays on White Oleander Astrid Magnussen, the teenage narrator of Janet Fitch's engrossing first novel, White Oleander, has a mother who is as sharp as a new knife. An uncompromising poet, Ingrid despises weakness and self-pity, telling her daughter that they are descendants of Vikings, savages who fought fiercely to survive. And when one of Ingrid's boyfriends abandons her, she illustrates her point, killing the man with the poison of oleander flowers. This leads to a life sentence in prison, leaving Astrid to teach herself the art of survival in a string of Los Angeles foster homes. As Astrid bumps from trailer park to tract house to Hollywood bungalow, White Oleander uncoils her existential anxieties. "Who was I, really?" she asks. "I was the sole occupant of my mother's totalitarian state, my own personal history rewritten to fit the story she was telling that day. There were so many missing pieces." Fitch adroitly leads Astrid down a path of sorting out her past and identity. In the process, this girl develops a wire-tight inner strength, gains her mother's white-blonde beauty, and achieves some measure of control over their relationship. Even from prison, Ingrid tries to mold her daughter. Foiling her, Astrid learns about tenderness from one foster mother and how to stand up for herself from another. Like the weather in Los Angelesthe winds of the Santa Anas, the scorching heatAstrid's teenage life is intense. Fitch's novel deftly displays that, and also makes Astrid's life meaningful. Katherine Anderson This text refers to the Hardcover edition.... Free Essays on White Oleander Janet Fitch’s White Oleander took four years to write and was published in 1999. White oleander is about a 12 year-old-girl dealing with the pain of being alone and feeling helpless. White Oleander is a great novel, which is proven through its use of sensory detail, and the use of protagonist and antagonist. Most literary criticisms written over White Oleander discuss the craziness that Astrid goes through. Fitch spent a lot of time and effort on this novel and it was apparent, because â€Å"Oprah’s Book Club, where Janet Fitch’s novel first catapulted to best-sellerdom†(Bruce Newman 1). It is so enticing to read because of the ways Astrid’s mother affects her throughout the novel. Ingrid, Astrid’s mother, seems like the type of woman that on the outside she seems nice, but on the inside she is very disrespectful. Ingrid is a very strong woman but â€Å"she let her guard down with a despicable character named Barry, and when he stopped loving her she couldn’t handle it†, and that is what led her to prison (Neeter skeeters Place 2). Ingrid kills Barry by poising him with white oleanders for three reasons: first, for making her let her guard down, second, by breaking her ‘rules’ and, third, for breaking her heart. Since I ngrid is in jail, Astrid goes from foster family to foster family and, while doing so, â€Å"she tries to keep in contact with her mother† (Rebecca Loh 1). She discovers how difficult it is to survive without any family support. The story is sad because â€Å"Astrid must deal with her feelings of rejection, guilt, and loneliness and getting past all the barriers ultimately leads herself to hold a satisfying self-concept of herself†(Neeter skeeters Place 3). During the period of moving from home to home â€Å"she latches on to people who bother to care about her, but with each heartbreak and physical trauma, Astrid learns to become more and more independent†(Rebecca Loh 1). Even though Ingrid t...