Open Prompt 10-14

1990. Choose a novel or play that depicts a conflict between a parent (or a parental figure) and a son or daughter. Write an essay in which you analyze the sources of the conflict and explain how the conflict contributes to the meaning of the work. Avoid plot summary.

         The novel 'The Westing Game' by Ellen Raskin features Grace Wexler and her daughters Angela and Turtle. These seemingly opposite sisters are both ignored and neglected by their mother, though in very different ways. Everyone assumes that they would be rivals, but they share a special connection; this reinforces the book's theme of unexpected love.

        Both Angela and Turtle's problems with their mother stem from her  love of beauty and obedience. Grace Wexler, formerly Gracie Windklopper, is implied to have come from humble beginnings, but is desperate to leave them behind. She is constantly berating her husband for being "only  a podiatrist", and flaunts what wealth she has, ""I'll keep my furs with me," Grace said. She did not want to be taken for one of the poor relatives" (Raskin 22). She escaped poverty by being beautiful and obedient, a 'perfect housewife', so she wants her daughters to rise even higher socially with these same skills.

      Turtle Wexler is at the awkward age of thirteen, and she has inherited none of her mother's looks or social graces, "My mother doesn't think I'm beautiful.... when I was born she said I looked like a turtle. I still look like a turtle, but I don't care, I guess" (Raskin 63). Although Turtle is incredibly intelligent, "Mrs. Wexler always seemed surprised to see her other daughter, so unlike golden-haired , angel-faced Angela" (Raskin 10). When she is not being ignored or sent to her closer-sized bedroom, she is criticized, "I don't know why you insist on making yourself ugly" (Raskin 10). Grace only sees her daughters as future wives, so she doesn't value her fierce, independent youngest daughter at all.

       Angela Welxer is the 'perfect child'. She is "as still and blank-faced pretty as a store-window dummy" (Raskin 9). She is engaged to a doctor, and her mother is arranging the wedding without stopping to ask whether it is really what Angela wants. Grace values her because she has caught a rich man, Dr. Denton Deere, so Angela wonders "Why did they ask about Denton all the time, as thought she was nobody without him?" (Raskin 58). Although she gets her mother's praise and attention, Angela is just as objectified and overlooked as her little sister, only she is more desperate for her mother's approval. 

    Turtle and Angela are very different, but they have grown to understand each other very well. Turtle declares ""I know Angela doesn't want to marry that sappy intern"", while Angle has the strong insight that "Turtle's crutch is her braid" (Raskin 70). These details may seem random, but they reveal how much attention the sisters pay to each other. They also look out for each other. In an opening scene, after Grace scolds Turtle for wanting to dress up as a witch, Angela offers to sew the costume for her sister, because she understands the desire to hide behind a mask. Later, a distressed Angela sets off a bomb, and she pulls it away from Turtle so it hits her in the face instead. Of course, Turtle is the only one who realizes that Angela is the bomber, so she proceeds to set off her own bomb. Turtle reveals herself in an interview, ""Are you protecting Angela?" "NO!"" (Raskin 128). This mutual protection is an act of love, in spite of a mother who would have pitted them against each other. Judge Ford  discovers the true bomber is " ...Angela? That sweet, pretty thing. Thing? Was that what I saw her as? All I'd ever said to her was "I hear you're getting married" or "How pretty you look, Angela". Had anyone ever asked about her ideas, her hopes, her plans? If I had been treated like that, I'd have used dynamite, not fireworks" (Raskin128).
    The bombing incident reveals how much Angela and Turtle love each other in the face of their mother's objectification and neglect. Her cold calculation of her daughters' worth based on their potentials for snatching up rich men leads them both to act out. Although they have very different personalities, the sisters take care of each other where their mother failed.