The story continues to talk about how and why Billy would so cruelly murder his parents. It talks about, as he aged, problems began to show in his grades and had social problems. Linda, his mother, is described as " had persevered a fantasy of an entirely different domestic life then the one she had inadvertently created"(147). As someone who had grown up during the 50's where the best thing one could want was a strong and loving family, she obviously felt it was her job to create this, and tried to ignore the myriad problems in her family. She doesn't want to go after her husband, and his alcoholism and domestic abuse, so she goes after her son and daughter in an attempt to assert her authority. She even tries to make Christmas seem real, and the author says "The more unattainable her fantasy of a happy, prosperous family gather round a festive tree seemed, the more fiercely she clung to it...Linda made sure there were a lot of presents under the plastic tree, mostly junk"(151). She wraps plastic junk just to make it seem as though they were a normal family. She has wrapped herself in her delusions, and fails to realize her family is as fake as the Christmas presents she wrapped.
However, some members of their family are aware of what is going on, and are determined to rise above it. Jody, Billy's sister, is described as "As Jody's awareness of her family as ignorant and uncultured grew, so did her determination to transcend her origins"(172). She can plainly see, and as we've seen before, that her parents are not people to be admired. They are people to pity for what has happened to him. Jody is determined to escape this. Her parents now act as examples of what not to do, and every time they do somethign even worse, her determination likely grows even more. She even went to read cheap Harlequin romances. They all follow the same plot, and are nothing more than trashy literature. She reads these though, not for the small enjoyment, but Jody instead says "I wanted them for all the information I could get out of them!"(qtd. on 174). She is obviously desperate to get this information that will help her be a better person, and realizes the only way to do this is through gaining knowledge. This very clearly will help her overcome her problems, and cope with her parent's abuses better than Billy, who may feel that he has no way to escape his parents.
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Linda seems to be trying desperately to create a good environment in her family. However the more effort hse puts in, the more damage she is causing. Jody is obviously a very strong person because she is trying to be better. She is trying to achieve greatness even though her childhood wasn't exactly great.
I think Linda tries her best, but she doesn't have what it takes to have a positive effect on her family. I would disagree that she is a strong person because she obviously isn't making a difference. She is persistent, not strong.
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