Donny's Advocate

Although I found all of the stories we read this week interesting in their own right, I found myself entirely fascinated by the character Donny in Anne Tyler’s story “Teenage Wasteland.” This fascination was (I will admit) somewhat biased due to the description of Donny in the opening paragraph of the story (Donny’s “very blonde hair” styled in “a little cowlick” reminds me of one of the several hairstyles I sported as a child) along with his quiet teenage angst made me instantly sympathetic towards the character. In fact, on my first read through, I was ready and somewhat eager to put all of the blame for Donny’s mistakes on the other characters in the story: the rarely present father, the hesitating but restrictive Daisy, the oppressive school, and finally (or especially) Cal, the manipulative mentor.

Indeed, during our class’s discussion, parts of the blame were discussed in detail and assigned to all of these characters, and at first, Donny’s role was not even mentioned. It was at this point where I began to re-read the story during our discussion and take special note of all of Donny’s actions and dialogue. At this time someone (I apologize to this person because I cannot remember who it was) brought up Daisy’s outburst of “Doesn’t Donny ever get blamed?” and induced my revelation- that Donny has much more power in the story than it appears and is, in truth, just as manipulative as Cal.

Following this realization, the details of the story began to simply add up. The first sign of this that I noticed is Donny’s change of appearance, usually shaggy and casual, to being “unusually sober and subdued” when going to meet the psychologist and even going to the extent of combing his hair. In this instance, Donny takes control of his situation and avoids punishment by using the psychologist’s diagnosis of low “self-worth” to his own advantage. Donny also plays his situation with Cal in a similar way by using the fact that he has a tutor as a “crutch” while at school in order to avoid all responsibility. Cal is actually not the one who leads Donny astray; he only joins in as a second voice to outnumber the reasoning of his mother. Free from his parents and even above them with Cal’s support, Donny begins to take risks and attempts to push the limits of his school. Even when he is expelled for having alcohol in his locker, Donny does not realize the consequences of his actions. Donny denies the accusations against him and attempts to clear his name with a transparent and childish lie. Then this fails he simply opts to attend a different school. It is only when his parents finally refuse to bend to his will and send him to a public school does Donny begin to realize what he has done.

However, instead of taking responsibility, Donny acts “exhausted and defeated” and lashes out with one final, selfish act: running away. Rather than facing his responsibilities, Donny chooses to flee and leaves behind him an echo of pain and doubt, as shown through Daisy’s actions. Through this act Donny also ensures that a similar cycle occur with his younger sister, who although was once an eager member of the family, became neglected during her parents ordeal with her brother.

On a completely separate note, this week I also read the following short stories: “War Buddies” by Joan Silber, “The Company of Men” by Jan Ellison, and “Gringos” by Ariel Dorfman. I would highly recommend “Gringos” to others.