College Writing Workshop: Professor Young5 November 2017
Friendswood: Who Should Speak for Willa?
Within Friendswood by Rene Steinke, a young teen girl named Willa is brought to a house full of drunken boys by her crush, Cully. She was put off by the fact that there were no girls there, but she wanted to stay for Cully. She also is not a drinker, but she didn't want to disappoint Cully, so she had a mixture of vodka and Red Bull. It is later found out that Willa was taken advantage of when unconscious by several boys at this party. There are several people I feel should speak up for Willa, but there are two main ones, Dex and Hal. They both know but happened, but one is too afraid, and the other is trying to protect his son.
First, we can look at Hal. It is not evident until later on in the text, but Cully had confessed to his father what had happened at the Lawbourne's house. On page 149 of the novel, it states "Thank God Principal Johnson didn't know the whole story-- it would have been the end of the season." Hal knows what happened, but he only cares for his son's football spot and potential scholarship. He does not care at all about the wrongdoing of his son's acts. He also states that there always were and always would be girls like that, attempting to shift the blame on the girl rather than Cully. He wants to keep the secret from his wife, because he knows she would do something about it. If Hal had any morals whatsoever, he would do what is right and tell someone, no matter if it is his son or not. It is not fair to Willa who was severely effected by it, and he should speak up.
Next, we can look at Dex. Dex is the main offender, because he was at the party. He showed up a bit late, but as he settled in, he was informed that Willa was upstairs. On page 103, Snow told him there was a girl upstairs, and Dex did not want to believe it, saying "Come on, there's no girl up there." Then he sees a blouse on the floor, and is then told it is Willa Lambert. Since he has a crush on her and knows she is almost definitely in trouble, he should have done something to stop it. Instead, he got up and left, not saying a word. He should have done something, or at the very least, told someone about what was going on, but he did not.
Another reason Dex should speak up for Willa is the information he received later on, on page 175. When driving around with his friend Weeks, he gains more information on the day of the incident. Turns out Willa was roofied. Bishop had slipped it into her drink, which is why she was knocked unconscious from the drink. Dex should speak up to someone, as he has tons of information on what went down. He wasn't a part of it, so he should act upon what he saw. If he doesn't and someone else finds out, he he can be held accountable as well. On page 176, he states he didn't want to be part of the lying about Willa, yet he won't speak up. As we have learned in class, staying silent is never the right thing to do, as it just makes the situation much worse. For these reasons, Dex should also speak up about the incident.
The following quote is a good representation of why silence is bad, and this relates to Dex and shows he should speak up:
Collin, it's been a pleasure seeing your development as a writer.
ReplyDeleteAgain, you've done a good job of getting your ideas down.
--PY