Summary

A mother reflects on her life in the country and on her son who has a seizure disorder. She is nervous about allowing him outside to play because it is hunting season, and because she is worried he may have another seizure and get hurt. She seeks to balance her need to protect her son from harm with his need to grow up as normally as possible.

Commentary

I have used this successfully in literature and medicine sections on "Illness and the Meaning of Disease" and on "Women and Medicine." The story illustrates effectively how the illness of one family member affects the entire family dynamic.

Miscellaneous

Greenberg is the author of I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, under the pseudonym Hannah Green.

Primary Source

Rites of Passage

Publisher

Holt, Rinehart, & Winston

Place Published

New York

Edition

1971

Page Count

7