A Trip to Grand Rapids

Roger and Cindy arrive at the farm with muddy feet. They see several cars and teenagers arriving. The house is unrecognizable due to all the teenagers partying. Cindy is concerned about the chicken, so she looks for them in the coop. Some of them are turned upside down and Oscar, their dog, is mysteriously absent. The party reminds Roger of the parties he went to himself, when he was a teenager. Roger finds Oscar by the back steps with his head on his paws. Roger sees teenagers passing cigarettes around and finds his own daughter, Martha, sitting between them. Then his little girl, who he had never imagined smoking, took a cigarette and let the smoke stream out of her sweet lips. He wanted to run to her, but he did not. Without interfering with the party, Roger and Cindy left, Oscar chasing them across the field.

Roger and his family:

Roger is a hard worker. He spends a lot of time worrying about his farm and forgets the fact that his daughters are growing up and quickly liberating themselves.

He is strict when it comes to his daughters, and he knows it, as we can see in line 89. We can see that on the first page, where Roger insists that the cat stays outside, even though Martha calls him a murderer. He does not change his mind until his point is completely disproven, and the cat runs away while he hurts his leg. Then he does not know what to do and just sticks with his daughter's solution. The reason for his strictness is his strong love for his daughters. He still sees them as little girls and thus he lays down rules that they follow; at least when he is not around.

When he sees Martha smoking, he is terrified. He wishes that she would drop the cigarette, and he wants to run to her, but he has the respect to stay hidden, because he remembers that he did exactly the same things, smoking and drinking, when he was young, and if he were Martha, he would not want his embarrassing father to make a fool out of him. It would not change anything, as it is awfully difficult for a father to have influence on his teenage daughter's choices. He realizes that and so shows empathy and

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