“ The …show more content…
Grasping the urchin by the neck and shoulders she shook him until he rattled. She… began to scrub his lacerated face. Jimmie screamed in pain…” (Pg.8, Crane). The mother Mary in this scene finds out that her son, Jimmie was engaged in a fight with boys who called themselves “Devil’s Row”. As a reaction to her son fighting, she automatically grabbed Jimmie and took him to the bath where she proceeded to scrub his bruises. The pain was unbearable to the point where he “ screamed in pain.” As a mother, the first initial thing that needs to be done when you see your child covered in bruises is to ask them who did it, comfort them, and try to speed up the healing process. Mary did the opposite, instead of comforting the child and showing the child love, she physically abused him and inflicted pain on his wounds. Mary is hinted to be an abusive mother by her husband: “ Let the damned kid alone for a minute, will yeh, Mary? Yer allus poundin’ ’im. When I come nights I