White Oleander Analysis

As a result of her mother's incarceration, Astrid is thrusted into a myriad of unmerited situations- the foster homes. One evil stepmother leads to another in this tale of adversity and just when Astrid's prospects brighten under a shining sun, the clouds roll in and it begins to rain. "White Oleander" is a Cinderella story with all the ingredients of misery and misfortune but the wrong ending. At the beginning of her first real encounter with calamity, Astrid is inundated with a deluge of emotions, leaving her dazed. It is during this time of bewilderment that the young girl is placed in her first foster home in the custody of a Sunday Christian named Starr. With the absence of a father figure in her life, Astrid's feelings for Ray metamorphose into those of desire and what began as a timid liking, turns into something much more. The Oedipal feelings she
Though Claire seems extremely fragile and dependent, it is also evident that she is a caring person. Astrid's cautious liking grows to tacit love of her new foster mother. It seems that reign of the evil stepmothers has ended. But the neurotic fear and suspicion Claire harbors in her heart towards her husband, Ron, slowly but surely consume her. A slow decline into extreme depression leaves Astrid alone again and worse off than before. The stability of her life is wrenched away along with Claire and a new Astrid, devoid of love, moves on to MacLaren Hall. After a relatively brief stay in this institution that is painted with jungles where she finds a true friend, Astrid chooses to go home with a Russian woman name Rena. This new foster mother is neither the evil stepmother nor another Claire- she is almost a peer. Assimilating easily into her new world full of moneymaking schemes, Astrid transforms into a hardy, street-wise young woman. Learning that "money makes the world go ‘round," Astrid abandons her naïve ideas of beauty and