Clare's Toxicity in Relationships

Something that has bothered me throughout the whole book was how manipulative and conceited Clare was. When Clare showed up at Irenes house, she spoke to Irene saying, “Everyday I went to that nasty little post office place… But at ast in soaked in that, that you hadn’t written and didn’t intend to… And now ‘Rene, please tell me quite frankly why you didn’t answer my letter.” A common theme in this book is how much Clare only think about herself and how manipulative she was to get whatever she wanted. If someone told her no, she would freak out and cry until the other person caved and gave her whatever it was that she wanted. She made other people, especially Irene, feel bad for telling her no. Emotional manipulation is a major sign of a toxic relationship, and I think that’s why I hated Clare so much while reading this book.

In response to Clare complaining about Irene not writing a letter back, Irene even thinks about how manipulative Clare could be.  “Clare, it seemed, still retained her ability to secure the thing that he wanted in the face of any opposition, and in utter disregard of the convenience and desire of others.” Clare has been like this for what seems like her whole life, and though it is later recognized that she knows she does this, it doesn’t seem like she really cares that she does it, or that she has no intention to stop. It doesn’t even seem like she really know that it’s a bad quality to possess. It also doesn’t seem that anybody i telling her that it’s a bad quality to have, and no one’s trying to tell her to stop. Everyone is just complicit in Clares manipulative and toxic behaviours.

Comments

  1. UnknownDecember 6, 2017 at 6:57 PM

    I agree that Clare is incredibly manipulative. It goes along with what she said earlier in the book about letting nothing stand in her war of getting what she wants no matter the circumstances. She knows exactly what she is doing when she talks to people in this manner. She knows she can use her power over them to get them to cave and therefore got what she wants out of them. I didn’t notice it quite as much until you mentioned it but she is emotionally abusing these people and wearing them down then making them feel bad about it afterward.

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