5. Explanation of stanza 5 to 7

Explanation:

 

Parents are also conscious of their children's eating habits. Most parents force children to diet and eat very specific things. The major issue is that children love to eat chocolate, ice creams and junk food. But parents do not allow them to eat as it is unhealthy and might lead to diseases. Amanda's parents also refrain her from eating chocolate. A child might not understand why she is not allowed to eat her favourite food. Rather than completely ordering her not to eat, they could occasionally indulge her in all these food and explain the ill effects with love. The child finds it irritating to be curbed of all her favourites.

 

 

Parents can sometimes indirectly induce trauma in children. They are over cautious about how their children look, eat, walk etc. They fail to notice that they are neglecting their feelings. Amanda's parents ask her to stop eating chocolate as her face is filled with acne. Pointing out these things can give insecurity to the child. It is also, in a way, body shaming. She is also asked to look at them when they give out orders. This frustrates Amanda, as she imagines herself as Rapunzel, who lives alone in a long castle. In the story of Rapunzel, she is trapped inside a castle, but when she lets down her long hair through the window, she is rescued by a prince. But Amanda wants to stay inside the castle. She says she will never let her hair down, as the castle is better than the outside world. She does not have to care about anything, which is a rare and best feeling.

 

 

Amanda is not allowed to let out her feelings. She is often belittled for sulking and being moody. Rather than criticising her for being sad, the proper approach would be to ask her what is wrong and talk to her. But Amanda's caretakers only aggravate the situation by teasing her. They also do not realise that they are being very irritative and say that people would think that Amanda is sulking because they have been nagging. Their problem seems to be more about what other people might think rather than the child being moody.

 

Words with difficult meanings: