Blame in Friendswood

I’ve read a lot of Friendswood by Rene Steinke since my last post, and now I’m a couple chapters into the third part. My English class has discussed the concept of blame as it relates to the novel. We defined blame as a “discharge of pain and discomfort”. People use blame to criticize, accuse, punish, and humiliate others, and the characters of Friendswood exemplify this idea over both the issue with the chemical dumping at Banes Field and of Willa’s rape. This brings to light some questions about blame in the Friendswood community. 

How does Hal use blame to protect Cully and himself?  What is Hal trying to protect himself from? 

Cully and possibly two others guys got Willa drunk and raped her. But that’s not the story Cully tells his father Hal. He only tells him that he had sex with a girl he found with his friend later. Hal blames that girl for being a slut instead of blaming Cully for having sex with her in the first place. It would be painful for Cully to lose his innocence and good reputation, so Hal wants to protect Cully from facing the consequences of his actions and growing up. The school only suspended Cully for two weeks so he could go back to playing football. That doesn’t teach him anything. He later gets into a fight in school and is taken off the team, but Hal and his wife Darlene won’t stand for it. Cully is a good kid and a star football player, and they won’t let him grow out of that bubble. 

Hal goes to Coach Salem, Cully’s football coach, and tells him “his son had done a stupid thing, but he was a smart boy, and he hoped this wouldn’t impact his game. He just needed to be forgiven” (Steinke 228). This act is significant because it shows Hal doesn’t want Cully to receive punishment for his wrongful actions. He wants the coach, and everyone else, to forgive Cully without giving him any consequences and move on. If they move on, he can continue to see Cully the innocent child he was in the past. 

Hal lives in the past. This can be seen when he talks to Avery Taft. He wants to reminisce about high school with an old friend. “When I came back to the house, it all came back to me, how your folks used to have us over” (Steinke 206), he says. Then he talks about his memories, and this isn’t the first time Hal spends a lot of time thinking about the past. In fact, Hal consistently lives in the past, so much so that he needs to protect himself from the discomfort of the present. Cully needs to grow up and face responsibility for his actions, and it is painful for Hal to see that. So he blames others instead of Cully. He blamed Willa for what happened at the party. He blamed his wife for not seeing that Cully was drunk. And he likely won’t stop blaming others to protect Cully and himself any time soon.

Living in the past is a problem for a lot of people. The video below by YouTube channel The School of Life sheds some light upon why that is.

 Discuss Dex’s mother’s reaction to learning that perhaps Dex attended the party.  Who does she blame?  What does her response reveal about her character? 

Dex’s mother is very angry about the rape that happened at the party. “I just don’t like what it says about this place that something like that could go on here” (Steinke 181), she says. She obviously feels strongly about the reputation of the town, and she doesn’t want any of the Friendswood adolescents to rape or be raped. 

She, rightfully, blames the rapists for Willa’s rape. “Those boys need to learn that not everything comes to them—they’re not entitled” (Steinke 179), she says. But she also blamed the bystanders for letting Willa be raped. She says, “There were all these boys there just sitting drinking downstairs or swimming. Why didn’t they do anything to stop it? It just kills me that boys here would do that, boys I’ve had in my own house” (Steinke 181). She displaces the cause of Willa’s pain onto the bystanders. 

She doesn’t know for sure if Dex was also at the party, and although she may have had a suspicion, she “trusted him too much” (Steinke 181) and believed him when he said he only heard about it. But Dex actually was at the party. So even if she doesn’t mean to, by blaming the bystanders, she blames Dex for being unable to stop the rape, too. 

Her response reveals that she is a passionate and outspoken character. She feels strongly about the reputation of her community and the well-being of her son’s peers. And she isn’t afraid to speak her mind and make her opinions known. Both of these points are shown when she speaks up for Willa at her daughter’s costume meeting and another mother says Willa should have known that boys can’t control themselves. That’s not a valid excuse, and Dex’s mom calls her out for it. 

Dex begins to befriend Willa. Is his friendship genuine?  Why does he befriend Willa?  Does he blame himself for what happens to her? 

Dex had a crush on Willa before she was raped by Cully, which is why he originally tried to befriend her during their English class. His feelings for her haven’t changes since her unfortunate experience, though, and his friendship with her is stronger and more genuine now. He doesn’t blame her for what happened to her. He wants to protect her from the rumors and bad reputation Cully and his friends create for her through blaming her. 

He hears the rumors about Willa asking to come to the party and having sex with three guys that day, and he realizes how important it is that he protects her. “He started to put the pieces together … and his defense of Willa felt even more crucial—as if it would prove something important to himself” (Steinke 210). He feels a moral obligation to help Willa because it seems like so many people have turned against her for bad reasons. This is why his protection of her is so significant. There aren’t a lot of people on her side. Dex partners with Willa on an English project and meets up with her in public, so the next day in school, Cully’s friends warn him about the trouble she causes. This angers Dex enough to start a fight with them and quit being the football team’s trainer as a way to stand up for Willa. She might not realize it yet, but Dex is a good, genuine friend. 

As previously stated, Dex’s mother blames the bystanders for not stopping Willa’s rape. She doesn’t know for sure if Dex was also at the party, so even if she doesn’t mean to, she partly blames Dex for being unable to stop the rape, too. This may also influence Dex’s own blame on himself. He hasn’t said that he blames himself outright yet, but as I quoted above, he says he has something he needs to prove to himself. And it may be that he needs to prove that he can protect Willa although he didn’t when he could have. 

I’m looking forward to learning what happens next in Friendswood.

Works Cited

School of Life, The. “Why It Is So Hard to Live in the Present.” YouTube, YouTube, 9 Sept. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mse6ziaefhm.

Steinke, René. Friendswood. Riverhead Books, 2014.

Lee Knowles vs City Hall and the EPA

At the end of Part I in Friendswood by Rene Steinke, the protagonist Lee Knowles must convince many powerful, stubborn people of the dangers of the chemical waste buried under Banes Field. Not only does she have to persuade Mayor Wallen and the other City Hall officials after several previous failed attempts, but she also has to battle the claims of safety in that area made by the trusted Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Both of these groups are presumably working with Taft Properties to turn the abandoned land into a housing development for profit. It's an unjust thing to do, and Lee refuses to idly stand by. Other families who move into the new homes would be put in danger of the same chemicals her family was, and they may have to face the same tragedies she and many members of her community went through.

Lee tried to convince the City Hall officials of the dangers of the chemical waste at Banes Field before, and even offered the data she collected as evidence, but they never listened to her. To them, she's just a nutcase whose opinion is misguided and irrelevant, and they treat her as such. After she started challenging the EPA representative over the safety of Banes Field, Mayor Wallen "stood up from his seat and stomped the dais" and said "'Ms. Knowles ... would you let Ms. Dawson give her report?'" (Steinke 90). In addition, Councilman Burns holds up his hand and condescendingly says, "We're very familiar with your work, Ms. Knowles" (Steinke 90). Both of these actions further show that they disregard Lee's claims and find her opinion irrelevant. 

And this clearly isn't the first time Lee's opinions are dismissed. "Lee used to be able to act nice, to command a crowd, but she'd been worn down by so much flatness, so much indifference" (Steinke 90). The way the City Hall officials treat her has changed her approach because she's frustrated that they won't listen. By neglecting to consider the possibilities of danger in the community, the City Hall officials are not fulfilling their responsibility to protect, and this will ultimately end in tragedy for the community.

The EPA also has a history of ignoring Lee's opposition to them. They go to Banes Field and perform their own tests, so they don't need to listen to the tests some woman does herself. Also, although Lee "can't even get anyone at the EPA to return [her] calls" (Steinke 86), her friend says that someone from the EPA recently went around to see former Rosemont citizens. So they are obviously ignoring Lee. 

During the City Hall meeting, the EPA representative, Ms. Dawson, announces that the EPA gives Taft Properties permission to build around Rosemont, which Lee takes issue with. She says that she has evidence to change the EPA's mind, and Ms. Dawson replies to her with a rude "Excuse me?" (Steinke 89). She does listen to Lee, but she replies by "[nodding] aggressively, her mouth screwed tight" (Steinke 89). Ms. Dawson then goes on to suggest other causes for the points Lee brought up, saying "Cancer rates, as you know, can be deceptive" (Steinke 89). She also questions Lee's ethics when obtaining her information. But Ms. Dawson does promise Lee that she'll look into her reports, although I have yet to know if she actually will. 

In the following video, the EPA says that their primary objective is "protecting human health and making sure that people are safe" (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). But if the EPA continues to ignore Lee and the dangers Banes Field presents to human health, they will not be fulfilling their responsibility to protect. For the sake of future Friendswood citizens, I hope the EPA and the City Hall come to their moral senses and realize that in order to fulfill their duty to protect, they need to take Lee's claims seriously.

Works Cited

Steinke, Rene. Friendswood.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “EPA Criminal Enforcement: Protecting People and the Environment.” YouTube, YouTube, 11 Feb. 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fajlhxyapa0.