10 June 2010

The Terrible Father



The Hero is most likely to come to the aid of aging or ill parents, even if The Terrible Father is the one requesting aid. The Hero's attempts to care for The Terrible Father may test his limits and drive him beyond the pale. The more afraid of becoming a terrible father The Hero is, the more likely he will be to make accommodations to keep said father from living in a home for the elderly.

When a Lost Child has not yet reached adulthood and is trapped in the home of The Terrible Father, the Lost Child may display qualities of The Hero in the event that The Terrible Father does something like filling the hole chipmunks live in with soil, attempting to suffocate them.  The Lost Child loses the defense mechanism of invisibility when these smallest animals are threatened.  The rabbits, always aware of the perils the Lost Child faces, remain cloaked in their panic - beyond her line of sight.

The rabbits, kings of nervous things, are her true keepers, albeit unbeknown to her.

Above is a scan from The Rabbit Box, a beautifully illustrated book written by Joseph Pintauro and illustrated by Norman Laliberte © 1970.  This book, the second in a series of four (The Peace Box, The Rabbit Box, A Box of Sun, The Magic Box) which together with a poster and cube make The Rainbow Box, has been a major influence on the life and times of panic of rabbits - a researcher who shifts between all four roles identified as those of children in a dysfunctional family, but prefers Lost Child and sometimes Scapegoat. This writer has been able to acquire each of the four books, but not the poster and cube.  The Rabbit Box should be required reading for all children and adults, lost or otherwise, especially those afflicted by love, requited or unrequited.

No comments:

Post a Comment