Black and Blue 1. Why did Fran terminate her relationship with Bobby? What do you think enabled her to do so? In the novel Black and Blue, Fran terminated her relationship with her husband Bobby because he was physically abusive towards her. Fran had started dating Bobby when she was just a bare age of nineteen years old. I feel when teenagers “fall in love” they fall hard and become attached too quickly. In the novel it said that Fran loved Bobby, but I feel it was more of the feeling about wanting to love someone than actually loving Bobby.
Before Fran could make her decision to leave Bobby, it took her seventeen long years. She also suffered through a broken collar bone, a broken nose, and a really big broken heart. Another reason why I think it took Fran seventeen years to leave Bobby, because there was always a thought in the back of her mind that no matter how far she went or where she went, he would always find her. I think what finally enabled Fran to get away was Patty, because she made Fran realize that it would be the safest thing for her to do. 2. Describe Fran’s personality characteristics.
Was she the same person at the beginning and the end of the story? If not, how do you think she changed? What characteristics do you think may have played a role in her getting involved with Bobby in the first place? Which helped her leave? In the beginning of the story Fran was independent. She attended nursing school and everyone said she was fun to be around. As with all abusive relationships, when Fran went with Bobby her independence slowly started to drift away. Bobby started becoming abusive in the very beginning of the relationship, while Fran would just keep everything to herself. Fran did not even tell her sister Grace, who is also her best friend. So she kept all of these things boggled up inside of her, having no one near to help her out, making her feel as if she was all alone.
Fran was so intelligent and smart, but Bobby always knew how to push her buttons. Some characteristics that I feel led Fran to end up with Bobby, was the fact that she always wanted the perfect life. Due to the fact that when she was a young child she moved around and she never wanted her family to have to do the same. I think that a lot of Fran’s decision to stay with Bobby was because she was so loving. She had such a loving / caring kind of attitude. For example she was a nurse, someone that is a nurse has to be loving and caring.
This was a negative personality trait later in life for Fran, because she loved Bobby and that is why she put up with him being abusive for so long. Her personality changed throughout the novel, at first she was very outgoing and later in the novel she became less opinionated and outspoken because she did not want get Bobby going. But once she decided to leave Bobby and move to Florida she gained some of her independence back. At the end of the novel Fran was not the same, she had become a ghost in the dark, because of all she had been through. She was stronger when she moved to Florida, but when Bobby found them and took Robert away, Fran would never be the same.
3. Describe Robert and his resiliency. How do you think the overall situation has affected / will affect him? Robert is a young boy, but with all he has been through it is now like he is more mature for his age. Even though Fran never told Robert about how abusive his father was, he was not dumb.
He could read through his mothers lies. Robert never talked about the situation between his parents or what happened to his family. He was forced to start a new life in a new state with nothing to his relevancy. This kept him quite and confused about the situation and his life. He was forced to use a fake name and lie about his past. Despite all these things, Robert went along with the plan because he had somewhat of an idea what his mother had been through.
I think that this will definitely affect Robert in the future because he went from having what he thought to be a normal family life to finding out that his mother had been getting abused for seventeen years. Then he also had to move to Florida, change everything that he knew, and then his Bobby found him and took him back. 4. Upon finishing the novel, do you think she has any regrets? When finishing the novel I feel that the only regret that Fran would have would be the regret of ever falling in love with Bobby.
Not only did her heart get broken but she was abused for years.