"Baba O'Riley"

I found Teenage wasteland to be a very touching and heartbreaking story. The main character, Donny, has an impossibly hard time finding himself and dealing with his feelings and emotions. He struggles with different people pulling him in different directions and cannot seem to fully relate to any of them. His parents, teachers, school, and his tutor Cal all try and handle Donny differently. It is clear that Donny is not very inspired or motivated in school but the reader is not entirely sure why. His parents are initially shocked to hear about this side of Donny and make a strong effort to turn his study habits around. Donny’s mother works with him every night and supervises his work. His grades improve slightly but not enough to get the school uninvolved. The school and his teachers all push him into getting a tutor. Consequently, Donny starts working with Cal. Cal has a very different philosophy then Donny’s parents do. Cal has a much more relaxed and carefree viewpoint. Cal convinces Donny’s parents that they are too strict on him and encourage them to give Donny a later curfew and be allowed to go to unsupervised parties. Donny’s parents listen to Cal and become increasing less involved his Donny’s life, relaying everything, including Donny’s teacher concerns, to Cal.

Donny seems to connect with Cal the most out of any of his influences. However, Cal might not be as good of a role model or tutor as he initially appears. Cal is aware that Donny is not improving in his classes but he lets it slide, claiming that time will fix everything. Cal also embraces Donny’s willingness to blame anyone and everyone other that himself. According to Cal, nothing is ever Donny’s fault; it is Donny’s parents fault for lowering his self-esteem and it is Donny’s schools fault for bullying him for being a different kind of person. Cal blames everything on Donny’s low self-esteem (caused by others), which Cal claims makes Donny emotionally unstable.

I do not believe that Cal should have embraced this mentality. Cal told Donny that this was not his problem and made him believe that nothing was ever his fault. This caused Donny to not take responsibility for his actions or mistakes. Donny informed his teachers that it was acceptable for him to be talking in class because he had a tutor. This is an example of Donny thinking he can slide past the roles because of the attitude that Cal put in Donny’s mind.

When Donny get expelled from school he runs straight to Cal. Donny, in a way, views Cal as his protector because he knows that Cal will always take his side and look for others to blame, even when Donny is at fault. Donny’s mother can see through Donny’s lie when he blames another boy for planting beer in his locker (especially when Donny cannot name the name of this boy). Cal’s thinking is to blame this other boy and sue the school for searching Donny’s locker without a warrant. However, Donny’s mother sees this as an opportunity to break from Cal’s bad influence, which she finally sees, and start over. Donny receives average grades at his local public school but never gets involved or makes friends. When Danny goes missing at the end of the story the police blame his disappearance on Donny running away. No matter how heartbreaking it id for Donny’s parents they never stop hoping, waiting, and looking for him.

I think that Donny simple could not fins himself or his place in his school or household. Danny had no one to go to so he ultimately decided to run away. I believe that Donny’s problems originally stemmed from his parents and lost feelings but dramatically worsened under Cal. Cal did not help Donny improve any aspect of his life, instead he was the one who taught Donny to run away. Cal set the example by teaching Donny to run away from his problems, which I think was a large part of why Donny ultimately ran away from his life in the end. (687).