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Agreeable

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“Agreeable” “Agreeable” by Jonathan Franzen is a short story about the main character, Patty, who is an all-star athlete with unsupportive parents. She is the oldest of her three siblings and the only one involved in sports. Her parents Ray and Joyce ignore Patty’s athletic talents, make jokes and play cruel pranks on Patty. Patty goes to a party with a friend, gets drunk, and ends up getting raped by Ethan Post, a son of a family friend. The next day after a basketball game, Patty tells her questioning coach about why she had bruises on her arms. Patty’s mother finds out about the incident and is more concerned how the rape will affect her relationship with Ethan’s family, rather than how Patty is feeling about the rape. Joyce discourages Patty from taking any action against Ethan and asking if an apology would be enough. When Ray finds out he is not supportive either of Patty. Ray also discourages Patty from taking any legal action. Patty ends up dropping the whole situations and her senior year goes on with her athletic life, breaking school records. “Agreeable” shows how an all-star athletic girl is neglected by her parents and is discouraged from excelling in more athletics.
Patty could be described as agreeable, low self-esteem, and determined. For example she is agreeable because, “…instead of being publicly humiliated Patty became a real player…” (17) Patty decides to agree with her parents and drop the incident, so she won’t be humiliated by the public. Patty has low self-esteem because her parents don’t support her in her athletic sports nor do they show up at her games, “If Joyce was her mother, then how had it happened that she hadn’t come to the first round of the state tournament, when Patty had broken the all-time Horace Greeley girls’ tournament…” (10) Patty could also be described as determined to excel in everything she does because even though

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