Behind the Scenes of Teenage Wasteland

The short story "Teenage Wasteland" portrays many different and conflicting characters from Daisy's viewpoint. In class we discussed and looked further into the true intentions of Daisy and Calvin, the characters whom the readers get the clearest picture of in the short story. While both Daisy and Calvin have very overpowering personalities- or in Daisy's case, a personality that is not overpowering enough, but one that the reader can easily understand because of her narration- the other characters of the story, while as equally important in the overall message, are no where near as detailed or transparent.

Although the plot of the story revolves around Donny, it is never fully made clear his true feelings about his family or current situation; all the reader can conclude about his personality is gathered from Daisy, who might not be the best source of information when it comes to what her son is feeling and thinking. It is obvious that Donny feels typical teenage angst, yet it is also apparent through his words and actions that what he feels goes way beyond that. It is as if there is a piece of his character that the reader is missing, either because Daisy is not conveying it through her thoughts or because she is so oblivious to her son's emotions that she herself does not know what it is. It is obvious that Donny does not care enough about his future or his reputation to claim responsibility for his own actions, yet the anger and hatred he has towards his mother especially and whole family in general is unusually great. 

In addition to lack of description about the character whom the story is focused around, very little is ever mentioned about Daisy's husband or daughter. The fact that Donny's father is only brought up in the story a few times shows that perhaps all the blame for the way Donny turned out should not be placed solely on Daisy. Daisy mentions that to focus more fully on correcting her son's ways, she virtually ignores her daughter. Never is the thought that while; yes, she should be paying both children equal amounts of attention, she is not the only parent and Matt should be making up for what attention she is not able to give Donny's sister brought up. 

It is apparent that in this short story all member's of Daisy's family, including herself, have large phycological issues they each must face and come to terms with in their own way.