Mine on Thursdays Essay

How successful a child turns out to be when they grow older mainly depends on how well a job the parents do raising them. If parents don’t nurture children properly when they are younger than the fault lies on them. In Robert Cormier’s short story “Mine on Thursdays” Howie, a divorced father, cannot full fill his duty towards his daughter Holly. Not only does Howie leave Holly at a young age, but even when re-united once weekly he cannot seem to get things right with her as a father. This concludes that Howie has many flaws that keep him from being a good parent.

One of Howie’s many flaws is that he tends to make immature decisions as a parent. These decisions not only show his foolishness, but also gives the wrong idea to Holly. For example, when Howie came to pick up Holly and he drove up trying to aggravate Alison. “….Blew the horn to provoke her….” (226) Holly who witnessed this must be thinking that this is the proper way to communicate. She doesn’t know any better and will use this as a solution when older. Like that wasn’t bad enough he also makes a reckless U-turn on his way there. These decisions that he makes portray him as an ignorant and unfit parent because he is showing Holly that it is okay to do this. Howie’s immature decisions aren’t always childish though. Sometimes he makes choices that could end up to be fatal. At the carnival with Holly he lets her go on the Rocket Ride by herself. Letting her go by herself was not a very smart idea at all. Say something would have happened to Holly during the ride. If she either got hurt or fainted. Then he would be held accountable for making a non-thoughtful decision as well as being irresponsible as a parent towards Holly. Choices such as these really make you think whether Howie is fit to be a parent or not. Most importantly, Howie cannot carry on a mature conversation with Holly. “….But I began….I’d been about to say: you are mine on Thursdays….” (235) Howie wants to tell Holly that indeed he does want to be there for her but he stops. He makes an immature move by not telling her what is on his mind. If he had actual concern for her he would tell her what he felt. His silence showed that he not only made the wrong choice but his relationship with his daughter has restraints. Everyone makes stupid choices in life however Howie makes them immaturely which hurts his reputation as a good parent.

Also, Howies immature behavior leads him to be over indulgent towards Holly, sending her the wrong message of what healthy family relationships are. To begin with, he is never there for her other than on Thursdays when he picks her up. “….disrupting her life…here every week like a year-round Santa Claus….” (230) Yes, this not only disrupts her life because of the erratic showing up every week, but it gives her the wrong idea about a father-daughter relationship. Holly probably concludes that since I only see my Dad once a week that this is how all relationships with fathers are. These negative messages that Howie sends her show that Howie is an undesirable parent. Even after he picks her up Howie fills her with materialistic love. “Whatever you say, baby, whatever you say.” “The sky is the limit” (226) These ideas make Holly feel on top of the world. Howie does not put restrictions on what she can and cannot get. When she gets older she will carry the same mentality. If someone says no to something she will have a hard tome accepting it because she is use to hearing “yes” for everything when she was younger. Howie feels obligated to do this because of his detachment from his daughter for a week. When he finally sees her on Thursdays he feels that to be a good parent he has to give her whatever she wants. Another time that Howie shows this characteristic is at the end of the story. Deep down inside he wants to tell her that he will be there for her and that he will be there for her on Thursdays. “….I wanted to say….mine on Thursdays….” (235) Instead, he tells her about leaving Monument and leaving her. This shows that he has no concern for Holly whatsoever. He is leaving her at a time where she needs him the most because she already lives in a single-parent home. Growing up at a very delicate age such as hers without a father can effect Holly greatly when she becomes a teenager. By doing this Howie is making a poor choice and showing Holly that his relationship