Anna Quindlen's "Black and Blue": A Look at Abusive Relationships

In the novel Black and Blue, Anna Quindlen provides a unique mother-son relationship that is built upon the foundations of love. The relationship sees both good times and bad and can be witnessed through the eyes of the mother as she reads her sons reactions and actions towards herself and other characters in the novel. Fran hopes that her son Robert would love her unconditionally and lay all his trust in her arms but Fran still manages to struggle to bring Robert out of the shell that he has created.

The boy Robert is a both a brave and scared boy throughout the entirety of the novel and one can see this by the way he reacts to the situation he is placed in and how he reacts to problems that arise before him. There is no doubt that Robert loves his mother Fran because if he did not the entire story would have played out differently. Robert continually places his trust in his mother's judgment simply because he loves her. Though he would have rather stayed at home with both parents, he is able to see the horrors that Bobby committed to Fran and that something must be done.

In the novel, the reader does not see Robert depending on Fran the way that she depends upon him. Robert is everything in the world to Fran and she bases her world upon him. The main reason for her to leave Bobby was so her son could grow up as a whole and normal person, not one with "the eyes of an old man." If it were not for Robert, Fran would still probably be taking beatings from her disgusting husband. So it is this reason that Fran is even more grateful for Robert because he was her step out of her miserable life and she was able to bring the only thing with her that gave her joy: Robert.

Robert on the other hand had to give up everything in more ways than Fran did. I say this because he is a child and truly can not understand why they had to go so far away and sever all contact with their past. I believe that Robert was a very confused child when this happened but was still able to maintain his bravery that the situation was for the best. Many high school children would not have been able to react as well as Robert has and that shows his love for his mother, even if at times he shows aggression. I believe that this aggression comes from his own feelings of futility that he can not do anything to change the situation that they are in, unless he calls his father which will break everything that Fran and Robert have worked for. This relationship has its peak moments and its sour ones as well but the reader never loses that feeling of undying love that the mother and son have for each other. Anna Quindlen provides numerous examples of true love and trust between Robert and Fran that one can not doubt that their feelings are pure and will see them through their problems. Robert relies on his mother in every way that a child should, though at times he bottles things up. And Fran relies on her son because his is basically her salvation to a better and healthier life for the both of them, which is the only thing that Fran has ever wanted.