We the Animals

Given that Paps uses physical force to punish the narrator and his brothers, it seems sinister and concerning that he brings Ma home with injuries on her face. Even more discomfiting is the fact that he tells the boys that dentists loosen teeth by punching their patients in the face—an obvious lie that makes it seem even more likely that he’s the one responsible for her injuries. Afraid for their mother, the boys keep their distance for as long as they can, but their eventual decision to visit her against their father’s wishes indicates just how protective they are and the extent to which they care about her wellbeing. Indeed, they care so much that they ultimately find themselves acting like caretakers to their own mother, thereby inverting the standard dynamic between parents and children.

In this scene, Ma links the male coming of age process to aggression and wildness. Because Paps himself signifies this kind of masculine energy, it makes sense that Manny and Joel feel oddly proud about what their mother has said, clearly reveling in the idea that they’re rowdy and tough. The narrator, on the other hand, wants to remain close to his mother, ultimately hoping to preserve a sensitivity that everyone in his life thinks boys can only possess when they’re young. In this moment, then, readers see that the narrator is growing up in a social environment in which there are very specific ideas about what it means to be a man—ideas that don’t necessarily align with what the narrator wants for himself.