Slam - chapter 2

Sam and his mother

After reading the second chapter of 'Slam' I can characterise the relationship between Sam and his mother. There are many different opinions of their relationship in my English class. Some students think it's just a normal relationship between a mother and her son and others think that it's a special relationship between Sam and his mother Annie.

Here I want to present you my own opinion about their relationship so let's go!

First of all I have to mention my first impression of their relationship after the first chapter. I thought that Sam's mother wasn't a very caring person and that's why they wouldn't have a good relationship. She bought Sam a poster of Tony Hawk and it seemed like that Sam prefered to talk to that poster and not with his mother,e.g. "I'm not dissing my mum, but she hasn't got a clue, really." (p. 12). I also had the feeling that Sam's mother wasn't interested in her son's hobbies and she wouldn't even try to understand what he meant, e.g. "So when I told her about things like that, she'd try to look all enthusiastic, but there was nothing really going on in her eyes (...) Maybe that was why my mum bought  me the posters, so that I'd have somebody else to talk to."(p. 12).

During the first chapter it seemed like Sam really cares for his mother. Since his parents were divorced, his mother had this one boyfriend called Steve. Sam doesn't like him and he's glad when his mother broke up with him, "Maybe I was the happy one, because she was watching a DVD with Paula and not with Steve the rubbish boyfriend." (p. 14).

After I read the second chapter, my opinion about their relationship changed a lot. It's clear now that Sam's mother is really young and Sam's friend think that she's OK, e.g. "The point is that I've got a thirty-two year-old mother that people - people my age - fancy." (p. 18). It seems like that Sam isn't that OK with it, it seems weird for him and maybe he wishes sometimes that his life would be more normal with an older mother, "For a while, it didn't really register that she wasn't old enough to be  the mother of a fifteen year-old boy, but this last year especially, it's started to seem a bit weird." (p. 16).

Sometimes Annie and Sam discuss about their ages and then Sam feels guilty. He thinks because of him his mother didn't have enough time as a teenager and she couldn't spend the time doing whatever she wanted to do, "I didn't like it when she said things like that. It always felt like it was my fault , somehow." (p. 23).

In front of strangers and attractive men Sam's mother feels a bit ashamed about the 'mistake' she made when she was younger, e.g. "I know she loves me, but every now and again, (...), she conveniently forgets to mention that she's got a fifteen-year-old son. (...) But I could tell she'd rather have described me as her brother. Or her dad." (p. 29). Sam feels sad every time he hears something like that but he can't change anything.

All in all I have an impression that they don't have a relationship like a normal teenager with his mum. Although their relationship isn't that good sometimes they still love each other and that's the most important point for me. I think it would be the best if they have a serious talk soon so that they can get clear about their relationship and their fears.

We'll see how the story goes on ...

Greetings!!