Flowers In The Attic Essay, Research Paper

Flowers in the attic that?s what four children thought of themselves. They were born so brightly colored, but fading duller as their long dreary nightmarish days, held prisoners of hope, and kept captive by greed.

The Dollengangers were a loving and happy family. Chris had meet Corrine when she was fourteen. After she turned eighteen they eloped. They had four beautiful children. They all had blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. Christopher was the oldest. He was very bright for his age making straight A?s and wanted to become a doctor. Cathy, the next oldest was not as smart as Chris was, but she did well in school too. She dreamed of becoming a dancer. The twins were only four then. Their mother stayed home, and their father was a sales man who was gone most of the time. The children couldn?t wait till he came home always bringing them a gift. Then one day their father was killed in an auto accident, and that?s when the horror began.

After their dad was killed, their house was reposed. Corrine called her mother, who allowed them to come live with them. Corrine told the children how rich their grandparents were, and they would never need anything again. She told them their new home would be the grandest they ever lived in, but they would have to be locked up in one room till she won her fathers heart back.

When they arrived in the middle of the night, their grandmother was there to let them in. All four of the children were led up to a room they would share. The attic was attached to this room, and by the nexted morning, their grandmother and mother came to their room. She laid the rules down. She told them the were to quote the bible every day, be modest around each other, no looking at each other, no messes, and not to talk to her until she spoke to them first. Chris and Cathy were confused, so after their grandmother left Corrine explained all of it to them.

When she was young, eighteen, she eloped with their father who was actually her half uncle. Their dad was their grandfather?s brother. So she was wrote out of her father?s will. She told them she had to win her dads heart back to inherit the money, but he didn?t know about them. He said that if Corrine had children they would be the spawns of the devil. Corrine told the children they would only be locked up for a week to a month. Their grandfather was very ill and ready to die any day now.

As the days passed into months, Corrine would visit the children regular. She would bring them many gifts hoping to make up for them being locked away. Their grandmother would make inflict pain when the children didn?t follow rules. Cathy loved to dance, so one time after a shower she stood in front of a full-length mirror naked.Thinking that Chris and the twins were in the attic, she began to dance. Cathy?s grandmother can in and caught her, seeing Chris in the shadow; she screamed vial names at her. The punishment was for Chris to cut all of Cathy?s hair off. If he refused, she wouldn?t bring up any food for them for a week. For two weeks, they starved. The twins were so weak. Then one night grandmother snuck in and poured tat over Chathy?s hair. The children?s mother seldom visit, when she did she only brought gifts as if this would make up for their lost mother.

Years finally passed, its has been two years and five month since they were locked up in that attic. They all where becoming ill. Cory, one of the twins was the sickest of all. They all threw up and lost so much weight. Chris told Cathy that being locked up was making them sick. Finally when Cory was on his death- bed their grandmother and mother finally came. The children screamed at them to take Cory to the hospital, but Corrine only hesitated. Their grandmother finally spoke up and said, ?Corrine we must take him to the hospital now? Chris and Cathy stayed up all night long till their mother returned to their room with news about Cory. When Corrine arrived, she told them Cory had died of pneumonia and she had to bury Cory under a different name because if their grandfather knew about them they would lose their inheritance. By now, Chris and Cathy were becoming suspicious of their mother. So when she visited them one day Cathy kept her busy, while Chris stole the master key to all the rooms including theirs; mother always laid it on the table. Chris took the key and pressed it into a bar of soap and then carved a key from wood, so they could escape the horror. Chris used the key to open their door to explore the big house; he had to find money they could use to escape with.

One night while looking for money he almost got caught by the butler and maid. He hid, but what he heard terrified him. The butler told the maid that Corrine married and moved out of the house. Her dad had passed away and she was very rich now. The butler continued with saying, that the attic was full of mice, and Corrine put arsenic on the food she had her mother bring up to the attic, enough to kill a thousand mice. Chris was finally able to return to the attic and to explain to Cathy what he had heard. Cathy asked, ?how could she do this to us.? Therefore, they knew they had to escape by early morning if they wished to stay alive. By morning they crepted outside and ran to the train station never looking back. They planned on going to Florida. They finally made it to Florida, and accomplished their dreams, all except one, revenge.

I really enjoyed this book because it kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next. I can?t wait to read the next book in the series. I believe this book could be based on real life these days. You do hear sometimes about how parents lock up their kids like animals. I cried as I read some of the book. I would definitely recommend it to others.