Nora,The abused Squirrel
...illness and Nora had to borrow money from a banker to take him to Italy for treatment. Nora does lie and deceive her husband but feels like she has to, to save his pride and his life. Nora had already lost her father. Many of us have been in situations that have led us to do things that we normally would not do to save someone else from hurt. Nora had to forge her father’s signature, which creates a worse situation for Nora because the only way she can repay this debt is to skim money from the household. Skimming money from the household makes Nora appear greedy to Torvald. Nora is here again sacrificing her self-image to her husband. If Nora had been in a healthy relationship, she would not have had to lie and deceive her husband. In addition, if Torvald was not a controlling, proud man she would not have to do these things but Nora felt she had no choice. One could relate to this in she is not thinking of self, she is putting her husband first. This with time can create a situation in which one would lose their own identity and lose their feeling of self-worth. To become someone else’s puppet is a very sad and depressing situation. Through borrowing the money Nora set herself up for blackmail, which creates much more tension in the household and the marriage as she is trying to keep it a secret from a Torvald. Torvald calls Nora his “dear child.” This is another way of demeaning Nora and her self-worth. Marriages today are more and more like Nora and Torvald, which increases the divorce rate because someone in the relationship wakes up and realizes they are not happy and wants another way of life or is tired of being dominated in the relationship. Nora really does not have anyone to confide in so she confides in the doctor in which she compares Torvald to her dad. Being in a relationship such as this, one can find one alone without friends because a dominating person does not want that additional influence around one. It is as if the abusers are afraid they will lose their control or that the abused will come to find they have a mind of their own. Controlling and dominating abusers have the need to be in total control. This is a form of abuse. Mental abuse can be as harmful if not more damaging to a person than if they were beat on everyday. It seems, as though the abusers want to beat one down mentally then the physical abuse will come. In those times, it seemed more appropriate one might say that a man did control the household but in today’s society to be treated this way is a form of abuse and is very damaging emotionally. There is a saying “Children learn what they live” and this is very true. This may have been the case for Nora, we just do not know what her mother and father’s relationship was. ...