Every girl in the stage of preteen always worries about physical development, especially when the other girl in her age start to have her physical
development. “Did you get it yet, Margaret?” Nancy asked. “Get what?” “Your period,”
Nancy said, like I should have known. Oh —no, not yet. Did you? Nancy
swallowed some soda and shook her head, None of us has yet. Blume, 1970: 31
Margaret and her peer group show their worries about their physical development. They try to comfort themselves by having a discussion about it and
share the same feeling about their physical development which is not grown yet.
b. Rebellion
Rebellion in this stage is simply a personal behavior when someone starts breaking the rules. Rebellion in adolescence is completely natural and necessary
as long as not related to crime. Rebellion can be caused by many things. Margaret as adolescent also breaks some rules to defend her opinion.
I dont want to see them, I shouted. It isnt fair I want to go to Florida and stay with Grandma. Daddy
—please Dont look at me, my father said quietly. Its not my fault. I didnt send them a Christmas card.
Mom I cried. You cant do this to me. You cant Its not fair —its not
I hated my mother. I really did. She was so stupid. What did she have to go and send them a dumb old card for Blume, 1970: 125
Quotation above shows that Margaret tries to confront what her mother wants. Margaret feels that what her mother did to her is not fair. She does not
want to meet her grandparents because she never meets them before even once. Besides, Margaret already has a plan to spend her holiday to visits her
grandmother Sylvia in Florida but suddenly her mother wants her to stay. She tries asking for help for her father but he cannot help her. Margaret begins to take
blame on her mother because she send her grandparents a card and made this complicated situation. Margaret did some simple rebellion by protesting her
mother because her mother abandoned her feelings and her opinion. Margaret also starts to ignore what her parents say to her about something.
Now thats my point about my mother. I mean, if she understands so much about me then why couldnt she understand that I had to wear loafers
without socks? I told her, Nancy says nobody in the sixth grade wears socks on the first day of school Blume, 1970: 24
In the first day of school, Margaret went to school without wearing socks. She follows what Nancy said not to wears socks in the first day because she wants
Margaret to join her in secret club, and if Margaret wears socks, Nancy afraid that the other kids might not want her to join. Even though she insists not to wear
socks, her mother told her to wear socks because she will get blister by walking three quarter miles. Margaret begins to ignore what her mother suggests to her and
prefers to follow what Nancy says not wearing socks.
c. Self Anxiety
