grew up in a brothel with her family. In addition, mother never gave her adequate education and tends to be neglectful towards her education. As an example,
mother forbids Tess to go to school just to help her clear up the house. “We were
sitting in the kitchen, me and Mother. She‟d kept me off school again, to clear up after one of her parties, and we‟d sat down for a break.” Stevens, 2008: 119. As
a consequence, Tess grew up and become a madam of her own brothel and follows her mother‟s steps into becoming a thief herself.
I do know I shouldn‟t blame Mother for all my faults. She wasn‟t there twisting my arm when I made bad choices in life. But I like to think that if
I‟d had a different upbringing, where I was happy and secure, I wouldn‟t have had such a low opinion of myself, would have learned early on to
stand up for myself, and expect other people to treat me with respect. And
if I hadn‟t grown up in a brothel, where crime was as natural as breathing, ma
ybe I wouldn‟t have lived a life in vice, and become a thief myself.
Stevens, 2008: 297 From the quotation above, it is described that Tess does not totally blame
her mother for the wrong steps she took in life because she still has the control over herself in deciding her choices in life. But, she regrets the neglect in term of
education, motor, and emotion by her mother. It is stated above that if she has a better upbringing, feels happy, and secure, she would have better self-esteem and
honored. She also regrets being grown in a brothel where crime is a common thing. Since Tess follows her mother‟s footstep and socializes with the people in
the brothel very often, she turns into a criminal.
I didn‟t want people to think I was a coward, not any daughter of Mother‟s. So I‟d keep an eye out when she was in a shop, and now and
then we‟d use the old identical-bag trick. We each had the same shopping bag, and Val would fill hers with nicked stuff.
I‟d wander over to her as if I didn‟t know her, casually put my bag down on the floor,
and pick up her full bag. She‟s stroll off with my empty one, so if anyone was suspicious they wouldn‟t find anything on her. Stevens, 2008: 265
Another evidence to show that Tess turn into a criminal could be seen
from the quotation above. It is stated that Tess and her friend, Val, are planning to steal items from the shop. They use the identical-bag trick in accomplishing their
plan. They both have the same shopping bags and Val is the one who execute the plan by stealing stuffs from the shop while Tess waits for her outside to prepare
herself to swap the bags.
Sure enough, I did do the odd bit of shoplifting, when the kids were at school, either with Val or by myself.
I‟d got more confident now, though nothing like Val. Usual
ly it‟d be for everyday things, stuff we needed round the house, but now and then I fancied a new sweater or something,
so I nicked that as well. Stevens, 2008: 269 The last evidence could be seen from the text above. Tess becomes more
confident in stealing items from the shop. Each time when she needs something for her daily needs she gets them by stealing from the shops. This act of
criminality is due to the neglect in term of education by her mother. Her mother is the person who taught Tess to be a shoplifter.
3. Physical Wound in Certain Area of the Body
The third effect of abuse experienced by Tess is physical wound in certain area of the body. According to Olive 2007: 55 the location of the physical
wounds varies in abused victims, such as wounds in the back of the legs, upper arms, torso, neck or head. Particular imprints could also be found in abused
victims such as belt mark, iron mark, bite mark, broom mark, burnt mark, etc. There are also physical damage emerge due to sexual abuse, such as bruises
around the genital area, bruises around the breasts for females, transmitted
disease, and anal bleeding. According to the autobiography entitled Sold, Tess suffers from physical wounds on her face due to the abused launched by her
partner and teacher. When I could get up and make my way to the bathroom, I squinted at
myself in the mirror. My face was caked in blood, my lips were split and swollen to twice their size, my nose was smashed.
Stevens, 2008: 291- 292
According to the quotation above, Tess becomes the victim of physical
abuse launched by her partner after they both quarrel because Tess sees a lipstick mark on John‟s face. As a result of the quarrel, John‟s emotion cannot be
controlled, and then he punches Tess continuously causing Tess to be wounded. It is described above that when Tess looks at the mirror, she sees her face covered in
blood, her lips are split and swollen to twice their size, and her nose is smashed.
I didn‟t look quite so bad; the swelling had gone down a bit. My eyes were black and blue
, though, so I put on a pair of dark glasses. Stevens, 2008: 292
The quotation above added that Tess feels the swelling due to the punches
launched by her partner starts to heal and gets better. It is also described that Tess‟ eyes are bruised, her eyes turns to be black and blue due to the punches. Those are
some physical wounds Tess have due to the physical abuse launched by her partner.
The physical wound Tess received also caused by the physical abuse she suffers from her school teacher.
She grabbed my arm and shook it hard. I jerked awa y, going, „No, I
won‟t‟ Then she suddenly cracked me one right across my face, slapped me really hard.
„You can and you will‟ she shouted.
I was stunned. The slap hurt all right, and a stone in the ring she was wearing had scratched me, so that was stinging.
On top of that, I was shocked that she‟d hit me round the face. Teachers could hit you, but not
round the face, I was sure of that. Stevens, 2008: 190
According to the quotation above, Tess is physically abused by her school teacher. She is being sl
ap at her face leaving a mark of the teacher‟s ring on Tess‟ face.
4. Difficulties in Socializing
The fourth effect of the abuses experienced by Tess is difficulties in socializing. Children who have been abused seem to have problems in peer
relationship. Physically abused and neglected children are more withdrawn and more open to conflict and hostility in their relationships with others Bolger et al
in Corby, 2006: 189. The reason abused and neglected victims have difficulties in socializing is because they have difficulties in trusting other people, they tend to
feel unsafe and worried of their surroundings, so they starts to create a boundary and awareness between themselves and others. The victims of abuse and neglect
also feel unwanted and unloved, so they have low self-esteem and avoid social interactions.
I didn‟t have any special friends at school – in fact I didn‟t really have friends at all. I just didn‟t get in the groups that other girls did. And
they could never have come round to see me. Anyway, I had a feeling
that they might tease me about Victor as he wasn‟t good-looking, and I didn‟t want the boys to start calling me Tit-up Tess again. Stevens, 2008:
171 From the quotation above it is described that Tess has difficulties in
socializing with her friends at school. It is stated that she does not have any friend at school and could not join the groups of girls at school. The girls at school also
