Grayer Addison X The Description of the Characters of Annie Braddock the Nanny, Mrs. X, and Grayer Addison X

The inharmonious relationship between Mrs. X and Grayer can be seen from her habit that she does not give any attention to her own son. Even Mrs. X does not let Grayer touch her after her absence all day long. It is already her habit to go outside along the day and go back home until late night. She absolutely does not care about the development of her son. Even she also does not feel that Grayer really misses her and wants to have a hug once a day Kraus McLaughlin 119. The other proof is that Mrs. X wants to keep her glamorous lifestyle while avoiding her responsibilities in taking care and educating her son. It can be seen from Annie’s attitudes after Mrs. X fires her. Annie is the only person who takes care of Grayer from he wakes up in the early morning until he falls asleep in the night. Furthermore Mrs. X never takes care of her son, so that Annie hands over all Mrs. X’s responsibility as a mother for Grayer. “I really want to know-just where do you get the balls to ask a perfect stranger to be a surrogate mother to your kid?” “And you don’t have a job” “What do you do all day?” “Well, you keep right on plugging away there, lady-the world can hardly wait to hear how your innovations are going to launch us right into the twenty-first century with a discovery so fantastic that you can’t spare a moment to give your son a hug.” Kraus McLaughlin 303 It is Annie’s recording containing the criticisms of Mrs. X for being a terrible mother for Grayer, after Mrs. X fires Annie. It shows that Annie is very dissapointed with the attitudes of Mrs. X as Grayer’s mother. Annie thinks that Mrs. X has something more important to do than any other businesses which need her attentions, such as giving attentions to her son and managing her house more carefully. The inharmonious relationship between Mrs. X and Grayer Addison X have three characteristics. First, their relationship is lack of communication. The second is too much control from the mother. The third is considering a child as a marital status only.

4.1.2.1 Lack of communication

Mother-child relationship has long been considered as a very important matter in a family life. The relationship greatly influences the developments of both parents and children. Noller 197 states that the quality of the marriage impacts the interaction with the children. Further, Noller 205 also states that mother-child interactions tend to be dominated by caretaking. Mothers communicate with their children, stimulate them, express positive affection to them, and perform the basic childcare tasks more than do fathers. In the novel, we can see that Mrs. X is not able to build communication with her son well, stimulate him, and express positive affection to him Kraus McLaughlin 45. Therefore it can be concluded that the relationship between Mrs. X and Grayer is lack of communication and interaction. We can see the proof from the daily activities of Mrs. X that she is always busy with her own activities. It can be seen from so many shopping bags on the car that Mrs. X has just bought when she visits Annie at the Grayer’s courtyard. “This way.” The door of a Lincoln town car pops open and Mrs. X’s manicured hand flags me over. “Im so glad you’re here,” I say, leaning down to where she’s seated amid her shopping bags in the plush darkness. “Because I need to ask you-” Kraus McLaughlin 44-45 Mrs. X visits Annie only to tell that she needs Annie to prepare the fete of