She wants to do that because she thinks that the bonus will be worth it. Therefore what Mrs. X has already done breaks Annie’s heart.
4.1.1.3 Grayer Addison X
Grayer is described as a selfish boy. As a son of a rich family, he lacks of nothing. This behaviour can be seen when he makes fun of Annie by asking her to
get something he wants, but when Annie brings the thing, he wants another again and again. Grayer is also described as a rude boy. When he meets Annie at the
courtyard for the first time, Mrs. X asks Grayer to have lunch at the playground with Annie, but Grayer refuses roughly by driving Annie away from her. Further,
Grayer really enjoys disturbing Annie for the first week. He shouts and throws things to Annie. Therefore, it is very difficult for Annie to take care Grayer for the
first week Kraus McLaughlin 38. Despite all of his bad attitudes and behaviours, Grayer is a lonely boy.
Actually, everything he does is an effort to get attention from other people because he feels lonely and lack of affections from his mother. He tries to pretend
his sadness of being ignored by his parents by doing mischief. When he does that, he feels that he can forget his loneliness and sadness. Actually, he is a good boy.
But because of his mother’s little care and attention towards him, Grayer becomes a rude boy. The proof is when the housemaid of the X’s apartment, named Connie
tells Annie about what was happened to a baby nurse of Grayer, Jackie. You ever hear about Jackie? I shake my head. “Jackie was his baby nurse,
but she stayed till Grayer was two.” “What happened to her?” “Well, she got a boyfriend. That’s what happened to her.” I look at her
quizzically. “For two years she just worked, she’d only been here maybe a few years and didn’t have too many friends. So she practically lived here
and she and Mrs. X got on okay. I think they got together about Mr. X
traveling and Jackie dating no one special-you know, man troubles. But then Jackie met someone-he looked like Bob Marley-and now she can’t
work on Friday nights and she don’t like to work the weekend if the Xes don’t be in Connecticut. So Mrs. X starts in with how inconvenienced she
is. But really, she jealous. Jackie had that glow, you know. She had that look about her and Mrs. X couldn’t stand it. So she fired her. Nearly broke
Grayer’s heart. After that-he was like a little devil child.”
Kraus McLaughlin 200 It can be seen that Grayer’s heart has already broken for the first time, because he
has been left by Grayer’s baby nurse, named Jackie. She is the first Grayer’s baby nurse who is able to make him happy and comfortable. After two years working,
Mrs X fires Jackie, because Jackie asks for holiday on Friday nights and she also does not like to work in the weekend after she has a boyfriend. It is very difficult
for Grayer to deal with broken-heartedness since he is still four years old. Therefore Grayer becomes a very rude boy after that.
4.1.2 The Relationship between Mrs. X and Grayer
According to Deutsch 308-309, the mother’s relation to the child is very important because the relation will be an ongoing process, regarding the fact that
the child grows bigger each day. There are two greatest tasks of a mother. The first mother’s task is to shape her unity with the child in a harmonious manner and
to dissolve the unity harmoniously. The second task is to educate her child well. If the mother is too mild, then her child will remain undisciplined and dominated by
the instincts. If the mother forbids too much, then the child will have a danger of experiencing a neurotic illness. Therefore, the mother must take a right step in
taking care of her child. Further Noller 135 states that in parent-child relationship, parents are supposed to be in control of families and responsible for
their children’s behavior.
In The Nanny Diaries, Mrs. X is one of the major characters in the novel. She is portrayed as a woman who comes from a prosperous family and is married
to a rich man. As a result, her life is very glamourous and she never lacks of anything. She spends her daily life on shopping and having treatments at spa.
Despite all her flawless appearances, she has some unusual characteristics that make her get frustrated about her life and feels unhappy Kraus McLaughlin
199. According to Deutsch 322 in her book entitled The Psychology of
Women , Although a mother has a significant role in her son’s development, the
relationship between them is not always good. In The Nanny Diaries, Mrs. X does not want to spend her little time to take care of Grayer, even though she has one
child only. In the novel, Grayer is described as a selfish and rude boy. As a son of a rich family, he lacks of nothing. Everything that he needs is provided well by his
mother. That is what makes him selfish and rude, because all people never say no to him Kraus McLaughlin 38.
Deutsch 309 states that the first mother’s task is to shape her unity with the child in a harmonious manner and to dissolve the unity harmoniously. The
Nanny Diaries tells that Mrs. X hands over all her responsibilities as a mother to
Annie. Automatically Grayer does not get enough affection and care from his mother. Therefore it can be concluded that Mrs. X has inharmonious relationship
with her son, Grayer Addison X, because she cannot do the first task of a mother that is to shape her unity with the child in a harmonious manner and to dissolve
the unity harmoniously Deutsch 309.
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.
