Sam Griffith 813

Breathing Underwater

The book Breathing Underwater by Alex Flynn is about a boy who hits his girlfriend, who gets a restraining order, and how he tries to win her back. The book deals with bad characteristics being spread from parents to their children. In this case the traits are passed on to the main character, nick, from his father.

The first negative characteristic passed on is using violence to solve problems. Nick his constantly beat by his father, often not because he has major issue with his son’s behavior but more because he is having problems with other parts of his life and he lets it out on Nick. This is similar to the situation Nick has with his girlfriend. He has so many other troubles (such as his father beating him) That he will become aggressive with his girlfriend just because he has little problems with her like the necklace she is wearing.

Another trait that has been passed on his disrespect towards women. Nick on many accounts calls his girlfriend a, “Bitch,” or, ” Slut,” words that are inexcusably cruel towards women. Nick’s mother left Nick and his father when the boy was only five years old. An inference can be made is that she left because Nick’s father was treating her wrong. This most likely effected Nick’s thoughts towards how he should treat a woman he loves.

 The book Breathing Underwater talks about the effect parents have on their kids. How traits or opinions you present to your child will probably be carried out in your child’s personality. The message the author is giving the reader is to make sure you as a parent are showing good traits and habbits.