At eighteen, Barbara insists on marrying. Ruth and Elliot don’t think she’s ready, even though they met when Ruth was sixteen. Why do you believe Barbara feels she needs to take this step? Could Ruth and Elliot have done anything to prevent what they felt was a “horrible mistake”?
I think Barbara was looking for a family and the only way Ruth and Elliot could have done anything would have been to focus on their family more when the children were growing up.
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Barbara was following her family’s history. Ruth and Elliot married at a young age. Barbara probably wanted to marry young and move on with her life. Her mom and dad made it work, why shouldn’t she?
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Barbara wanted to take what she thought was the easy way out, marriage. It was doomed. She could have gone to college, but there was no stopping her from marrying too young. Barbara wanted to have independence but went from her mom running the show to her husband telling her what to do.
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Barbara was escaping from her homelife, but it was a very acceptable age and time to marry right after high school. The whole situation made me very anxious. As a parent. I think if they had tried to stop her, she would’ve been more determined.
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I agree with many of the other responses that Barbara was trying to escape from her family by starting her own. Her mother never seemed to have time for her, although it sounded like Elliott was a better parent. It seems like she was trying to get away from her mother’s disapproval, and don’t forget that in the 1950s-60s, it was not unusual for young women to marry at age 18.
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It was a different time, when getting married out of high school was expected for so many. I think people need role models that are spending time with them. I never read that Ruth took Barbie to the office to attend a meeting or see a design developed. She knew her parents worked, but she needed and wanted more contact with her mom in particular. When she did not have that in her home life, she wanted ESCAPE. I do know of others that married to get away from home.
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Yeah, there’s no way Barbara would have listened to her parents over her love life. Very few young adults would!
I think Barbara craved a ‘normal’ family and knew if she married, she could head that direction. I don’t think anything would have stopped her.
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I think because Barbara had a less than normal childhood and in her mind came in second after the Barbie doll, that she was looking for a way to get away from her family and create a new family.