Stella Temple lives in a highly dysfunctional home with a mother suffering from mental illness and an abusive father. In her case, do you think placement at the Colony was beneficial?
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Unfortunately, placement was probably beneficial to Stella Temple with at least one very clear exception. She made it clear the Colony was preferred to home and did her best to impress the staff she was worthy of staying.
Yes, sadly it did seem beneficial for Stella considering her homelife. I kept thinking though, I would have liked to see her get away from her father in a more supportive environment. Maybe that was to come, but she certainly suffered more first.
It was beneficial in that she was removed from an abusive situation. However, Stella was still subject to the rules and demands others place on her. Her only hope was to please the authorities, and that wasnāt an improvement. Of course, any choice she might have made to give birth to children in the future was also denied to her. On balance there were some positive gains, and a number of negatives.
Stella was exploited both at home and at the institution. Although her basic needs of food, clothing and shelter were met at the institution more so than at home, neither was a safe environment for a child. There were failures by multiple people and systems re: Stella; education, mental health/medical, the state.
There was benefit in removing her from the abusive situation with her father. However, providing that benefit that does not excuse the schoolās exploitation of her in other ways ā encouraging her to spy on fellow āinmatesā nor does it excuse the sterilization process she was forced to undergo.
I donāt think the placement of Stella was beneficial. It got her out of her abusive home but she could have been sent to a supportive school environment where she was well cared for and not subjected to whims of the administrators.
Her placement was an escape from that toxic environment and that was a good thing. The unfortunate thing is that the environment she was sent to was just a few shades better than what she had. In the long run, it is questionable if her life will improve if it goes the path of the novel.
I think it was certainly beneficial to remove her from her home. Iām not sure the Colony was the best place for any woman, including Stella. But at the time, it was probably the best and only solution
Yes I think she benefited from being placed in the Colony, although it was definitely not without problems. She had to be removed from her abusive father, and she experienced affection and acknowledgment of her abilities from Baker. The downside was she was put into service as a spy against the other girls.
I donāt know how much she benefitted from it as look at what happened to her while she was there.
The ārescueā of Stella and forced sterilization was abhorrent in so many ways and that this was an improvement is appalling! To know that this was happening in America just makes me ill.
Poor Stella! Although Iām glad she didnāt have to go back to her horrible home life, Iām not sure Baker was the best role model for her going forward!
My heart ached for Stella; she just never seemed to have a chance. While I was glad, she got away from her home life but yikes being at the Colony was only slightly better. Once again, she did not have control of her body or her life.
Stellaās storyline was heartbreaking and made the book difficult for me to read. Unfortunately, there are too many children who have circumstances like Stellaās that do benefit from a comparatively āsaferā structure away from the abuse they are suffering at home. It is also unfortunate that being sent to a place like the Colony isnāt rehabilitative by any means, and the structure that is in place does not allow for any discourse around what Stella experienced in her home.
In some ways, her being placed in the colony was a positive as she was able to escape her abuser. However, in the long run, she went from one type of abuser to another. I wonder if her mother was aware of the abuse and just was unable to do anything due to her illness or if she was completely clueless to what was going on. Stella was made a victim over and over again, first in her home and then in the colony.
For Stella, being at the Colony was a relief from her abusive home life. She saw it as a safe environment. For Stella it was initially a beneficial placement. But as time went on and Stella became more aware of the goings-on at the Colony, she was subjected to other horrific abuses and punishments. Eventually, however, I believe Stella was able to feel safe and cared for, which definitely wouldnāt have happened had she been released to go home to her parents.
Somewhat. Yes, it got her out of that horrible situation. It did not get her the actual help from trained professionals that she so desperately needs.
As is the situation today, there are not many palatable solutions for such dysfunctional families. Foster care often fails to meet the needs. I suspect for Stella, the Colony provided a relatively āsafeā environment, at least to avoid sexual abuse from her father. To have some structure in her daily life must have seemed like such a relief. And she did have some ārole modelsā to look to in the Colony.