If There Be Thorns~

If There Be Thorns

V.C Andrews

If There Be Thorns is the 3^rd book of the Dollanganger Story. But instead of being told from Cathy’s point of view it’s being told from both her sons’ view, Bart-the clumsy 9 year old boy who so desperately wants to find his place in the world but is having hard trouble with it-and Jory, a graceful 14 year old dancer who is trying to help his brother find his place and honor his dead famous dancing father. In the story Bart and Jory are slowly realizing their parents’ past, but instead of getting the whole story they find out bits and bits, judging from it there, the whole story is basically about if the dolls’ sons can accept their past or would they end up wishing they were never their parents?

Jory seems to have no big complications with that but Bart is really the one who has a hard time accepting it. Bart is a child who doesn’t know who to listen to, or what path to follow. Next door a new lady and her mysterious butler have moved in. Because Bart is curious and desperate for friends and for people who won’t compare him to graceful Jory, he goes over there in secret. Soon he and the butler are “friends” and the butler soon tells Bart more about his parents’ past, also telling him about his parents’ grandfather-Malcolm Neal Foxworth. Bart soon is eagerly trying to be like the “tough, know-it-all and great” Malcolm since he doesn’t know who exactly who he is. Because of that when Bart finds out about his parents’ secret he judges it so much. He calls their secret sinful and begins to show hate for them. He’s also putting his feelings for rejection into it and his adoring-feelings to his mother, making it more and more complicated for all of the family.  Soon Bart is hated on by the family, who is doing their best to not hate on him but he’s judging them so much, he hates on almost everything they do, it gets on their nerves. I can’t really blame them, they love Bart, no doubt about that, but he’s hurting them how can they not get angry back? Not being able to find out his true self Bart becomes a boy who loves his parents and hates when he hates on them to a boy who’s trying to act like an old man who’s dead and hated everyone and everything thinking what they did would be sinful.

For Jory it’s not so complicated. He loves his parents to death; he probably can accept anything they do. But when he figures out about his parents’ secret he begins to wonder about things. How could his parents keep a secret from them this big? Why had they done it?  And could he still love them the same way he used to before?  They clearly had done something wrong-right? But, can he also be like Bart? Love them but hate them? No, he knows he can’t do that. How could he? His mother had done so much for him…and his step-dad tried. But it was just one thing they kept? They treated him fairly, giving him almost everything he wanted…but they did something wrong, they married each other! Isn’t that wrong? Didn’t they do something sinful…? But they’re his parents, they love him, they did the best they could-right?-so why should he judge them? Is sweet, loving, dancing Jory gonna be like Bart, or truly accept his parents, who’s done their best for him all his life? 

Though, the story keeps me thinking (and probably will to you if you read it) and all that, I personally feel that there could be another person who could the same thing as Jory and Bart do. For one there could be Cindy, the innocent little adopted girl, how would she feel about all this? Bart, hating on her for some reason she doesn’t know? What does she think about Jory being nice to her but also seeming to have dark secrets, or about Cathy, the woman who adopted her in the first place, who seems to be happy to her but distant to Bart? Does she notice the darkness in her new family? What exactly does she know about her family?

Another person who would have been good to hear from is John, the butler. He’s the one feeding Bart the ideas to be like Malcolm. How could he? Why would he want a 9 year old boy be like a heartless dead old man? What are his motives, revenge, for clearly doesn’t seem to like Cathy or Chris, as if he knows what they have done and is judging them sinfully. What exactly does he get out of turning a little boy he doesn’t know much against his parents?  And his hate for the lady he works for, he seems to be planning something for her too, as if she can help him for whatever he’s planning. How does he see the Dollanganger and Foxworth story? Does he see sin and evil or good and joy?  If he sees evil how is he using Bart to get revenge? 

Clearly there are many problems in this book. Clearly even if they want it to happen, Bart and Jory are getting sucked in the twisted Dollanganger story, the big question is can they accept it? Or will they live in shame and hate for their rest of their lives? Is John gonna get his revenge? What’s up with the weird lady next door, who exactly is she? Will Cindy get sucked in too? Who exactly is gonna hurt even more? (I feel like one of those people who promote books xD) And will Bart finally find out who he is? What exactly is gonna happen to the dolls (read my other post to understand it). Will justice finally be served?