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History of Wolves


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Were you surprised when Linda says during the trial that she did not go for help or take Paul to the doctor or call 911? Does it seem that Linda should bear any responsibility in Paul's death?

Created: 11/18/17

Replies: 14

Posted Nov. 18, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

Were you surprised when Linda says during the trial that she did not go for help or take Paul to the doctor or call 911? Does it seem that Linda should bear any responsibility in Paul's death?

Were you surprised when Linda says during the trial that she did not go for help or take Paul to the doctor or call 911? Does it seem that Linda should bear any responsibility in Paul's death?


Posted Nov. 26, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Maggie

Join Date: 01/01/16

Posts: 434

RE: Were you surprised when Linda says during the trial that she did not go for help or take Paul to the doctor or call 911? Does it seem that Linda should bear any responsibility in Paul's death?

I do think Linda should have called 911 or gone for help to try to save Paul.


Posted Nov. 27, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
emfremont

Join Date: 03/12/14

Posts: 19

RE: Were you surprised when Linda says during the trial that she did not go for help or take Paul to the doctor or call 911? Does it seem that Linda should bear any responsibility in Paul's death?

I don’t think she is responsible. She has no basis for normal responses to rely on. Her upbringing gave her no way to gauge what a responsible response should be. I can’t imagine just setting a person adrift in the world with no life experiences to guide your thinking.


Posted Nov. 27, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Carol Rainer

Join Date: 09/03/15

Posts: 89

RE: Were you surprised when Linda says during the trial that she did not go for help or take Paul to the doctor or call 911? Does it seem that Linda should bear any responsibility in Paul's death?

No - because she was telling the truth. Paul was the responsibility of his parents and the end result was their doing, although Linda was disturbed by the difficult situation.


Posted Nov. 27, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
rebeccar

Join Date: 03/13/12

Posts: 548

RE: Were you surprised when Linda says during the trial that she did not go for help or take Paul to the doctor or call 911? Does it seem that Linda should bear any responsibility in Paul's death?

I think it is too easy for those of us with a more normal lifestyle to say that Linda should have gone for help or called 911. Her parents had brought her up feeling leery of organized society and her entire life experience had been different, to say the least. She was barely functioning on a subsistence level as it was; I don't think she felt that she had the right to interfere or perhaps she feared interaction with the authorities.


Posted Nov. 28, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
kimk

Join Date: 10/16/10

Posts: 889

RE: Were you surprised when Linda says during the trial that she did not go for help or take Paul to the doctor or call 911? Does it seem that Linda should bear any responsibility in Paul's death?

I wasn't surprised, either. After all, Linda was a teenager with supposedly competent adults present during the crisis. She might have sensed something was wrong, but under the circumstances I'm not at all surprised that she reacted as she did.


Posted Nov. 29, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
laurap

Join Date: 06/19/12

Posts: 401

RE: Were you surprised when Linda says during the trial that she did not go for help or take Paul to the doctor or call 911? Does it seem that Linda should bear any responsibility in Paul's death?

Paul was the responsibility of his parents, and Linda was only 15. She had no good models of what appropriate behavior in this situation would have been. So, no, I don't think she was responsible and if she had said something or called 911, there's no way to know, given the legal standing of the parent's religious beliefs, that she would have made a difference.


Posted Nov. 29, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
ashleighs

Join Date: 11/13/17

Posts: 14

RE: Were you surprised when Linda says during the trial that she did not go for help or take Paul to the doctor or call 911? Does it seem that Linda should bear any responsibility in Paul's death?

Not only was Linda young and naive, she also had a strong desire to be accepted by the family. She was particularly fond of Patra and did finally suggest that Paul needed something to help him. When she left to get medicine, she also stalled in her return. She knew something was off, but didn't have an u understanding of what to do with that feeling. Especially with Leo and Patra behaving as they were.


Posted Dec. 03, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
madelonw

Join Date: 11/20/17

Posts: 18

RE: Were you surprised when Linda says during the trial that she did not go for help or take Paul to the doctor or call 911? Does it seem that Linda should bear any responsibility in Paul's death?

No. I wasn't surprised that Linda testified that she didn't go for help or call 911. Linda relied on Paul's parents to make the medical decisions for their son. I don't think Linda was responsible. Not sure her parents taught her how to respond. If she did call 911 that would have angered Leo. She probably didn't think Paul would die.


Posted Dec. 04, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
rebeccak

Join Date: 05/26/12

Posts: 78

RE: Were you surprised when Linda says during the trial that she did not go for help or take Paul to the doctor or call 911? Does it seem that Linda should bear any responsibility in Paul's death?

I was not surprised that Linda did not call 911 or go for help because her own childhood was far from normal. She was raised on a commune. The cabin didn't have electricity. Her mother didn't drive. Her father was an alcoholic. Looking back, I think she noticed a lot more red flags than she saw at the time. Plus, she didn't have a great relationship with the adults in her life and therefore didn't go to her parents with questions or for advice regarding anything, really, so her parents may not have taken her seriously had she done so, or they may have tried to prevent her from associating with Leo's family if she did.


Posted Dec. 04, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
marganna

Join Date: 10/14/11

Posts: 153

RE: Were you surprised when Linda says during the trial that she did not go for help or take Paul to the doctor or call 911? Does it seem that Linda should bear any responsibility in Paul's death?

No, I was not surprised. Linda was a very young 15 yr old. She was raised by non-caring parents & had no role models. She wanted to fit into the family she had grown to love & care for. Looking back, sure, one could say, she had other choices but at the time, I don't think she could have acted any differently.
She does not bear any responsibility in Paul's death but i can definitely understand how she could feel that she did. Again...hindsight = 20/20


Posted Dec. 09, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
reene

Join Date: 02/18/15

Posts: 497

RE: Were you surprised when Linda says during the trial that she did not go for help or take Paul to the doctor or call 911? Does it seem that Linda should bear any responsibility in Paul's death?

No, she bears no responsibility for Paul's death. Paul's parents were both there and assured her over and over that he was fine. It was miles into town. and did she or her family even have a phone?? The parents bear ALL the responsibility for their decision. And Patra had no right to blame Linda when they were outside the court house for not having enough faith.


Posted Dec. 10, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
celiap

Join Date: 07/27/17

Posts: 57

RE: Were you surprised when Linda says during the trial that she did not go for help or take Paul to the doctor or call 911? Does it seem that Linda should bear any responsibility in Paul's death?

I was surprised. Why would Linda want to suggest herself as responsible and then not do anything? She should not take responsibility at all. She's 14 years old, for heaven's sake. The 'adults/parents' seemed to have optimism and that Paul was not really that sick throughout the ordeal. Why should Linda do something that Paul's own parents did not deem necessary?


Posted Dec. 18, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
acstrine

Join Date: 02/06/17

Posts: 438

RE: Were you surprised when Linda says during the trial that she did not go for help or take Paul to the doctor or call 911? Does it seem that Linda should bear any responsibility in Paul's death?

I did not even realize the severity of Paul's illness until it was too late. I cannot help but feel that Linda did not either. Yes, she was aware he still wore a diaper and at times smelled something different on his breath. She noticed how warm he got. But I do not believe that she knew that these could be or were signs of something seriously wrong. There may have been a tingling of understanding after reading Paul's paper, but no "Oh my word, I must get help quickly or this child will die" kind of realization. I think she made a greater effort than the parents in offering and then going to the drugstore for aspirin. Yes, this is more than Leo and Patra did in Paul's final hours. She lacked urgency on return, but the parents were acting like this was no big deal. I'm sure she felt confused and even scared. She did not know how to stand up to adults or for herself and Paul. A child is not responsible for the behavior of the adults in her life. Linda may have been in high school, but emotionally she was much younger.


Posted Dec. 18, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
kdowney25

Join Date: 01/25/16

Posts: 183

RE: Were you surprised when Linda says during the trial that she did not go for help or take Paul to the doctor or call 911? Does it seem that Linda should bear any responsibility in Paul's death?

Perhaps if Linda had been alone with Paul when she realized how sick he was, she would have taken action. But since his parents were right there all along, and they kept saying everything would be fine, I don't think she had any responsibility in Paul's death. She probably felt uncomfortable and worried, but if Paul's parents weren't concerned, then there really wasn't a need to do anything. At the end of the book when Patra spoke to Linda in the parking lot at the trial, I think Patra was feeling guilty and angry about her son's death and wanted to blame someone for it other than their religious beliefs. She told Linda it was her fault because Linda had thoughts about Paul being sick. Her negative thoughts prevented him from getting well. As an already confused teenager, this certainly did nothing to help her get over the situation.


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