Rescuing Patty Hearst by Jasmine Sran

The First Manic Episode

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-02-12 19:14:00 UTC

During Spring, Virginia had walked into her mother frantic and panicking. When she asked her mother, her mother said they were going on a treasure hunt. On the hunt, they had one motive follow the color red. Virginia and her little sister, Emma, had gotten bored in the car ride, until they saw red balloons at Chesapeake Point. After a little while, their mother abruptly said they were leaving the place, which was also the first time Gingie (Virginia) was skeptical of her mother. In the car back home, their mom had stopped the car and started crying, because she was now lost. Gingie then handed her mom a lollipop and told he how to get home even though, she wasn't fully sure how to get home herself. Once they got home Gingie told her father what they had done, "My father was waiting on the stoop..."We were lost on our treasure hunt, but I found out way home! All by myself" (11). This had made their father very confused and to make it even more confusing, their mother started crying. Later, " I remember her being in bed and my father telling me that she was sick. I said that she was sad and confused and Dad said those things could sometimes make a person sick" (12).

Bibliography

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-02-13 18:27:41 UTC

Work Cited

Holman, Virginia. Rescuing Patty Hearst : memories from a decade gone mad. Simon & Schuster, 2003.

The trip that changed her life

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-02-14 16:44:56 UTC

A few days later, Gingie had gotten back from school just for her mom to tell her that they were going to their cottage in Kechotan for a few days. Gingie asked her mother if she knew how to get their because of her tendency to forget things and because she was a fairly new driver. Her mother had just dismissed her and they got Emma and they left home. During the car ride, everything seemed simple even though, her mom had started saying goodbye to all the places they once called home. "Good-bye, poo. Good-bye, Be-Lo. Good-bye, Tammie Sugarman's house." She was ecstatic" (17).

Her Mother's Weird Behavior

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-02-14 16:45:51 UTC

Gingie, Emma and their mom arrive at the little cottage their mom grew up in. The mother, who is hearing voices in her mind, told Gingie to help her sanitize the premises with ammonia. When Gingie starts to question her mother, her mom says, "That's for me to know, missy. You do as you're told. You take orders or they'll court-martial you and put you in jail. And I am your superior" (23). Even though, Gingie is caught off guard with her mother's strange behavior, she is obedient and does as she's told. Soon after, Gingie's cousin, Darby, comes over and asks if she is free to play. Just as their about to go outside and play, Gingie's mom comes over and drags her back to scold her, "You cannot talk about the secret war. We are on a mission. You have been called to help. This is very important. Your government has asked you to help. You will do what I say" (25).

The Attempt to Escape

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-02-16 18:46:24 UTC

Gingie quickly decides that she's had enough and tries to leave during night. She didn't get far when her mom grabs her and tells her, "I love you, you know that, I would never do this if I didn't love you. You must help. This is important. You will understand" (25). After a while of kicking and screaming, Gingie gets knocked out cold in her mothers arm. The next day of living at the cottage Emma, Gingie, and their mom walk to Aunt Lisa's house. Mom calls to inform their father that they are at the cottage with no intention of leaving. Gingie also notes that she doesn't tell their Dad about the secret mission. After hanging up the call, Mom pays Aunt Lisa as a token of her appreciation. Aunt Lisa declines her offer saying that they are family, but their mom says she is a stranger she doesn't care about.

War Kits and Arguments

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-02-27 22:02:01 UTC

After buying last season jackets and shoes for the war kids, Gingie and her mom start packing them up into green plastic bags. Her mom picked up a pair of maroon shoes that unfortunately, Gingie didn't like. This led to a big argument between the two and eventually led to Gingie walking out. "I keep walking toward Chuck and Lisa's house and don't turn around" (43). After returning home, she finds her mom to be peaceful until, she finds her sewing her jacket pockets sewn shut because she slouches too much. This led to another argument. Then, her mom starts to break wires in the TV and pulls out a disc, calling it a video camera.

Trial Run

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-08 06:25:39 UTC

It was 4 in the morning when Gingie's mom decided to wake her up. The war children were coming. At this point, Gingie is tired of her lunatic mother and tells her straight up, "Something isn't right. The war children aren't coming now, so why is she acting as if they are? But what I say to Mom is, "They're not coming" (52). After a silent moment, her mom agreed and told her that it was just a test run tonight, in case the children do come. The three get in the car, and her mom put a blindfold over Gingie's eyes so all of her senses are alert. In order to achieve her night maneuvers, Gingie tracks all the turns her mom makes to arrive at their destination. When they got out of the car, her mom held her by the shoulder to lead her somewhere. Gingie, who became lost in thought half way through, realized her mom had left her. In order to pass the test, Gingie has to stay calm. So she took off her blindfold and retraced her footsteps in the dark, till she made it back to the cottage. Gingie's mom had congratulated her when she made it back home and they both went to bed, snuggled against each other.

Gingie's Best Friend

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-08 06:50:11 UTC

Gingie was forced into forgetting her whole life in Virginia Beach. Her father, who only came down on the weekends realized that when her mom said they were staying here, she meant permanently. What this meant for Gingie, was that she was going to have to start 4th grade in Kechotan. Gingie hates school except for one person, Carol Carpenter. Gingie wanted to be just like Carol because of her carefree approach, "This is the sort of things that makes me love Carol and want to be just like her. She isn't ever ashamed of who she is and she isn't ashamed of who you are" (81). Since of the secret war Gingie had going on behind closed doors, she became an observer. She observed all that Carol did, this led to her being even more smitten by the kind and lovely, Carol.

Fights and Secrets

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-08 07:44:37 UTC

While reading John Steinbeck' s The Pearl, her mother came into the room. Her mom focused in on the book, when her whole demeanor changed. She went from normal to manic. Gingie noticed it, but it was too late because her mom grabbed the book and started trying to destroy it. When her mom went manic, Gingie felt really hopeless and reasoning with her was almost impossible, "You know it's just a library book. Why don't I just return it?" "Why don't I just kill this sick piece of trash" (92). Internally, Gingie was crying, yelling, forcing her mother to stop but in reality, she was just standing there as her mother ruined a book that told her something, causing her to act like that. Because of her mother, Gingie got her library access revoked. Leading to her stealing books. Unfortunately, Gingie was afraid of her mother so she hid the books in a very humid area, making them mold. So she stole the books but never returned them.

Her Father's move to the Cottage

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-08 07:47:20 UTC

For six months, Gingie's father had been coming to Kechotan and going back to Virginia Beach. When he came to the cottage, he brought groceries and him and Gingie took their waste to the landfill. When they are in the car, Gingie asks when they are going to move back to Virginia Beach, but her dad responds saying, "He found a job in Newport News and will start in a few weeks. The town house in Virginia Beach is for sale. He tells me Mom isn't going to move back and that all this traveling between two houses is just no good for anyone" (109). This sparked interest in Gingie because she thought, since they were all together that everything would get better.

The Ghost Girl

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-08 08:44:08 UTC

As time went by, Gingie had memorized the First Aid Manual. This led to her mom allowing her to bring other books into the house again. In the books she reads, she tries to find something that connects her to the war children but to no avail she starts to give up. But her mom encourages her to set camp and gain the war children's trust. It was a silent hot day, when the girl arrives. Gingie tries not to panic instead, she gives the skinny, pale girl her coke and tries to comfort the girl, "We've been waiting for you. My mother and I have clothes and supplies. I'll bring you some shoes and some Bactine. Wait here, OK" (125). When her mom asks her how she's doing, she doesn't tell her about her ghost girl. But when she returns to her little camp site, the girl is gone.

The Joy the Pier Brought

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-08 08:59:31 UTC

Uncle Chuck, who resented them living there had told them to stop using his pier. This led to Gingie's father building their own pier. At first, Chuck just stands there and doesn't help her dad until he decides to take his shirt off and get in the muck to help Gingie's dad. Soon after, both families are outside relaxing together, while the men build the pier. Soon after, the two families have dinner together.

Becoming a Baptist

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-08 17:06:51 UTC

As her New Years resolution, Gingie decides on being a Baptist. Carol Carpenter starts to invite Gingie to go to Sunday school with her. Gingie's father asks her multiple times if this is what she wants and without fail, every time Gingie says yes. At first she does find it boring but since she is away from her mom, she comes to terms with going to Sunday School.

The Divorce

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-15 05:57:33 UTC

After around 2 weeks of arguing, Gingie's mom and dad decide to get a divorce. He leaves then and Gingie wants to come with but because the mother usually gets the children, her dad was unable to take her with him. After that fiasco, Gingie decides to skip school and go to her neighbor, Miss Ruth's house. There she helps Miss Ruth with cleaning her house till she has to go back home.

Temporary Peace

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-15 06:05:13 UTC

A month before school lets out, Gingie is outside near the pier with her mom and sister. Then, Sheila and Darby come out with their mom. Their mom asks Gingie's if she wants a cup of wine. Gingie holds her breath thinking that her mom is going to cause trouble again but to her surprise, she just says yes. So while the mothers are outside, the girls are reading Aunt Lisa's magazines. In the magazine, Gingie reads about Patty Hearst being locked in a closet for a month. To fulfill her curiosity, she tries to lock herself in her cousins closet, but quickly realizes that it is very boring and gets out.

The move back to Fairfield Virginia

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-15 06:13:18 UTC

After being in the cottage for three years, the family of four finally move back to Virginia in 1978. At first Gingie's mother refused to move back but her father said that, he was going to leave and work at the bank and also take his two girls with him, and she could come if she wants to. He had called her bluff, so she went but something in her completely changed. She had gone flat as if someone had snatched her soul, and she started talking back to the voices in broad daylight.

Finally Getting Help

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-15 06:13:41 UTC

After many years of putting her mother out as the "bad guy" and her father in the wrong for not stopping her mom. Gingie finally realized that her mother was sick. Then her father started consulting doctors to help her. That turned out to be useless because no lawyer or doctor was gonna help her unless she acted on a suicidal or homicidal impulse. It was at this moment that her father had to choose between helping his wife that cannot be fixed or abandoning her because he couldn't possibly do anything. He decided to stay for many years which put them at risk multiple times.

Gingie's Happiness

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-15 06:30:10 UTC

After Gingie's schizophrenic mother took a toll on her, she had a found a guy that made her really happy. She was 15 when she met Hitch. Hitch had all A's ran cross-country. Unfortunately, Hitch didn't understand her problems at home and he also didn't understand why she cried so much. So as a way to cover it up, Gingie made up stories about ex-boyfriends she never had that left her heartbroken. After years of dating when she finally came clean, he was mad but eventually forgave her. This led to Gingie wondering if she could forgive her mother for being sick.

Literature and Writing

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-15 06:40:52 UTC

Even after being a C and D student, Gingie finds out that she enjoys writing so she writes a paper on Virginia Woolf, another schizophrenic patient. When Gingie tells her mother about Woolf, she sees how fascinated she is and Gingie realizes that her mom is just a human and has the urge to protect her from anything bad. Gingie's fascination with writing got her into college. The night before she leaves, Gingie realizes that this is the first time she is going to be living without her mother and she gets sick. When Gingie arrives at college she realizes that her mother and her illness isn't something she should be embarrassed about instead, she embraces it.

Leaving her Nightmare

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-15 06:50:17 UTC

After her whole life being a horrible sob story, she moves out to North Carolina with her boyfriend, Hitch. She thought this would fix her trauma but it didn't because every night, she would violently cry in Hitch's arms. Gingie finally decides it's time to see a therapist and make peace with her inner child. Even though Gingie has no faith in herself, her therapist pushes her to believe in herself to become better. This made Gingie make a pact with herself, to never marry or have kids because that's what she thinks made her mother go mad. Time skip, and Hitch and her get married to which her mother wasn't invited because she was way to sick to come. Years later, she also had a kid, so she made a change to her plan. Which was to never get sick.

Coming to Terms with her Past

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-15 06:50:32 UTC

Gingie decides to write a book about her life. So in order to write it, she researched a lot of information by interviewing her dad. While they are on the phone, she starts crying talking about how she wants it to end, so her dad tells her to write the book and then forget about it. A while later, Gingie, her husband, and son drive to the cottage in Kechotan. As she's there, she reminisces in the land's beauty. While her husband and son go explore a cove, she goes inside the house and sees so much of her family still there, mentally. Soon after, they decide to go back home and that is when she declares that they will never come back here. Three weeks later Gingie visits her mom, she asks her basic question about her health, but her mom starts off on a delusional riff saying that the doctor has a picture of Gingie as a baby. Instead of arguing or walking around eggshells with her mom, she tells her straight up that her doctor doesn't have a picture of Gingie as a baby. This brings a lot of love and relief to Gingie as she is slowly overcoming years of built up trauma.

Patty Hearst Kidnapping

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-15 07:15:32 UTC

A video on Patty Hearst

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-15 07:24:30 UTC

Information on Schizophrenia

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-15 07:26:02 UTC

A photo before Patty robbed a bank

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-15 07:31:15 UTC

More on Patty Hearst and what happened with her

sranjas006_1_1 — 2024-03-15 07:35:41 UTC