The Fat Girl A Short Story by Andre Dubis - 1175 Words

In the short story â€Å"The Fat Girl† by Andre Dubis, the main character Louise is followed from the time she is nine years old up until she has her own child. Her mother ruins her self-confidence at a young age saying to her â€Å"you must start watching what you eat† (Dubus 320) when she was only nine years old. Her father is just about the only character in the story who accepts Louise for herself. â€Å"She’s a growing girl† (Dubus 321) he would say to her mother when she would limit Louise on what she could eat. Louise has dealt with an endless conflict of how other people feels she should look and eat. Louise is being opposed by society. Louise’s mother is one of her biggest critics. When Louise was only nine years old her mother told her â€Å"in†¦show more content†¦Although they are not fat, they have their own insecurities within themselves. This could be one reason Louise feels so comfortable around them, because they also have something they are unhappy with. Joan and Marjorie do not seem too much concerned with what Louise has going on in her life. Though they were her best friends they did not know of her secret eating behind her mother’s back. Marjorie says in the story â€Å"You’re lucky you don’t smoke; it’s incredible what I go through to hide it from my parents† (Dubus 322). Though Louise does not smoke, she knows exactly what it is like hiding something from parents. They never ask about her weight, or life at home. They themselves do not understand why Louise is big because in public it looks as if she is on a diet. â€Å"She never eats,† Joan and Marjorie say of Louise (Dubus 322). After high school Louise did not hear much from her â€Å"best friends.† They were not really best friends, more of just people there with her throughout her high school journey. In college Louise choses to befriend another thin girl, Carrie. They become really close and even write one another when they leave for breaks during college. Even still in college, Louise hid candy and would eat it when she thought Carrie was asleep. One night Carrie said to Louise â€Å"One night last week I woke up and smelled chocolate. You were eating chocolate, in your bed. I wish you’d eat in front of me, Louise, whenever