Average Waves In Unprotected Waters

Parents often have forethought futures for their children. Fathers want their sons to be the starting quarterbacks on the football team while mothers want their daughters to be the “it girl” in school. What happens when the child has desires that are incomporable with those of their parents? The parents will still love their child, immensely, but deep down they still want their picture perfect son or daughter. Bet from “Average Waves in Unprotected Waters” wished her son, Arnold, to have a normal life without special needs. She goes out of her way, financially, to make this happen by purchasing a jacket that was too expensive for her lifestyle. The jacket symbolizes the constant desire for her a normal son and the love she has for Arnold.
The brown corduroy jacket that is described in the story cost Bet half of her weekly salary. In her opinion, the hefty price was worth it. The jacket made her son
Bet did not want to give him the messy cookie because of the way Arnold eats. He is a careless eater and usually gets crumbs all over himself. Bet knows that the next few moments are important and is trying to shield him from it all, just like she did with the jacket. She loves him, and wishes that she could do more for him. But, she ends up giving a peanut butter cookie to Arnold despite her better thinking. She wanted to give him absolutely everything he wanted, whether that means an extra cookie or an expensive jacket.
In “Average Waves in Unprotected Waters” Bet is in a serious financial hole that she can not get herself out of. Despite this, it is revealed that she bought her son, Arnold, a jacket that was worth half of her weekly salary. This jacket is disliked by Arnold; he prefers his smaller, unpresentable jacket that Bet does not feel fit to wear. She wants him to look presentable and “normal”. The jacket portrays Bet’s desire to have a normal child along with her love for