In Gregory Martin’s Memoir Stories for Boys, he is faced by a life shattering realization that his father is not who he thinks he is. His father attempts suicide then comes out as being gay to his wife and family. Later on we learn Gregory’s father was sexually abused by his father. This story follows Greg and his father along their journey of reconciling their relationship, while accepting each other’s mistakes and past. Throughout this memoir, the poignant childhood memory of being abused as a child haunts Gregory’s father and shows how child abuse has negative and long-lasting effects on the victim that carry into their adulthood.
The effects of abuse can be severe and long-lasting, causing confusion in the child’s idea of relationships…show more content… Gregory’s father attempts suicide after ( ) years of marriage because he was secretly gay and could not keep it a secret from his wife or family anymore. As explained by Henderson above, when children are sexually abuse; such as Gregory’s father, people tend to disassociate what a “real” relationship is. It is also explained how child sexual abuse can also alter one’s sexual orientation, thus the reason why Gregory’s father was extremely promiscuous and could have been a reason why he leaned more towards homosexual relationships. Besides the fact that the age that Gregory’s father grew up in was not one fond of people being open about their sexual orientation if it wasn’t heterosexual, his father also could have believed what he was doing was acceptable. His father did not want to be beaten or out casted more than he already felt so he married a girl and had a family. Eventually, with all the negative messages he constantly had nagging at him about what he was doing and who he was, Gregory’s dad was honest with himself and with his family. He understood what he did was wrong and attempted suicide because he could not forgive himself for what had happened in the past, nor with what he was doing now. Now we can see why Gregory’s father was so
