Hannah and Michael’s son, Yair, is very mature for his age. As he gets older, he continues to get smarter and smarter and is a very polite little boy. Yair is mature for his age because of the way he was brought up by his parents. The characteristics of both of his parents affected Yair and allowed Yair to be so mature. Hannah was never proud of her son. No matter how nice and polite he was or how smart he was, she was not satisfied. She showed no love to Yair and that made him strong. "I beat Yair whenever he displayed this sullen insolence. I would thrash him, without looking into calm gray eyes, until, panting; I succeeded from ringing the sobs from his throat" (Oz 103). When Hannah would beat him, it taught him not only to be strong, but to also grow up and take responsibility. Yair was not allowed to act out in anyway and when Hannah beat him, he learned that. Michael however never beat Yair. Michael’s approach to his son and their relationship was a lot different than Hannah’s. Michael always shared educational information with his son because he wanted him to be successful when he got older. “If the baby cried in the night Michael would pick him up and carry him backwards and forwards across the room, from the window to the door and back again, whispering in his ear facts which he had to learn by heart” (Oz 78). Even at such a young age at a few weeks old, Michael would tell Yair educational facts in the middle of the night just to calm Yair down when he would cry, not beat him like Hannah did. When Michael would tell Yair random educational facts, most of it was way beyond what he should have been learning at that age so it taught him things that were too old for him. The different personalities and characteristics of Hannah and Michael helped “mature” Yair because he learned a lot of educational things from his father and learned to be a strong man from his mother at a young age.
Donatello makes a good point. Yair learned educational things from his father and he was beaten by his mother, and that is why he is so mature. He becomes a mature child because he is forced to. His mother never shows love for him, only bad things. “I remembered Aunt Jenia’s distasteful visit at the beginning of my pregnancy, and at times I imagined perversely that it was I who had wanted to get rid of the baby and Aunt Jenia forced me not to” (Oz 80). Hannah immediately shows displeasure in her son, wishing at times, she could rid herself of him. Michael, on the other hand really cared for his son and it is easy to see, but his strong obsession with learning and politeness is the reason Yair became so mature. “Michael has taught Yair to end whatever he has to say with the words “I have finished.”” (Oz 102). At such a young age, Michael has taught him how to be polite in letting someone know that he is done with a sentence, while most children are still learning basic words and sentences. Yair is also very strong, most likely because of the way Hannah beat him when he did something wrong. He realized that it is his own fault and therefore he gets what is coming to him. “I deserved it because I started it. I started fighting first, and then they fought me back. I’ve finished” (Oz 103). Yair sees that he is the one at fault, and therefore what happened was meant to and he will move on. The way he speaks makes him seem like an adult, and that is also the other reason he is so mature. “I think Mummy knows everything, because Mummy never says ‘I don’t know.’ Mummy says, ‘I know but I can’t explain.’ I think if you can’t explain how you can say it then you don’t know” (Oz 102). An adult around Michael and Hannah’s age probably wouldn’t be able to come to a conclusion like Yair did about his mother. He is able to put complex things together and is able to process information and put it together for himself. His father’s strong dedication to learning, and making sure his son knows it, and his mother’s detachment of feelings towards him, made him the mature child seen by the end of the story.
Between all of the examples already given, the reader knows why and how Yair is so mature for his age. Due to the lack of affection from his mother and her beating him, it teaches him responsibility and how to deal with things on his own. His mother was sometimes almost heartless and cruel to him. “When we got to the clinic I sat him down forcibly in the dentist’s chair, even though he had made no attempt to resist” (Oz 206). Hannah pushed him into the dentist chair for no reason at all and Yair did not cry or say anything back which shows his maturity and self control. Most things that Yair learned were because of his father. Michael was a good-natured man and was very smart. He had a lot of responsibility and loved sharing things with Yair. “Ever since Michael had explained to him how rot attacks the roots of the teeth he had proved understanding and thoroughly cooperative” (Oz 206). Anything that Michael told Yair, he picked up on instantly and was always anxious to learn more things. Yair’s passion for learning made Yair mature at his age because he knew things that many other kids his age did not. Like Raphael already stated, Michael’s dedication to learning and sharing it with his son and Hannah’s lack of affection makes Yair the child that he is in the story, who is very mature for his age.
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Hannah and Michael’s son, Yair, is very mature for his age. As he gets older, he continues to get smarter and smarter and is a very polite little boy. Yair is mature for his age because of the way he was brought up by his parents. The characteristics of both of his parents affected Yair and allowed Yair to be so mature. Hannah was never proud of her son. No matter how nice and polite he was or how smart he was, she was not satisfied. She showed no love to Yair and that made him strong. "I beat Yair whenever he displayed this sullen insolence. I would thrash him, without looking into calm gray eyes, until, panting; I succeeded from ringing the sobs from his throat" (Oz 103). When Hannah would beat him, it taught him not only to be strong, but to also grow up and take responsibility. Yair was not allowed to act out in anyway and when Hannah beat him, he learned that. Michael however never beat Yair. Michael’s approach to his son and their relationship was a lot different than Hannah’s. Michael always shared educational information with his son because he wanted him to be successful when he got older. “If the baby cried in the night Michael would pick him up and carry him backwards and forwards across the room, from the window to the door and back again, whispering in his ear facts which he had to learn by heart” (Oz 78). Even at such a young age at a few weeks old, Michael would tell Yair educational facts in the middle of the night just to calm Yair down when he would cry, not beat him like Hannah did. When Michael would tell Yair random educational facts, most of it was way beyond what he should have been learning at that age so it taught him things that were too old for him. The different personalities and characteristics of Hannah and Michael helped “mature” Yair because he learned a lot of educational things from his father and learned to be a strong man from his mother at a young age.
Donatello makes a good point. Yair learned educational things from his father and he was beaten by his mother, and that is why he is so mature. He becomes a mature child because he is forced to. His mother never shows love for him, only bad things. “I remembered Aunt Jenia’s distasteful visit at the beginning of my pregnancy, and at times I imagined perversely that it was I who had wanted to get rid of the baby and Aunt Jenia forced me not to” (Oz 80). Hannah immediately shows displeasure in her son, wishing at times, she could rid herself of him. Michael, on the other hand really cared for his son and it is easy to see, but his strong obsession with learning and politeness is the reason Yair became so mature. “Michael has taught Yair to end whatever he has to say with the words “I have finished.”” (Oz 102). At such a young age, Michael has taught him how to be polite in letting someone know that he is done with a sentence, while most children are still learning basic words and sentences. Yair is also very strong, most likely because of the way Hannah beat him when he did something wrong. He realized that it is his own fault and therefore he gets what is coming to him. “I deserved it because I started it. I started fighting first, and then they fought me back. I’ve finished” (Oz 103). Yair sees that he is the one at fault, and therefore what happened was meant to and he will move on. The way he speaks makes him seem like an adult, and that is also the other reason he is so mature. “I think Mummy knows everything, because Mummy never says ‘I don’t know.’ Mummy says, ‘I know but I can’t explain.’ I think if you can’t explain how you can say it then you don’t know” (Oz 102). An adult around Michael and Hannah’s age probably wouldn’t be able to come to a conclusion like Yair did about his mother. He is able to put complex things together and is able to process information and put it together for himself. His father’s strong dedication to learning, and making sure his son knows it, and his mother’s detachment of feelings towards him, made him the mature child seen by the end of the story.
Between all of the examples already given, the reader knows why and how Yair is so mature for his age. Due to the lack of affection from his mother and her beating him, it teaches him responsibility and how to deal with things on his own. His mother was sometimes almost heartless and cruel to him. “When we got to the clinic I sat him down forcibly in the dentist’s chair, even though he had made no attempt to resist” (Oz 206). Hannah pushed him into the dentist chair for no reason at all and Yair did not cry or say anything back which shows his maturity and self control. Most things that Yair learned were because of his father. Michael was a good-natured man and was very smart. He had a lot of responsibility and loved sharing things with Yair. “Ever since Michael had explained to him how rot attacks the roots of the teeth he had proved understanding and thoroughly cooperative” (Oz 206). Anything that Michael told Yair, he picked up on instantly and was always anxious to learn more things. Yair’s passion for learning made Yair mature at his age because he knew things that many other kids his age did not. Like Raphael already stated, Michael’s dedication to learning and sharing it with his son and Hannah’s lack of affection makes Yair the child that he is in the story, who is very mature for his age.
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