At Risk (novel)
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| Written by: | Alice Hoffman |
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| Central Theme: | |
| Synopsis: | An 11-year-old girl contracts AIDS from a blood transfusion. (Wikipedia) |
| First published: | 1988 |
At Risk is a 1988 novel by Alice Hoffman, the author of Practical Magic. It was one of the first novels to talk about the AIDS crisis and the stigmas that came with them.
A family of four have quirky tribulations; housewife and photographer Polly has an excess of zucchini she needs to cook fast by sneaking into the kids' meals, Amanda is practicing her gymnastics, and her brother Charlie does science experiments with his best friend Severin, whose mother Betsy is Polly's editor-partner. Then they find out that Amanda has contracted AIDs from a contaminated blood transfusion. Soon Amanda's life becomes blood tests and ongoing despair about her inevitable death, while Betsy severs ties with Polly and stops Severin from seeing Charlie, in the fears that he will ciontract AIDS as well.
Tropes used in At Risk (novel) include:
- Armor-Piercing Question: Polly shuts down Betsy's self-serving attempts to apologize for ghosting her and severing Severin's friendship with Charlie with one: "Aren't you afraid I'll infect you? What if the scientists are wrong?...What if you catch my germs?" She points out that Charlie doesn't spend that much time with Amanda as much as Polly does, and yet Betsy feels perfectly safe talking with her.
- Bittersweet Ending: Since this is the 1980s long before tech has advanced, Amanda does die of AIDS, and her family has to live with the emotional aftermath. Severin, however, gets the courage to sneak out of his house without Betsy knowing, telling Charlie explicitly that he didn't come because his mother approved. They mend their friendship because Charlie knows that it wasn't Severin's fault, the ghosting. Betsy's relationship with Polly is damaged beyond repair, however, and she only has herself to blame for it; meanwhile most of the town is still shunning the family.
- Both Sides Have a Point: When Amanda ends up in the hospital, Polly and Ivan devote all their attention to her while leaving Charlie at Al and Claire's place, his parents. Al calls out Ivan for this, saying that he hasn't spoken to Charlie in two days. At least give his son some comfort during this trying time. Ivan says that Charlie is old enough to understand this is a dire emergency and is independent to decide what he wants to feel. With that said, he does catch up to Charlie when the latter is biking to school, and they talk it out while watching clouds.
- Break Her Heart to Save Her: Amanda ends her friendship with her best friend, not wanting her to grieve more than necessarily. She befriends Laurel, a medium who Polly was interviewing for a book, asking Laurel to talk to her after she dies. Laurel honestly says that she doesn't think she sees the dead, only dreams about them. Polly then asks Laurel to dream about her. Laurel promises.
- Breaking Bad News Gently: When Charlie and his father reconcile, Charlie asks if AIDS is incurable. Ivan says that plenty of diseases thought to be incurable were treated thanks to science, like polio and smallpox. Charlie then asks if they'll find a cure in time to save Amanda. Ivan thinks about it, and says "No," gently].
- It's All About Me: Betsy's "apology" to Polly for severing ties with her, sending Severin to another school and making him end his friendship with Charlie amounts to this. She says she panicked, and Polly would have done the same thing if the roles were reversed, how much it pains her that Severin hates her for what she did, won't talk to her, and cries at night. Polly doesn't want to hear it; she'd rather get groceries, and points out rather coldly that she is the one with a dying child, not Betsy. Also she's spending more time with Amanda, so by all means she's more contagious if the scientists are wrong about AIDS transmission.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Laurel's medium gifts. At some point the ghosts stop talking to her, and she wonders if she was just dreaming them up for notoriety. Amanda, however, believes Laurel has real powers when she honestly says that if anything, she dreams of ghosts and they may not visit for real.
- Papa Wolf: When the local doctor Crosbie won't remove Amanda's braces because she has AIDS and it's her Last Request, Ivan says that if they hadn't found another orthodontist, he would have marched into the office with a shotgun and killed Crosbie for stigmatizing his daughter.
- Precision F-Strike: Polly calls Betsy a "bitch" in her mind for ghosting her and hurting Charlie. She doesn't actually say it, however, because they are in a grocery store.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Amanda's gymnastics coach. He's hard on the girls and treats Amanda no differently on the days that she can come to school after her diagnosis, saying not even she can have candy, but lets her wear her lucky necklace as long as it's under her leotard. The coach also asks for her opinion on an upcoming competition and how he thinks they will do against a rival team. When Charlie crashes a fifth-grade class without a hall pass, the coach listens when Charlie says that he has a message from Amanda that she was too sick to attend the meet, and she wants to know the score.
- What the Hell, Hero?: When Polly sees Betsy at the grocery store, she power-walks with a shopping cart. Betsy follows, trying to explain herself. Polly is very curt with her, saying the difference between them is "I'm not that stupid or cruel." While she may understand Betsy's panic, she will not forgive her. Severin and Charlie definitely won't. Betsy realizes she has truly fucked up, and makes light conversation before hurrying away.