Kayli Kitchens
Mrs. Jones
Period 4
November 18 2014
Prompt 2
Patty Bergen Survived
Patty Bergen is not the average preteen girl living through World War II. She doesn’t want to be fancy and proper; she wants to learn and go somewhere with her life. Her father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Bergen, wish for Patty to be the opposite of who she is, in fact, they wish she was just like her perfect younger sister, Sharon. Throughout the novel Summer of My German Soldier, Patty faces many challenges. What makes patty unique is how she handled each difficult situation and continued to look at the positive side of things. Patty may not be perfect but she has good intentions in all that she does. Her life presented her with an abusive father, a quirky attitude, and the loss of her dearest fried Anton. Yet through all of these troubling misfortunes, she survived.
Mr. Bergen’s has high expectations and an extremely short temper, which sets patty up for trouble. Any minor mistake in patty’s father’s eyes is blown out of proportion. One day Patty decided to play hit the bumper with Freddy Dowd, whom Mr. Bergen already was not fond of. When their game went for the worst by Patty breaking one of the cars windows she knew her father wasn’t going to be happy. When her father go home he took her out to the yard and beat her for what she had done, even though she intended to pay for the repairs. Mr. Bergen also was very fond of Sharon in comparison to Patty. At dinner one night when Patty was attempting to get attention from her father he simply told her in a cruel harsh tone, “Don’t bother me!” Unfairly, when Sharon had anything to say to her father he was always interested and gave her the attention that Patty so desperately craved. Despite the poor treatment from her father and lack of attention she stays strong and survives the abuse.
In no way, shape, or form is Patty normal. She is a complete outcast in her community. Patty doesn’t like her hair done and doesn’t like to wear dresses. Patty’s mother is the entire opposite. Mrs. Bergen constantly judges Patty on her appearance and insists that her hair be combed and socks pulled taught. In the novel, Patty’s mother takes patty to have her hair permed, but in no way does she want her hair done. Patty wants to please everyone, but on the other hand she knows that pleasing herself is