Crime in the Neighbourhodd - Suzanne Berne / Dilemna of whether Marsha still loves her father

'Crime in the Neighborhood' by Suzanne Berne is set in a suburban Washington community in the seventies. The story revolves around Marsha , a young girl who makes up sick stories about her neighbour Mr Green seemingly to vent anger out against he father leaving her. Through-out the novel Marsha suffers from the dilemma of whether she still loves her father. At the beginning of the story Marsha worships her father. 'He was a mostly mild …

…because he was the love of her life. We are then led to believe that she torments Mr Green because she see's him as her father when I believe that she actually see's him as her mother. In my opinion she blames her mother for her father leaving even though it is clear that it was her father's fault. She does love her father and she loves him so much that she cannot see sense.