In Tracy Letts' play August: Osage County, each of Weston's daughters - Barb, Ivy, and Karen - shows evidence of deep-rooted emotional damage. Much of the emotional damage the girls suffer can be attributed to their upbringing and their harsh treatment by their mother, Violet. Although all three daughters suffer emotional harm at the hands of their mother, each reacts differently, and the repercussions of the emotional harm manifest themselves in different ways in each daughter. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The youngest of Weston's daughters, Karen, exhibits emotional damage due to the lack of attention she received from Violet as a child. Violet's neglect of Karen appears several times during the dinner scene. The first time occurs when Violet mentions the dresser in her dining room. He initially turns to Barb, asking, “do you have any interest in this?” (Lett. 86). When Barb doesn't express interest, Violet turns to Ivy, who says the same thing. During the conversation, Karen intermittently says that she thinks the dresser is "really cute" (Letts 86). However, she receives no recognition and is ignored by her mother. This interaction shows Karen's underlying need to be noticed by her mother, due to the lack of attention she has received her entire life. Another example of Karen's emotional distress occurs in Act III, when Violet tells the girls the story of the boots. Karen loves her mother when: “Violet sits down, exhales. Karen takes some hand cream from the bedside table and spreads it on her hands” (Letts 106). This action shows that Karen is still trying to get on her mother's good side, even as a grown woman. Later in the same scene, Violet tells the girls that “my mama was a mean, mean old lady. I guess that's where I get it from” (Letts 107). Karen responds softly, “You're not bad-bad. You are our mother and we love you" (Lett. 107). Karen's deep emotional damage is present here because, although Violet has spent the afternoon verbally eviscerating every member of the family, Karen continues to tell her mother that it is not bad, however false it may be, to get on good terms with her. The emotional damage Violet inflicted on Karen during her childhood is also evident in Karen's past love life. Karen talks about a man named Andrew, with whom she was having an affair. He verbally berated her and cheated on her, but Karen said to herself, “No, you love him, you love him forever, and here is an opportunity to make an adjustment in the way you see the world” (Letts 59). Andrew almost directly mirrors Violet and the way she acts towards Karen, and because Karen is so desperate to be loved by her mother regardless of her violent tendencies, she doesn't understand that this is not how one should be treated by another being human. Steve then enters Karen's life later on, and is yet another mistake. Karen appears to be attracted to cruel people as a repercussion of the fact that she has chased her cruel mother's love all her life. Violet's neglect of Karen rooted emotional damage deep within her psyche and ultimately transformed Karen into a co-dependent, spineless woman. Ivy, Weston's middle child, experiences the same kind of emotional damage she does at Violet's hands, but in a contradictory way. to Karen, and also produces different consequences. Ivy is the only child who stays in Oklahoma to care for her parents, and because of this, she has a lot more face-to-face contact with her mother. Contrary to Karen's lack of attentionon her mother's side, Ivy gets most of her mother's attention because she stayed close to home. The overexposure to purple that Ivy is exposed to creates a very muted look in Ivy. In Act I, Violet begins to question Ivy about Barb and her side of the family. Ivy responds very concisely, in necessary words, without providing additional information than is necessary. Violet then begins to berate Ivy, calling her "hopeless" and a "schlub" (Letts 25). Violet's volatile temper is directed towards Ivy so often that it begins to wear away at her self-image. Being constantly insulted and having her appearance criticized has a negative impact on Ivy, although not as obviously as one would have thought. Later in the play, Ivy is shown to be a very passionate and caring woman when her relationship with little Charles is introduced. Ivy's subdued appearance comes from the emotional damage caused by years of Violet's harsh words. Ivy has learned to remain calm and does not try to defend herself or question her mother, because she knows that this will only further fuel her anger. Violet has inflicted so much emotional damage on Ivy that she has transformed her presence from a passionate, spirited woman to a quiet, solitary woman. Ivy also seems to absorb some of the scorn her mother directs at her. At the beginning of Act III, Ivy makes it very clear to her sisters that she doesn't "feel that [sisterly] bond very keenly" and only considers them "accidentally linked by genetics, a random selection of cells." Nothing more" (Lett. 102). Ivy's emotional distance from her sisters is due to underlying anger, because she "resents the responsibility she had to shoulder in watching over the horror of her parents' final years" (Isherwood). Violet's neglect of Karen may have turned her into a more outspoken and dependent person, but Ivy suffered from overexposure to Violet and ultimately became a shell of her former self. Barbara, or Barb, is Weston's eldest daughter and displays her emotional damage in ways entirely unique to those of her two sisters. In Act II, Bill describes Barb, telling her, “You're thoughtful, Barbara, but you're not open. You are passionate but you are tough. You are a good, respectable, funny, wonderful woman… but you are a pain in the ass” (Letts 77). Harsh as they are, such descriptions can only be expected from Barb, given her status as the eldest daughter. Barb undoubtedly shouldered the burden of being the eldest child and was expected to serve as a role model for her younger sisters, especially when Violet had fits. Barb's emotional damage runs deeper than that of her sisters and manifests as a power complex. The clearest example of Barb's power complex occurs at the end of Act II, when Barb physically snatches a bottle of pills from her crying mother's hands and yells, "I'M HANDLE THINGS NOW!" (Lett. 97). This quote may seem simple in meaning, but the underlying connotation is much heavier. In the context of the scene, this line denotes that power has passed from Violet to Barb, ultimately transforming Barb into a newer version of her mother. This change of tone at the end of Act II sets up subsequent events in the rest of the play. A more disguised example of Barb's need for power occurs soon after Steve is found molesting Jean in the middle of the night. When Barb and Bill approach the scene, they are shocked at what has happened and immediately start asking Jean what is going on. Jean repeatedly tells them that nothing happened and asks, "what's the problem?" (Lett. 120). When Bill tells her that the fact that she's only fourteen is a big deal, she replies, "That she's only a few years younger than you like."..