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Stosh Wychulus's avatar

I don't understand the father's reaction to this? What possible excuse does he have for not exposing this? Not going to the police? She was betrayed by both parents.

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Nathalie Martinek PhD's avatar

There's a few explanations, none of which are rational. WASPs are very concerned about their appearance to others. They would rather conceal abuse with justifications like 'it's not so bad' 'it'll stop' 'it's all in her head' etc than expose their dirty secrets and risk reputational ruin.

The father might have also felt threatened by Munro's current husband and didn't want to piss him off.

The father might have held onto the secret as a weapon to humiliate Munro later on.

Like I said, not rational but the irrational (fear, self-preservation) is often the decision maker.

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