Normal People Lesson Plan

Why doesn't Marianne tell her mother or anyone else about Alan's abuse?

The narrator tells readers that Denise, Marianne's mother, decided long ago that it was acceptable for men to use aggression towards Marianne as a way of expressing themselves. It is not explicitly stated, but this may be a traumatic response due to the abuse that Denise, and sometimes Marianne, faced from Marianne's late father. When Marianne was a child, she resisted this idea, but after years of conditioning, she now simply detaches herself, placing herself outside the situation and acting as if it isn't of any interest to her. It seems that Denise chose the route of begging for love from...