Pam of Babylon question

I think that if a person is very busy with their own life (or in Pam's case, taking care of everyone around her), they can be oblivious to other things happening in their life that they cannot fathom other possibilities. She was so consumed with taking care of her kids and keeping herself fit and proper and keeping her house and household ready for the return of Jack each weekend that she was too busy to notice anything else. Add to that a smooth operator (Jack) and you have Pam seeming to be totally naive, but in reality just too busy to see.

I wonder why she allowed him to repress her early on. He put her down in the beginning and she readily accepted that postition.

In her mind she suspected it, yet she chose to ignore those warning signals because she was comfortable in her life. She did not want to disrupt the flow of her comfort and the comfort of everyone around her. It was based I think a lot in fear of change of course, but really this is the life she has known always known. How could she possibly be the one to disrupt it? Only a hard smack in the face was going to upset that balance.

Yes, Susie, I think the central question should be about Pam's motivation. Of course, we don't get a deeper picture of her repression and drive for perfection until book 3, but there's enough in book one to drive a great conversation.

It's really a matter of spousal abuse. We don't see it explicitly, but I think Jack was a predator who chose Pam for her caring, her eagerness to please. This gave him a solid home base, complete with a small harum for his sexual pleasure. Naturally this wouldn't have been enough, not for a megalomaniac like Jack! Why did Pam fall for him? It was a matter of "how could little old me be so lucky". He had money, charm, good looks, and the means to provide her and her family a beach front home. She was so busy living up to all that, I don't think she would have questioned anything about him. We can sit back and call Pam naive, whicr is true, but it's horrifying to see how male manipulation can completely blind a woman!

how do you portray motivations?