What does the author reveal about Mia Warren in Chapter 7?
I think that the author revealed that Mia Warren is more motherly than initially perceived. In the beginning, it seemed as though she only cared for her career and what she believed was right that’s why they moved a lot because it bored Mia to stay in one place. Even taking the job showed that Mia was selfish in that she only took the job to spy on her own daughter Pearl. Yet when Izzy comes up to her and doesn’t say a word, she opens up. Mia knew exactly what to do to make Izzy feel comfortable, even if it was her own house. It was almost as if Mia was positively manipulating her to open up so that she could be aware of the situation and it worked as Izzy got motherly validation from someone who wasn’t her mother. Showing a more motherly side humanises Mia.
How are we meant to respond to her as readers?
I think that readers see Mia be a disrupting force ruining the ‘normality and unity’ of the Richardson family. Mia is not necessarily seen to be an antagonist though as we don’t know enough about her or her life. It’s seen that Mia is quite an intrusive person as she only took the job for personal benefits and those personal benefits had nothing to do with money. Yet though there are complications readers aren’t meant to dislike Mia as a person. I think that the author is trying to let the readers get to know Mia before making any judgements.
How does she contrast with Elena?
Mia largely contrasts to Elena as she is seen to be more free living in her way of life. Mia has moved around a lot and has experienced things Elena will never experience. It’s seen that Elena has gotten complacent in her life and doesn’t change a lot whereas Mia is unexpected. Mia is also more forgiving to Izzy when Izzy does something bad Elena reprimands her not knowing what to do or how to get her own child to talk to her. This differs to Mia because withing the first few minutes of meeting Izzy, she got her to open up. That was something that Elena had never gotten her daughter to do with her. That is probably the biggest contrast in that Mia sees everyone equally and analyses to find out who they really are and empathises with Izzy whereas Elena thinks that she is the black sheep.