Everything, Everything question

I agree that her mother was wrong in this case.
I get that she was scared of losing her daughter but her actions were equivalent to what Rapunzel's mother did to Rapunzel. She basically confined her daughter in her house and lied to her for her whole entire lifetime. Imagine if you were in Maddy's shoes.
This is an inexcusable action no matter what reasons the mother had. It's a fundamental violation of human rights.

She was wrong. She tried to protect bits of her family, not her daughter. I understand that she has been through a lot, but that is no excuse for what she did to Maddy.

I think the answer is both. From her perspective, she wanted to protect her daughter from physical harm and, by extension, herself from more emotional trauma. Due to the nature of her past experiences, she sees herself as being righteous in doing what she did to Maddy, but I think we can all agree that, objectively, what she did was wrong and harmful to both herself and Maddy. Obviously, Maddy suffered in many ways as described in the book, but, by not properly grieving, her mom harmed herself because of the unhealthy attachment she created to her daughter.

Neta wrote: "Thoughts?"

She was definitely in the wrong. She had her daughter believe for years that she had an illness that she did not have. Maddy missed out on so many life experiences because of her mother.

Her mom was totally wrong but I can see why she did that. She probably did it because she was stressed after her husband died and was really depressed and not thinking, also needed someone to talk to. She is wrong because she basically ruined Maddie's life. If I were Maddie I would just be really depressed and maybe not even talk to mom anymore.

she was just too overprotective and was made to seem clingy because of this

I think she was just trying to protect her, but she was in the wrong for so many reasons with how she over protected her and didn't allow her to spread her wings.

She was right to feel the need to protect her daughter but the way she went about it was wrong. Maddy missed out on her entire life because her mother made her believe she was sick when she wasn't.

I think she was trying to protect Maddy out of love and had serious mental illness , but I defintely view her in the wrong because she lied for Maddy's whole childhood and basically prevented her from living a life.

Honestly it was insane, if I was in her situation I would obviously take special care of her, but also let her live her life out and enjoy what it is we are born for.

I think she was in the wrong, I personally could never forgive someone if they did that to me.

10000% in the wrong. I understand protecting your daughter but taking her entire childhood away because of your own fears is unfair to say the least.
It is a very selfish thing to have children and I get that not everyone has a choice but if you did and you brought them just so they can sit in their house for the rest of their life is very selfish.
I completely understand her reasoning but as a parent you dictate the life for your child until they are old enough and you have a moral responsible to make sure they have a good life, and yes there is an obligation to protect them but thousands of children go out and are completely fine so its unnecessary to keep in her inside to do that.

Her mother is in the wrong. I know it may be scary to see your child sick, but that one time doesn't give you the right to make them miss out on years of their life.

she must have been so traumatized from the events that happened to her husband and son that she became obsessed with the idea to keep the last bit of her family left, aka Maddy, as safe as possible, which sounds plausible but the fact that she took such great measures as locking her up and not even letting her see the real world that really draws the line, like at that point she'd really have to go to a psychiatric ward of some sort because the amount of damage and hurt she did to Maddy is concerning, she literally stole away her life and at what cost? Calling this an overreaction is an understatement, she knew Maddy was hurting ever since she was a little girl, wishing that she was normal, and even while seeing this with her own eyes that didn't stop her from lying straight to Maddy's face, what type of love is that? If anything that's just manipulating your loved ones for your own self benefit. With a straight face.
I guess at some point she convinced herself that Maddy was actually sick, and lied to herself even.
She is so in the wrong, but at the same time I do pity her.

She sadly was in the wrong. It was understandable for her to lose her Husband and son all at once and all she left is your daughter. Your daughter is sick as a child and you still have that fear but that doesn't mean to ruin her life and make a big lie out of it.

Like most of everyone else, I think she was in the wrong. She was trying to protect her daughter, but I don't think "just" is the right word. What she did ruined her daughter's life forever, and something like that is not forgivable. Her trauma is an explanation not an excuse.

I think she was just scared of losing her daughter and decided to protect her from anything hurtful. She just over did her motherly love and over reacted.

I think she was certainly in the wrong. However, I understand that she was likely experiencing extreme mental trauma and actually convinced herself that her daughter was sick and dying.

I mean yes she may have been trying so hard to protect her daughter but the way she went about doing it was wrong. Maddy could have done so much in such a short period of time but her mother had deprived her of that. At the end of the day, Maddy's mother was morally wrong as a result of fear and grief that she had already suffered explaining why she did what she did.

Definitely in the wrong.

her mother was trying to protect her yes, but the way she did it was wrong. you can just trap your daughter in her lie for her entire life because you're overwhelmed with grief. her daughter was sad too. the fact that she lied to her and wouldn't let her live her life was wrong, not trying to protect her

this is one of the reasons the book can be considered morally wrong because it's up to you on what you think because it never said maddy's mom was wrong for what she did. i understand where maddy's mom is coming from because she had already lost her son and her husband so she didnt want to lose maddy next but she was ill and wasn't thinking rationally but at the end of the day it was morally wrong.

Most definitely in the wrong, no amount of trauma can excuse that.

This is tricky. Obviously she was terrified to lose one more person that she loved that her mental health went with that. Maddy missed out on so much life experience, she missed out on so much learning and evolving as a person which is something you can never get back. Her mother was in the wrong because she robbed her daughter from living life, even if it was to protect her and even if she wasn't thinking right. With all that Maddy's mom had been through I completely understand the need to keep her daughter safe but it doesn't change the fact that she lied and betrayed the trust of her daughter and anyone else involved in her life.