The Three of Us post 3

"It seemed like a good joke at the time" (154). Julia Blackburn, the author of the memoir The Three of Us, describes her reaction to a comment that Binky, one of Rosalie's friends, made referring to both mothers' sexual adventures chasing younger men. At the time, Julia finds this comment funny and amusing. When Julia goes for a swim with Binky's eldest son, she finds out how badly this boy has been damaged psychologically by his mother's behavior. Binky's sexual recklessness has included a sexual relationship with her adolescent son during a drunken evening. He says " I can't touch any woman because I ****ed my own mother, one night when we were both too drunk to care" (154). Her son will now carry the burden that he had an incestuous relationship with his mother.

In one sense, this echos the theme of abandonment because the mother, who bore him, should have taught him right from wrong. Binky had drawn him into a sexual relationship which is taboo in all cultures around the world. Julia realizes how psychologically damaged he is by this encounter. The reader gets the sense that Julia may be damaged by her relationship with her mother based on how damaged Binky's son is.