Was Roxy's behavior justified?

[Kira Bonita Reece]

Steve wanted to join the police force and Roxy decided to stand by him. When the job got challenging, she decided to bail on him. Given that she was one of the reasons he joined the force, was her actions justified? What would you have done if you were in Steve's position?

[Ohna Martin]

Her actions are not justified. Rocky should have stood by him, instead, she worried more about her friends and their opinions. In the end, Steve had trouble opening up to her about what he was going through at work.

[Sarah J Callen]

Great question! I could definitely see where both characters were coming from. I think it could be easy to say you're going to stand by your partner, even if you disagree with their decision. It would be much harder to actually stay with them as you both are changing. I don't know if she made the right decision, but I was able to see how she got there.

[Marsha JJ]

I didn't really get the sense that Steve joined the force because of Roxy. I really felt like it was his own decision to do so. It seemed that she didn't really feel comfortable with him being in the police force since he was on "the other side" of the protests. So perhaps my interpretation of the book was different.

[Soshell Williams-Witter]

Sometimes we overestimate what we think we can handle when we aren't in the situation. I think Roxy thought she could handle it when thinking about it in the abstract, but when she was actually in the situation she realised it was too much for her. She decided to choose her mental health over the relationship which I think is justified. It isn't what I had hoped for but it happens sometimes. If I was in Steve's position I guess I would have to decide what was more important: the love of my life or the job that is frustrating me that I don't necessarily have to do because I have other options.

[Caroline Elizabeth 1]

I don't think she was entitled to him, he made the decision and she supported. If it turned out to be something she couldn't handle, it's not her fault and she shouldn't be blamed.

[Timothee22]

You cannot support your spouse and bail on them when things turn sour. Her action shows how unsupportive she is. Steve should never forgive her.

[Missing Person]

I think Roxy's behavior was justified because Steve was coming home drunk at 4:00 am in the morning, interrupting her sleep and badgering her for sex. If Steve never got drunk and never interrupted her sleep, then I think Roxy's unsupportive behavior would have been unjustified.

Another reason why I think Roxy's behavior was justified is that Steve was often forced to do things as a police officer that directly contradicted Roxy's moral principles. Steve would often be forced by his police department to arrest people for smoking marijuana—a practice Roxy would consider harmless or even beneficial to society (she smokes marijuana herself). In another instance, Steve is ordered to break up a protest that Roxy participated in. Steve, himself, did not morally support the police crackdown on the protest.

Steve also has to blamed for not making an effort to tell Roxy about all his experiences and for not making the effort to convince Roxy that he was doing the right thing and not wasting his time being a police officer. He always seemed unsure of his decision to be a police officer and he seemed to keep going more for the sake of not giving up than for the sake of doing the right thing, which, in my opinion, is not an honorable thing to do.

Roxy's unsupportive behavior is actually perfectly justified by the narrative's development.

[Missing Person]

You cannot support your spouse and bail on them when things turn sour. Her action shows how unsupportive she is. Steve should never forgive her.

But Roxy and Steve were not married. They may have acted like a married couple, but they technically weren't married. I thought that Roxy's unsupportive behavior was justified because Steve would come home late at night drunk and interfere with her sleep, which could have had a negative impact on her studies and jeopardized her future career as a medical doctor.

I think the story was written in such a way that it failed to convince many readers that Roxy's unsupportive behavior toward Steve's decision to continue being a police officer was justified. I felt that the narrative would sometimes give flimsy or silly reasons for Roxy's negative and unsupportive attitude toward Steve's police work. For example, some of Steve's friends felt uncomfortable about the fact that he was a police officer, but the narrative establishes the fact that they have known Steve for years while he was at Brown University. Steve's friends should have realized from the fact that he never arrests them for marijuana possession that he is still largely the same person they have known for years and they should have been more supportive.

[Oluwatosin Balogun]

The only thing that did not satisfy me about the book was how the relationship continued despite the pain Roxy caused steve. Well, Steve was a noble character so I did not expect less. Roxy's behaviour was not justified. Yes! Relationships are not all smooth, but she should have made efforts to understand and even probe Steve about his thoughts. She could tell he was different, but she accepted he was changing instead of believing he was struggling. There is no reason to justify cheating. It was even sadder that steve blamed himself for her actions. You don't cause people to cheat. They do that on their own.

[bruin]

They both did not expect that him becoming a police officer would create a distance between them. They didn't see each other as much. She was busy studying to get into med school and he was coming home from traumatic crime scenes. She feels that he comes home and hides his anger. Instead of wanting to help him or understand what he is going through, she decides that it is not worth her time. I was not expecting her to say that she was afraid he was going to hit her. I think that was her main reason for deciding he was not worth her time anymore. I don't think she could ever get over that fear of him. Even though he did not do anything harmful to her, his internal anger was enough for her to notice a reg flag and to get out of the relationship before things got worse between them. Once one person is no longer interested in sharing their life together, then that relationship cannot be repaired.

[prush]

As the plot unfolds, you realize that both the major characters - Steve and Roxy - are not yet fully formed as adults. The struggles help define who they are and who they become.

[Fredrick Felix Mnjala Maneno]

Roxy's actions were not at all justified. Steve even stood by her when she was having trouble with her mother and yet she just dumped him as soon as she saw her lifestyle of smoking dope and partying with her friends was going to be threatened. If I were Steve, I would have never looked back.

[Atieno Magero]

I don't think her actions were justified. She inspired Steve to join the police force. Their relationship seemed to be long term and Steve tried to do his best to make her happy. She made it seem like she was okay with his shift in career choices and changed her mind when things seem to get tough. I wish Steve would have ended their relationship and moved on. Her actions said a lot.

[Jennifer Coxon]

Roxy’s behaviour isn’t justified, in any situation. But she lacks the ability to view something from another’s perspective. She recognises that Steve is holding things back from her which creates a distance between them, but she doesn’t consider what or why he is holding things back - to protect her.
I also don’t agree with the constant asking for space rather than just breaking up with Steve. It’s like she is leading him along, constantly giving Steve a glimmer of hope that there can still be something. He talks of marrying her, but she just isn’t that committed to the relationship and never says no.