Drug Abuse

Question by Annabell: What is the story “Teenage Wasteland” about?
Im a junior and I have to read it for my English final. I would really rather not read it, so can someone just like, outline it for me? And no, it isn’t at all like the song, my teacher told us that.

Best answer:

Answer by Curious_Yank_N_Korea
The story has many stories within the story. The links below cover some of them, such as the mother, the prison, the tutor, and symbolism of the title, maybe that is the one you want. It is however, somewhat related to the song.

The title of the story “Teenage Wasteland” is drawn from the title of a song published by the musical rock group The Who. The term”Teenage Wasteland” has become a familiarly used phrase in modern American journalism. While the term teenage wasteland can be used to symbolize drug abuse by teenagers or street violence by youngsters, in the story “Teenage Wasteland,” by Anne Tyler, the phrase appears to symbolize the emptiness and pointlessness which is a part of the lives of many modern teenagers. The home of the tutor Cal is a further, graphic, symbol of this emptiness. Although the teenagers go to Cal’s home for tutoring in their school subjects, they find, instead, a party house–a place to hang out where no personal responsibility for their actions is enforced. The house is, thus, a “wasteland” for teenagers who are already lost and confused.