English - "Minding the Work"

Throughout chapter 22, we are shown the sheer violence of the attacks on Tara. Shawn jabs her in the ribs, knocks her down on the floor and puts pressure on her windpipe, which is a deadly move. In addition to this, in Chapter 22, Shaun also brags about his possession of weapons which, to an American audience, may seem relatively normal, but to a European audience, sounds absolutely mad due to the general absence of guns and weapons in Europe.

Apart from having the means of killing a human, Shaun later goes on, after Charles comes over for dinner, and discusses the different gruesome means in which he can kill a man.

All of this presents us with an idea of the sadistic nature of Shaun. I think he has become this hateful towards Tara due to his "brainwashed" mormon customs and beliefs. At this point in his life, he has probably been so indoctrinated with the customs of life with his father and the traditions of such, he feels as if, by living a more modern life, Tara is betraying her own family, and perhaps this creates an incentive for Shaun to hurt Tara and threaten her.

On the other side, Tara seems to question the actual agression Shaun has shown towards her as perhaps being a mistake. She questions if it was really "fun and games" and if "he could not tell he was hurting me". This self-questioning shows us that she is in doubt about the actual intention of Shaun's agression, perhaps this is spurred on by the fact that Shaun usually apologises for his actions after the act, making it seem as if was an accident. She seems to be confused and is not sure whether the agression is intentional, or accidental, the latter of which does not really make sense.