Jake Morgendorffer: Difference between revisions
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==Personality==
He is often clueless to the point of barely hearing conversations (though this is often deliberate on his part) and not even knowing his daughter's age.
As a victim of long-term emotional abuse, Jake suffers from neurotic behavior that at times borders on mental illness. His general reaction to everyday trauma is to avoid conflict, usually by ducking behind a newspaper that he pretends to read. However, in spite of this defense, Jake has been known to go off on angry fits of yelling and screaming at things, real and imaginary, that he feels are out to get him. In particular, Jake is prone to scream "Damn it!" during these tirades. The drastic mood swings eventually affect his health, once giving him a mild heart attack that leaves him bedridden for a short time. However, during his convalescence, Daria points out, to his delight, that he has now lived longer than his hated father.▼
▲As a victim of long-term emotional abuse, Jake suffers from neurotic behavior that at times borders on mental illness. His general reaction to everyday trauma is to avoid conflict, usually by ducking behind a newspaper that he pretends to read or by ''avoiding the house for days'' if Helen's sisters are visiting. However, in spite of this defense, Jake has been known to go off on angry fits of yelling and screaming at things, real and imaginary, that he feels are out to get him. In particular, Jake is prone to scream "Damn it!" during these tirades.
The drastic mood swings eventually affect his health, once giving him a mild heart attack that leaves him bedridden for a short time. However, during his convalescence, Daria points out, to his delight, that he has now lived longer than his hated father.
In spite of these fits, Jake has not shown typical signs of physically or emotionally abusing his wife or children, in contrast to many victims of childhood abuse. It could be argued that the attempts by his wife and daughters to protect and humor him reflect a milder form of emotional abuse, but not any that was intentional on Jake's part.
==Jake and his children==
Despite Jake's neurotic behavior, there have been periods where he has true insight into the lives of his children. During "Boxing Daria," he explains to Daria that while she was a difficult child to deal with due to her reclusive and jaded behavior, he and Helen understood and accepted that someone as bright as she was not going to be like everyone else. This, of course, flies in the face of their many attempts (primarily Helen's) to get Daria to be like everyone else.▼
Jake is loving towards his daughters, though he's often vulnerable to being taken advantage of - especially financially. As a result, he will often let Helen take the lead and simply attempt to back her up, though this often goes wrong when he's not been paying attention. He manages to blot out most of Quinn & Daria's conflicts or problems the girls are showing, mainly for his own health.
▲Despite Jake's neurotic behavior, there have been periods where he has true insight into the lives of his children. During "Boxing Daria," he explains to Daria that while she was a difficult child to deal with due to her reclusive and jaded behavior, he and Helen understood and accepted that someone as bright as she was not going to be like everyone else.
It's sometimes assumed that he's closer to Daria than Quinn, and from time to time has taken her side or shown he wants to. In "[[Arts 'n' Crass]]", he accidentally supports Daria against Helen, backing her artwork. In "[[Of Human Bonding]]", he desperately ''wants'' to bond properly with Daria and reach out, and that he's worried she always looks so lonely, but proves incapable of pulling it off; earlier in the episode, however, he was ''scared'' of knowing about her. In "[[Aunt Nauseum]]" and other episodes, it's Daria he turns to out of the girls if he needs help. The two have been shown sitting at the table together reading and not talking, which Daria seems happy with.
Two notable moments for Jake and his parenting were:
* "[[Daria!]]", where he drove out ''during a hurricane'' to find Daria and bring her home safely
* "[[Jake of Hearts]]", where he admitted to Daria that "I just want to make sure I never make you girls feel that way—less worthwhile or intelligent than your old man".
Quinn, for her part, generally views her dad as a soft touch but was genuinely upset when he had his heart attack in "Jack of Hearts", abruptly deciding she was going to become a heart doctor; she stopped after he became well again but before then had been deliberately studying, a strange and shocking event. Daria, in "Of Human Bonding", thought: "he's afraid to be afraid. That's what's so heartbreaking. He's my father; shouldn't I let down the barricades for once and tell him I think he's a hero?" (She didn't)
==Job==
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