Booth's Past

The foot injuries came from torture according to the episode. Must have been in Iraq during Desert Storm. If so then Booth was captured at some point and held prisoner, a line they haven't brought up again. I'd love to see it explored, maybe woven in with the Gravedigger and being held against his will.

you know...Booth mentioned in s2 Judas on a Pole that he loved his parents. he made it seem like he had this very ordinary normal upbringing...Now some may say that this is a continuity problem, but I say no. ... We always see Booth make the best of any situation...and put a positive spin...even if it's not the truth when it comes to love...and family...and disappoinment with love. So this does not cause any conflict for me. It's Booth remembering his childhood the way he would have liked for it to be.

I think, having known 2 boys growing up that had this happen, that Booth's mother, simply deserted her sons. If she died, he would talk about her more...there's no shame in a parent dying. I think this is a great big piece of why he identifies with Brennan so closely. He never let on, because he suffers in silence, but he identified with her having also been a kid who's parents disappeared, and were never heard from again. He deals with it in his own way, which is to bury it and create his own story.

I'd love to see his background, but I don't think his mother is dead.

I think that's one of the tragedies of so many abused children. They do love their parents even though they are abused by them. The conflict in a growing child's mind between the expectation of care and protection that a parent should give and the violence that is delivered would cause Booth to state that he loved his father even though his father abused him. I don't think his mother is dead either because dramatically that would give the writers another place to visit.

Plus Booth would not want people asking questions. To say your family was fine = end of subject. To say you were abused = sympathy (pity to him), endless questions, change in how others view you... etc.

As we see in his interactions with Sweets, he does NOT like others knowing his inner workings. Brennan is the only one he lets in, and even her it's only to part of it.

mommahurley wrote:you know...Booth mentioned in s2 Judas on a Pole that he loved his parents. he made it seem like he had this very ordinary normal upbringing...Now some may say that this is a continuity problem, but I say no. ... We always see Booth make the best of any situation...and put a positive spin...even if it's not the truth when it comes to love...and family...and disappoinment with love. So this does not cause any conflict for me. It's Booth remembering his childhood the way he would have liked for it to be.

I think, having known 2 boys growing up that had this happen, that Booth's mother, simply deserted her sons. If she died, he would talk about her more...there's no shame in a parent dying. I think this is a great big piece of why he identifies with Brennan so closely. He never let on, because he suffers in silence, but he identified with her having also been a kid who's parents disappeared, and were never heard from again. He deals with it in his own way, which is to bury it and create his own story.

I'd love to see his background, but I don't think his mother is dead.

I love your idea. I think it makes sense. Maybe her deserting her sons is what made the father start taking his abuse out on Booth. Probably started with the mother then lead to the kids after she left. Sound plausible to me. Wow, that's what GG meant when he tried to tell Sweets that they weren't opposites. They have much more in common than we even expect.....

mommahurley wrote:you know...Booth mentioned in s2 Judas on a Pole that he loved his parents. he made it seem like he had this very ordinary normal upbringing...Now some may say that this is a continuity problem, but I say no. ... We always see Booth make the best of any situation...and put a positive spin...even if it's not the truth when it comes to love...and family...and disappoinment with love. So this does not cause any conflict for me. It's Booth remembering his childhood the way he would have liked for it to be.

I think, having known 2 boys growing up that had this happen, that Booth's mother, simply deserted her sons. If she died, he would talk about her more...there's no shame in a parent dying. I think this is a great big piece of why he identifies with Brennan so closely. He never let on, because he suffers in silence, but he identified with her having also been a kid who's parents disappeared, and were never heard from again. He deals with it in his own way, which is to bury it and create his own story.

I'd love to see his background, but I don't think his mother is dead.

I believe this is spot on. My Queen and I have spoken and prognosticated at length about Booth's past. Suffice to say what we know of his childhood is largely annecdotal, and little of it is good at least until Pops takes over. His father was an abusive alchoholic, his mother was absentee at best before likely abandoning the boys to their father's care while Jared was still quite young - that is derived from Jared's comments to Sweets about Booth protecting him from their father - if Booth's doing the protecting it implies the mother is already gone. Whatever the case, Booth grew up in a household where he dealt with violence on a daily basis, and it became so bad that he attempted suicide.

Also I believe when Brennan talks about how his x-rays show his ribs spreading in such a way that he was shielding someone it is most definitely NOT from an explosion - Booth's response, after his initial hesitation, was to comment that a buddy of his had lost his weapon, and he tried to shield him from the enemy. Given the nature of their relationship at the time it could have been a lie on his part to avoid the topic of his father - far easier to tell her that he'd received the injuries during his time in service than to admit his family life was so screwed up he routinely took beatings so his brother wouldn't. That would also tie in with the fairy tale he gives Brennan about his parents in TWiL, and the fact that as an ACOA Booth is likely to portray his family in the best possible light (it's a coping mechanism, ACOA's don't want pity).

Actually his nature as an ACOA and the violence he endured as a child, plus the abandonment by first his mother, then father, are what make Booth the white knight/paladin he is today, they're also what push him to have that idealized concept of family, and to want that as a means of replacing the relatively crappy one he had as a child. In many ways I imagine Booth must envy Brennan's childhood - she was abandoned (like he was) but for the first 15 years of her life she was well loved and taken care of, something he wouldn't experience until his parents left him and Pops took over.

RM

dawnsfire wrote:
He has at least one childhood scar--on his right side that he claims came from playing soldier with Jared...I take liberty to question that, given what we now know. While the bulk of the breaks and scars mentioned in Two Bodies are probably from his military career & time as a POW, that certainly doesn't mean some didn't come from his father. Hmmm...

A side note refering to his childhood scar: It appeared pretty prominent when he showed it to the kid. However, in tGotG it wasn't there, was it? Or did I totally miss it??

Bonesicted wrote:

dawnsfire wrote:
He has at least one childhood scar--on his right side that he claims came from playing soldier with Jared...I take liberty to question that, given what we now know. While the bulk of the breaks and scars mentioned in Two Bodies are probably from his military career & time as a POW, that certainly doesn't mean some didn't come from his father. Hmmm...

A side note refering to his childhood scar: It appeared pretty prominent when he showed it to the kid. However, in tGotG it wasn't there, was it? Or did I totally miss it??

Nope, you didn't miss it - it was missing. Its listed under our "incredible vanishing wounds" section for Season Five. Seems our heroes have been visiting the set of True Blood to score a little Vee, at least that's my theory.


RM

I joked in my Inkslinger once that Booth's a Disney hero--he has no female relations!)

Lol, that explains those big brown Bambi eyes.

dawnsfire wrote:I wonder if it means anything that Brennan's life was typical and near idyllic until she was 15, while Booth's turned around sometime between his 11th & 13th birthdays? Or so I guesstimate... I think there was a line in one of the sides for Foot that said Pops took the boys when Booth was 11. Wasn't kept, anyway, but it sounds right.

Anyway, his teen years were pretty good--see comments made throughout S2, esp in Boy/Time Capsule--and the bulk of hers were hellish.

And I agree that his mother left, not died. Call it my gut.

Maybe left his father for someone more up the social ladder? I keep wanting to tie in his earlier issues with children of privilege to his mother for some reason.

[quote="THX1138"]

mommahurley wrote:you know...Booth mentioned in s2
Actually his nature as an ACOA and the violence he endured as a child, plus the abandonment by first his mother, then father, are what make Booth the white knight/paladin he is today, they're also what push him to have that idealized concept of family, and to want that as a means of replacing the relatively crappy one he had as a child. In many ways I imagine Booth must envy Brennan's childhood - she was abandoned (like he was) but for the first 15 years of her life she was well loved and taken care of, something he wouldn't experience until his parents left him and Pops took over.

RM

Very true and I believe part of the conflict that we have with Booth and Brennan going on right now. He is being driven by a need to have that idealized concept of a family in response to what happened to him as a child and she is driven by her need to not put herself in the position of having that to lose again in response to what happened to her as a teen. So how do we resolve the conflict in that?

a_rangergrl2 wrote:

THX1138 wrote:

mommahurley wrote:you know...Booth mentioned in s2

Actually his nature as an ACOA and the violence he endured as a child, plus the abandonment by first his mother, then father, are what make Booth the white knight/paladin he is today, they're also what push him to have that idealized concept of family, and to want that as a means of replacing the relatively crappy one he had as a child. In many ways I imagine Booth must envy Brennan's childhood - she was abandoned (like he was) but for the first 15 years of her life she was well loved and taken care of, something he wouldn't experience until his parents left him and Pops took over.

RM

Very true and I believe part of the conflict that we have with Booth and Brennan going on right now. He is being driven by a need to have that idealized concept of a family in response to what happened to him as a child and she is driven by her need to not put herself in the position of having that to lose again in response to what happened to her as a teen. So how do we resolve the conflict in that?

The resolution is already there really - Booth's already adapted the concept of family to include those constructed families outside the norm. That's another ACOA trait, adapting and constructing families that fill the void you experienced as a child.

So while I can see him wanting marriage or even a child with Brennan, I really think that as long as he ends up in a situation where he has her (in his life as an intimate partner), Parker, and his friends/family (the Squints, Jared+Padme) the rest is background noise. He's grown to the point that he can accept it's not always about what you want, but about what makes you happy, and Brennan makes him happy.


RM

I really like all the ideas on here! I too, believe his mother is still alive and not dead. I always thought she was one of the lucky ones who was smart enough to get out and stay out. Unfortunately, she never went back to get her two sons. Sadly I've seen this happen. I would like to see a little more of Booth's past brought out, but still leave some mystery too. It would be nice to have an episode in s6 focus on him only, as we have had with Brennan. Maybe have them go to a case in philly and Booth comes face to face with his dad.

THX1138 wrote:
The resolution is already there really - Booth's already adapted the concept of family to include those constructed families outside the norm. That's another ACOA trait, adapting and constructing families that fill the void you experienced as a child. RM

Although Booth may have adapted his structural concept of family “the letter of it”, he still adheres to the heart of that family concept – sharing his life with someone for 30, 40, 50 years. And I don’t ever see him being able to stop needing that. Something that Brennan is fully aware of. So, no, I don’t think the resolution to the conflict of needs stemming from childhood trauma is there. Not yet.

jsgemini wrote:I too, believe his mother is still alive and not dead. I always thought she was one of the lucky ones who was smart enough to get out and stay out. Unfortunately, she never went back to get her two sons.

If that's the case, I also wouldn’t be surprised if he knows where she is as well. If she left his father for another man, that other man may have not wanted to take someone else’s kids as part of the package. She may not have gone back for her sons because the choice may have been this other man or keeping her sons. If this man was financially well off and his Mother had another son with him, it might explain Booth’s hostility to children of privilege and who didn’t grow up on the streets that we had in the first couple of seasons of the show.

a_rangergrl2 wrote:

jsgemini wrote:I too, believe his mother is still alive and not dead. I always thought she was one of the lucky ones who was smart enough to get out and stay out. Unfortunately, she never went back to get her two sons.

If that's the case, I also wouldn’t be surprised if he knows where she is as well. If she left his father for another man, that other man may have not wanted to take someone else’s kids as part of the package. She may not have gone back for her sons because the choice may have been this other man or keeping her sons. If this man was financially well off and his Mother had another son with him, it might explain Booth’s hostility to children of privilege and who didn’t grow up on the streets that we had in the first couple of seasons of the show.

I always thought it would be interesting if a half sibling just showed up one day looking for Booth. It appears a lot in fanfiction so I know I'm not the only one who has thought of it.

The irony of Booth's past is that he has encouraged Brennan to re-connect with hers, but he is somewhat constipated when talking about his.

You are right-- there are so many stories to tell, yet, about Booth. One of the things that he could have done at the 100th is try to tell Brennan how much she has changed, but he doesn't go there. Instead he puts up a barricade that he will move on to find someone to love him. He doesn't believe that Brennan loves him. In many ways, he's a lot like her-- he cannot believe she's capable of loving him, probably because he hasn't had a good role model in his own mother. My bet is that she did indeed abandon him and his brother to the vagaries of an abusive alcoholic.

It is VERY interesting to me that none of the characters on the show have a living mother that we know of. Except for Zack who had a large family with both parents, Cam's mother died when she was 23, Angela's mother is MIA (she may exist), Hodgins is orphaned, Brennan's mother was killed, and Sweets' parents died soon before he started at the FBI. Apparently the writers on the show have mother issues. Booth's mother may or may not be alive-- I think it would be very interesting to have her show up.