Without a Map by Meredith Hall

"In the lonely dispair of hiding from the world, I have slowly awoken to the life of my child growing inside me and feel a ferocious and proctective love for my baby."

This is a quote from the memoir Without a Map by Meredith Hall. I chose this quote because not only did I have a strong reaction towards it, but it also caused me to think and ask questions about it. After reading the quote, it made me feel really bad for this girl because even though she made a huge mistake by getting pregnant at 16 (which was even a bigger mistake back in 1965, than it is now), nobody should ever feel that alone. And it honestly makes me realize how alone she has been for awhile, because since her mom got a boyfriend and was always with him, she never had time for Meredy. And this caused Meredy to do more dangerous things with some boy she met because she was lonely. But now she's even more lonely because her mom is furious at her and kicked her out of the house, and her dad (who let her live with him) doesn't seem to even want a lot to do with her. So when she talks about hiding from the world, my reaction is sympathy because I really feel bad for this girl and how alone she's feeling with such a serious thing to deal with. Also, I feel like Meredy wants to keep her baby because now that she's come to the realization that there's really a human inside of her that's her baby, she is beginning to love it and care for it.

This quote causes me to ask questions as well, like how is she going to cope with feeling so alone? Is she going to maybe run away to find somewhere else where people will care about her, will she call someone, like a friend, because she already called her mother, who didn't seem to respond how Meredy would have liked. Another question I have is will she try to keep the baby? Because since she's growing a love for the child, it will be very difficult for her to give it up, and I have a feeling she'll try to keep it, but her parents will not let her because a 16 year old giving birth to a child  is already enough embarresment for her parents, but seeing Meredy carry around a baby would be even more embarresing. In conclusion, this quote made me think about a lot of things, and I hope later on in the book everything will get better for Meredy, even though I don't think that will happen for a while now.

What makes an individual powerful?

Well, I believe that leadership and going for what you want makes someone powerful. Like, I wanted Macbeth to kill Duncan because that's what I wanted. I wanted him dead and I wanted power. And I kept going for that and striving for the power, and guess what? I got it. If someone just gives up, then they aren't going to become powerful, and if they don't fight for what they want, there voice won't be heard, and they will never be powerful.
Luckily, Macbeth has me to help him. Without me he would just be a loser in the crowd, without any power. Even though he needed someone to start him off in going for what he truely wants, he now does it on his own and is becoming a leader, like me.
I feel bad for the people who don't like going after what they want, and the people who aren't leaders, because then they just stink and aren't powerful, and aren't going to get anywhere in life. Yeah, King Duncan was powerful but only because he was king, but I don't think he was powerful as an individual. He was too nice and people loved him, when you are truely powerful people should be your enemy, not your friend, people should fear you, not love you. King Duncan was never powerful, he was just considered "the king". And that's why I hated him.
In conclusion, I believe that the only way a single person can be powerful is if they're a true leader, and they fight for what they want. I'm a powerful person, and my husband is too, which makes us even better people.

Macbeth told me to make one of these 'blog' things, I said I'd try it out. Even though, he's not supposed to tell me what to do. I tell him what to do, cause clearly he listens.

Hm.... maybe I'll go tell him to make me a sandwhich.