"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.
I agree with you caroline. I am rading the same book and i also think it is sad how she feels alone. I think it was wrong for her to have a child at sixteen but there is nothng she can do about it know and she just has to live with it. I also thought it was confusing when her mom yold her shecouldn't live with her and her dad dosn't want anything to do with her. I would think they would want to help her get through what she is going on and be there for her. Ehat they want to do is show her to grow up and what it is like. I also hope that as things go on things get better for her.
ReplyDeleteI am not reading this book, but the way you described what is going on really got a good picture in my mind. I agree with you because i feel sympathy for this girl who was vulnerable and unprepared to get pregnant at such a young age. However, she needs to take responsibility for her action so she needs to act like an adult in order to be respected by her mother. The most important thing to a pregnant teen and young mother is the baby. She should make sure that she takes really good care of him or her because that is what really matters. And if she is unsuitable to become responsible parent, she should give it up for adoption if it means the baby will have a better life.
ReplyDeleteI just can't imagine being a pregnant teenager or having a baby as a teenager without a huge support network. As an adult it is just as important to have support. I always feel bad when I hear about a young girl who is kind of left to fend for herself. This author is from this area, she shows up once in a while to do book readings. You'll have to catch her sometime.
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