Ashes

The people who you love and trust the most are often also the ones who can hurt you the most. This idea is shown in the short story Ashes, by Susan Beth Pfeffer. Ashes is about a girl whose parents have split up. She really loves her dad, but is forced to make a hard decision by him-to give him some money he needs or to do the thing that she knows is right. Her dad tells her that he will pay her back shortly, but he has not come through on his promises before. Through Ashes' relationship with her father, Susan Beth Pfeffer shows that the people who you really love, and who you think love you, are often the ones who end up disappointing you.

Ashes’ father, although he loves her, has let her down many times in her life. For example, he once promised her a “necklace made of stars” (of course, he did not get it). It was irresponsible and bad parenting for him to promise her something that clearly is impossible to achieve. Since shes was very young, she did not know that that was unattainable.  It also says in the story that her dad often did not have money for things like school trips for her, and “only got his favorite kinds of Chinese food, and none of mine and mom’s.” Judging from this, Ashes’ father has often thought of only himself and not the other people his actions may be affecting. Lastly, it says in the story that when the two of them entered a diner "we had our choice of booths. Dad took one that faced the door, and sat in a seat where he could check who was coming in. He hadn't done that in a long time, and my stomach hurt in an old familiar way." Clearly, her father had disappointed her or her mother before if she didn't trust him and was saying the way her stomach hurt was familiar. It also shows that her dad has been unreliable, if he had to look at who was coming into a diner where he was with his daughter, which could mean he has been in trouble before. He has not made decisions that are best for his family, especially his daughter. Although Ashes thinks very highly of and loves her dad, he has often disappointed her..

Along with letting her down multiple times, Ashes' father has also been an irresponsible parent by making her do things that a child shouldn’t have to worry about. In the story, he asks her to steal two hundred dollars from her mother, claiming “You let me have the money tonight, I’ll straighten my little difficulty and Thursday night, when your mom is out, I’ll give you back what I owe you.” Although Ashes agrees, she knows it is not the right thing to do, but does not want to refuse her father. It was very unfair of her father to take advantage of the fact that she couldn’t refuse him-he knew that she would want to help her out. He should not have tried to get his own daughter to hide something from her mother, especially since there were other ways he could have gotten the money. Ashes’ father, who seems to love her very much, used her to get something he needed when he knew it was wrong. That was something that no one should do to someone they love.

Despite the fact that Ashes' dad let her down and manipulated her, he still seems to really love her, and she really loves him. For example, Ashes said at the beginning that “the sun shone brighter” on the days she got to see her dad.That shows that despite the multiple mistakes he has made, she still loves him and getting to spend time with him. If she really was angry or hurt about the things he had done in the past, then she most likely would not think of him so highly. Also, Ashes' dad is very sweet to her the whole book, saying things like “You’ve got flair, Ashes. Style” and “I wish I deserved you”. He clearly wants his daughter to feel special and that he loved her, despite all of the things he has done that point to the contrary. This shows that despite having let her down several times and having done things that were wrong, Ashes' dad really loves her, and she has forgiven him many times. They still love each other, despite all of the problems.

This short story reflects the idea that the idea that the people you love can hurt you the most. I think this is an important idea to consider in life. Almost everyone has been hurt by someone they love. I think this is because you are relying the people who mean the most to you more than others, so when they don’t come through for you it hurts more. This idea that you are let down by loved ones the most often is important to consider in the story, and in the real world.