Ashes Essay

Essay on Ashes

By Naomi Giancola

Ashes, by Susan Beth Pfeffer, is about a girl named Ashleigh but her dad calls her Ashes. Ashes Parents are divorced and do not have the best relationship with each other; they have very different ideas on how to bring up Ashes. In the story, her dad is having some financial problems and wants Ashes to steal money from her mom. Ashes is stuck between her mom and her dad. If she steals the money from her mom then she would betray her mom but if she doesn’t help her dad then she will betray him. Through Ashes’ relationship with her parents, she shows the very real complications of being a teenager and having parents who think differently and are may not be who then seem to be.

            Her parents are different in many ways, for example, her dad always promises her these amazing things that she will probably never have, “When I was little, Dad used to promise me the stars for a necklace, but like most of his promises, that one never quite happened.” Her mom an the other hand was very practical and never promised anything, “Mom might never be caught without batteries or tissues, but she just called me Ashleigh--a name she didn’t even like—and never promised me anything.” Along with her dad not coming through with his promises, he also tells her all the time that she’s, “One in a million.” This phrase is usually used for when you really love someone and its like saying that there’s no one else as amazing as them. I think Ashes dad’s original intention was that but soon saying that turned into a bribe for her to do things for him. For example, at the end of the story when Ashes was looking at the money she was about to take, she thought she heard her dad’s car, “’You’re one in a million,’ it cried.” Her mom would never pressure her to do something like that.

            Her parents also differ in how they act, for example, her mom always keeps things clean and Ashes is always safe and cared for and gets what she needs but maybe not what she wants, “She’s the most practical person I know, always putting aside for a rainy day.” Whereas her dad always tries to giver her what she wants and maybe not really what she needs and he’s not the most reliable person. “He’s always there if you need him, well not always.” This really shows the struggle of being a teenager and not knowing what you need and want. I think this because her dad gives her what she wants which could be confusing because she might learn that she needs what she wants, but then her mom shows her that she doesn’t need them and it can be very confusing to have the two people you love the most tell you different things.

             Ashes shows the struggle of living a life where a parent takes advantage of a child and uses them for their dirty work. Ashes lives a very complicated life that many teens in this world live. Ashes really gets across the message that you should be careful around who you trust and love because they might not be who you think.