Ashes Literary Essay

Many teenagers have challenging and confusing relationships with their parents. Ashes, a short story by Susan Beth Pfeffer is about a teenage girl who is torn between her parents, what is right and wrong, and where her comfort lies. In the story, Ashes’ father pressures her into stealing her mother’s emergency money so that he can help himself with financial issues. Ashes, is about a teenage girl who faces challenges in her life due to her relationship with her parents.

Ashes’ father makes her feel warm. He sees her through optimistic eyes and never faults at a chance to make her feel welcome and good about herself. When Ashes’ father comes home from work, he says,”You get more and more beautiful. Turn around. Let me admire every single inch”. This starts off the story with a feeling of admiration from her father, which I think is what causes Ashes to make certain decisions. I think that this shows why Ashes feels so comforted by her father. The lines that follow show how Ashes picks out the good things in her father and focuses on that. In contrast to this behavior, Ashes is introduced to a side of her father that she has never seen before. When Ashes and her father are at the diner, he takes a seat facing the door. Ashes states,” He hadn’t done that with me in a long time, and it made my stomach hurt in an odd, familiar way.” This part really stood out to me because it let me know that this wasn’t the first time she had felt this way. It also made me want to know more about their past relationship because I was uncomfortable with the continuation of this behavior. In this moment, she starts to pull out of her father’s zone and into her own. For a moment, Ashes is a person making her own decisions, before she falls back into her fathers’ zone. Although Ashes wants to stay with her father, she knows it is not what she needs.

Ashes’ mom is prepared for anything that could go wrong. In the beginning of the story, Ashes' compares how she feels with each of her parents. When speaking about her mom, Ashes has so many positive things to say, but not about the way she feels with her.. "She's the most practical person I know, always putting aside for a rainy day. With Mom, there are a lot of rainy days and she takes a grim sort of pleasure in being ready for them. The flashlight with working batteries for a blackout." This shows me that Ashes' mom is always the safer person to standby. She is ready for anything that could disrupt their daily lives. Although not every day with Ashes' mom is a good day, she knows that someday, it will add up to being a great day. At the end of the story, Ashes goes up to the apartment possibly to take the money. She states, “The apartment was quiet. It always felt a little colder when Mom wasn’t there. Even with the lights turned on, it seemed a little darker.” This moment in the story really concluded, for me, how Ashes feels about her mother. Although it does show that Ashes feels warm and welcomed when she is with her mother, it also shows that it is not the same as being with her dad. It is not as warm, exciting and comforting; being with her mother is feels colder and darker.

Another example of this is that, Ashes' father speaks highly of her mother, but does not seem to know the real logic behind all of her decisions. When they are in the diner he states,        "She's the most level headed women I know. As straight as a yardstick. But I was the only dream she ever believed in and once I failed her, she never let herself dream again." I thinks this shows part of the reason why Ashes' mother is so ready for whatever comes next. She doesn't want to dream of good days to come, she wants to have those good days. I think she wants to offer more than she can give and so she works as hard as she can to give Ashes the life she wants for her.

Ashes’ parents have opposing views about how she should live her life and make decisions. Her father portrays this by always making her feel good about herself and welcoming her into a warm environment. Ashes' mother does this by setting aside for rainy days and working hard. She doesn't bring as much warmth into the home, but Ashes always feels safe at her side. Both Ashes’ mother and father want a good life for her.

In the beginning of the story, Ashes is very devoted to the thrill and warmth of her father. Towards the end of the story and when we meet his manipulation, she starts to shift to her mother. But, she falls back into her father's’ footstep and goes along with the plan, as far as he is concerned. The story ends with a cliffhanger,so we are left to ponder on what Ashes’ decision may be. Ashes by Susan Beth Pfeffer shows that difficult and sometimes confusing relationships with parents can influence teens to do something they may not have otherwise done.