“Ashes” Reading Response
Kate Pamplin 802
In the short story “Ashes,” by Susan Beth Pfeffer, a young teenage
girl struggles with the conflicts she experiences as she grows up in a divorced
household. Ashes’s mother is responsible, while Ashes’ father is absent and
unreliable. Throughout the story her morals are tested and the reader is
prompted to think about why we make certain decisions that could shape our
lives.
Throughout the story Ashes is influenced
by her father who isn’t the best role model. He tries to make it seem as though
he will be there to take care of Ashes, but he really can’t. “Dad gets by on a
grin and a willingness to help. He’s always there if you need him. Well, not
always,” Ashes says. She tries to believe that he will be there, but he won’t,
and she knows it. He also just never comes through on his promises. He promises
to give Ashes a necklace made out of stars, but like most things, he never comes
through on his word. The necklace, and the effort of her dad “trying” to get
the necklace shows us that Ashes’s relationship is based on broken dreams and
promises. Ashes wants to believe in her dad, so she keeps forgiving him, because
he’s her dad, but she does realize he’s not the best dad.
Compared to Ashes’s mother, who is always prepared
and responsible, Ashes’s dad is the more irresponsible one. This forces Ashes
to choose between the “fun” parent, who is easygoing and not very responsible, and
the reliable parent who is always there.
Considering her parents live at separate houses, this is difficult for
Ashes. She’s getting two different ideas of what is right and wrong, and is
being pulled in two different directions. Her dad says, “All I can give you is
dreams, Ashes…. But one good dream is worth a thousand flashlight batteries.”
This refers to the fact that the girl’s mom always has batteries for
flashlights, is always prepared. And the dad can only give dreams, can’t be
responsible enough to take care of her, and can give only advice and lessons. This shows us that Ashes’s is forced to choose
between her two parents-this is apart of the story where her morals are tested.
We can see this because she’s getting two completely different teachings from
her parents, (a more strict conservative- be safe rather than sorry attitude from
her mom, and a who cares fun attitude from her dad) and she has to choose which
one she agrees with.
The father in the story takes
advantage of Ashes. He wants her to “borrow” two hundred dollars from Ashes’s
mom’s emergency money. Ashes is resistant. She knows stealing is wrong and she
doesn’t want to go against her mother and her trust, but she doesn’t want to
disappoint her father after he takes them out for a pleasant dinner and behaves
so lovingly and kind to Ashes. She seems to agree to take the money for her
father, but we never really know if she does or not. We can infer that she
takes the money because she doesn’t really seem to put up a fight with the idea
of it. The last line in the story reads, “In the cold silences of night, I
could hear my father’s car keening in the distance. You’re one in a million it
cried.” This shows how Ashes is conflicted over whether to take the money -- her
morals are being tested, but her dad’s old tricks of calling her one in a
million and making her feel special are wearing thin, because she has realized
who he really is as a person.
Overall, from this story we can see
all the complications of different family issues. The story also demonstrates
the difficulty of making choices when you are put between a rock and a hard
place. Teenagers related to this story right now because they are faced with
peer pressure, friend problems, and problems at home, and we learn that we have
to make certain choices that will show the quality of our values and ourselves.
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