Background Knowledge

Authors Note: Just a fair warning, you might not want to read this if you have not yet read and/or finished the books Speak or My Sisters Keeper. This essay is quite the spoiler, but I needed to use the endings of both of the book to make my point. So it you can read it, enjoy!:)

 The other day I realized, very few people in this world know the real me. Yes, they know my name, they know my favorite color, and they know when my birthday is. But think. How many people actually know you? How many people know that I take long showers? How many people know what I really want to do with my life? How many people know that I would rather read then watch TV? How many people know what I’m afraid of? How many people know me?

            On the back cover of the novel Speak, the description about Melinda reads, “The safest place to be is alone, inside her own head. But even that’s not safe. Because there is something she’s trying not to think about, something about the night of the party that, if she let in, would blow her carefully constructed disguise to smithereens. And then she would have to speak the truth.” …Given that information, how many people know Melinda?

            Melinda was the average teenage girl: she had friends, she went to parties, and she fought with her parents. That was until she was categorized as the “weird girl” or even worse the “tattle tale”. Melinda called the cops on a party in August, right before the start of school. People were arrested, fines were given out, and alcohol was poured down the drain. Way to go, Melinda. Throughout the book you get glimpses of what actually happened, but until her story is revealed, Melinda is just another girl in another school making big mistakes. They don’t really know Melinda.

            In My Sister’s Keeper, Anna on the other hand was not the average teenage girl. She was made in a dish for spare parts for her sister, Kate. Kate has leukemia and her kidneys have failed. Kate’s condition puts her into a life or death situation, and Anna doesn’t want to deal with it. She doesn’t want to give Kate her kidney. She is finished with being a donor for her sister. What would happen if she gave Kate her kidney? What if Anna wanted to have a life? Go to parties? Try out for the cheerleading squad? Play soccer? What would happen to Anna? As you read the book Anna appears to you as a self centered girl who only cares about herself. Her parents have turned against her. But, they don’t know Anna.

            This often happens in schools. Actually scratch that. This always happens in schools. We often take a look at someone or hear rumors, but 99% of the time first impressions or assumptions turn out to be false. Even the nicest people categorize other kids. Popular. Fat. Tattle Tale. Weird. Gross. And even more. But you never know, that person that you call fat might have a disease that causes them to gain weight. That person that you call a tattle tale might have been in serious trouble. That person that you called weird could have lost his mom, and is going through a tough time. That person you called gross might not have enough money to play for the water bill. You don’t know them.