Analysis Of Ashes By Susan Beth Pfeffer

Improved Essays
We’re all faced with problems in life, some harder than others, some that will upset people. In Ashes by Susan Beth Pfeffer a girl named Ashleigh with the nickname of Ashes was with her dad and he was like yeah if I get a couple hundred bucks I’ll be set for life. But then he told Ashleigh that he owed a couple hundred dollars. Then Ashleigh’s dad brings up that her mom keeps a couple hundred dollars in a teapot. He asked her to take the money from the teapot. Ashleigh took the money because she’s loyal to her dad, she wanted her dad to fix his financial problems, and Ashleigh didn’t want to let her dad down. Ashleigh took the money because she’s loyal to her dad. Susan Beth Pfeffer “Well, why not. I was his daughter, after all,” (4). Ashleigh’s loyal to her dad because she is his daughter and most of the time kids are more loyal to one parent than the other. Also Susan Beth Pfeffer says “The money’s still in the teapot,” (4). If Ashleigh wasn’t loyal she’d just be playing stupid about it like yeah I have no idea about that money you’re talking about. Susan also said “and realized he’d had those same fantasies.” (4). Now if she wasn’t loyal she probably would’ve been like most people and been like you’ve had these fantasy’s before and it didn’t work so, why on Earth would it work now. That’s Part 1 on why Ashleigh took the money. …show more content…
Susan Beth Pfeffer says “Can I help,” (4). Ashleigh’s offering to help her dad with the financial problem so, he doesn’t have to worry about the finances. The story says All I need to do is put together a little financing and I'll be set for life” (Pieffer 3). Pieffer Says “... Just a couple hundred bucks and all the pieces will fall into place.” (3). If Ashleigh’s dad gets a couple hundred bucks it’s supposedly the start of something big, and normally when kids find out about something big they want to help. That’s another reason on why Ashleigh took the

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    She thought of herself and not her own kids. While sitting around the living room Jeannette and her siblings tried not to think of food, but Brian noticed his mom kept hiding under the sheets: “Lying on the mattress next to mom was one of those huge family sized Hersey chocolate bars” (174). Rose Mary chose to eat a chocolate bar that was big enough to share with her starving kids. Parents who care about their kids would think of themselves last, but Rose Mary is selfish because she put herself first and didn’t want to share. Jeannette and Brian discover a diamond ring their mom decides not to sell: “She was keeping it, she explained, to replace the wedding ring her mother had given her, the one dad pawned… ‘But mom, ' I said, ‘that ring could get us a lot of food.’ ‘That’s true,’ Mom said. ‘But it can also improve my self-esteem’” (186). Jeannette’s mom was selfish because she didn’t care about selling the ring to buy food or a better house for her kids. Rose Mary keeping the ring shows she prioritizes her self-esteem first than her starving kids. Jeanette’s mother chose to make a selfish…

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    His father was in jail for most of his life, while his mother used drugs to ease her pain. Rameck’s relationship with his mother went back and forth from pity to anger. At the age of thirteen, Rameck was supporting himself with a barbershop job. When he was frustrated, he would turn to his grandmother who gave him the comfort he needed. In junior high, Rameck started to act in plays and wanted to create a portfolio, which cost a hundred and fifty dollars, to help him land an acting role. His grandmother and aunt gave him money to pursue his interest. Unfortunately, before Rameck could spend the money, he realized his house had no electricity and his mom asked him if he had any money to help out. Rameck’s mother had another baby and her milk was going to rot if Rameck did not give up his money. He chose to pay for the bills instead of pursuing his interests. Rameck family responsibilities had a negative effect on his education. He could not pursue his interests in school due to his family holding him back. This eventually lead him to fighting, skipping school, and juvenile jail. Students like Rameck need extra support in the classroom. If there was a way Rameck could have paid off his portfolio through loans, his interest in acting would have kept him out of trouble and off the…

    • 1347 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Her Father was dead at the time, but her Mother was still homeless and struggling to get by. Although Jeannette has offered to help her Mother she refuses and explains how happy she is with her current lifestyle. Jeannette is afraid of what others will think of her and she’s afraid they won’t accept her anymore. Walls writes, “It had been months since I laid eyes on Mom, and when she looked up, I was overcome with panic that she’d see me and call out my name, and that someone on the way to the same party would spot us together and Mom would introduce herself and my secret would be out. I slid down in the seat and asked the driver to turn around and take me home to Park Avenue” (Walls 3). Jeanette is conflicted with the way she’s currently living and doesn’t know how to combat her situation. She has a nice house and nice furniture and all the basic essential things needed to survive while her Mother has nothing. She feels very guilty and upset with herself for feeling embarrassed of her parents. She doesn’t want her friends to see or treat her differently by knowing her past, so she chooses to avoid it. She later finds out that it isn’t the best way and that if they were truly her friends they would accept her for anything. Jeanette wants to talk to Mom and figure out what she can do to feel less embarrassed. This topic will be hard for her to talk about and she doesn’t want to…

    • 1427 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Out of the Flames: The Remarkable story of a fearless scholar, a fatal heresy, One of the rarest books in the world” is a novel written by Nancy L. Goldstone. The novel is set in the period of the Renaissance, a time of which the old ideas were starting to be questioned and new ideas were being developed. The novel is about a conflict between a man named Michael Servetus and the Roman Catholic Church. Servetus is a man of science and theology, a Renaissance man and a well respected physician. He makes many discoveries one of the prominent ones being pulmonary circulation. Servetus raises upon a question of the belief of the Trinity, which is the one of the main beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church. Servetus propagates this question in a…

    • 1332 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    First off, this novel shows that everyone has issues. People with no money have issues but those with plenty of money have their issues too and Jeanette makes a point of this when she says, “I wanted to let the world know that no one had a perfect life, that even the people who seemed to have it all had their secrets” (Walls 270). Despite Jeanette being smart and finally putting her life together, she forever hides the secret of her past and that her parents remain homeless which justifies that everyone has a secret or even a problem whether their life is “perfect” or not. Additionally, The Glass Castle advocates never giving up. Jeanette’s mother tells her, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” (Walls 179), which impacts me because my parents tell me the same thing quite often. Though my life is not as hard as Jeanette’s, being a teenager has it’s struggles with school, sports, and friends but my parents are never reluctant to tell me that whatever I am going through will only make me stronger and help me in the end which usually proves true. Jeanette’s situation helps her in the future because she is able to overcome everything life throws at her and becomes the prosperous person she is today.…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An example of this would of this is Beneatha’s dream. Mama explains to Ruth where some of the money will go. She says, “Some of it got t be put away for Beneatha and her scholin’- and ain 't nothing going to touch that part of it.Nothing” (Hansberry 502). Beneatha wants to be a doctor and despite her dream about something she is passionate about, helping people, it cannot happen without Mama’s check. Part of her dream of being a doctor includes being an independent woman which means not living off of a significant other’s money. Mama also planned to use some of the check to invest in her own desires. Mama’s dream is the same as it was when Walter senior was alive and they were a young couple, to own a house with a garden, however Mr.Linder from the Clybourne Park Welcoming Committee 's dream conflicts with her’s. Linder tries to explain the dream of the people in Clybourne Park by saying, “..our community is made up of people who 've worked hard as the dickens for years to build up that little community...who don 't really have much but those little homes and a dream of the kind of community they want to raise their children in..our association is prepared to buy the house from you at a financial gain to your family” (553-554 Hansberry). Mr.Linder is willing to pay the Younger family to not move into the house in clybourne park. He believes that money can be used to stop the progress of racial diversity in Clybourne Park. Mama however, want to preserve her family dynamic by making a purchase that will benefit the everyone in the family. These situations show how the characters in A Raisin in the Sun not only pursue,but also oppose the American Dream. The American dream is built off the standards and moral of white people in America. The American Dream for a black woman only reaches to the extent of finding a rich man to marry and have kids with,but Beneatha does not want this for…

    • 1149 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Throughout the novel, readers can see how physical stress is a result of the Bundrens extreme poverty and the parenting skills that Anse displays. The first example being Cash 's broken leg. After Cash breaks his leg a second time, Anse decides to take matters into his own hands to save money- he uses concrete to stabilize and try to fix Cash 's leg, resulting in his son losing his leg. After Cash visits Peabody, the doctor, the reader gets an understanding of how bad the damage is. "Concrete… God Almighty. Why didn 't Anse carry you to the nearest saw mill and stick your leg in the saw" (Faulkner 240)? The family did not have the proper resources or money to properly fix Cash 's leg the correct way. However, if Anse did not have the desire to save money Cash would have gotten the correct care that he needed, and would not have suffered as much. Ironically, when taking care of Cash 's leg, Anse states that "they are doing the best we can", but in reality he is not. Anse is so reluctant to save money that he would rather his son be left without a leg than to spare some money to get him the proper treatment. The fact that Anse chose to fix his son 's leg with concrete displays his greed, and how he had no sympathy or concern for his son 's broken leg (Bloom 228). In addition to this, readers catch a glimpse of how selfless Cash is through the same leg injury he…

    • 1313 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A person cannot help a family member or friend who is not willing to help themselves. In Jeannette Wall’s memoir, The Glass Castle, her father is an alcoholic. He has had several jobs, but he had been unable to keep a steady job. In Battle Mountain, he lost the job in the barite mine after six months. Jeanette’s mother is now the sole provider for the family. When Jeanette was at school, soon after her dad lost his job, he brings them big bags of food for lunch because their mother did not have the food to pack lunch with. Jeanette’s father then asks, “Have you ever lost faith in your dad?” Jeanette responds no. Actions speak louder than words, and Jeanette’s father is showing them not to lose faith in him. Even in the face of adversity,…

    • 561 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Fire In The Ashes Summary

    • 1145 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In the book Fire In The Ashes by Jonathan Kozal , who is a famous award-winning author and writer, he shares a story about a girl named Pineapple and the problem in her school at, P.S 65. Teachers in her school would often leave before the year ended. The school itself would have unprepared teachers hired as well. When Pineapple reached the 2nd grade 28 of 50 members of the school had left and half those people, never taught a day in their lives. During Pineapple’s 3rd and 4th grade years, she had a total of seven teachers (173). Poverty has a direct correlation with how students are unable to study properly and progress through the school system.…

    • 1145 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In addition, she loves Jeremy so she neglected her own needs to take care of his. Also, she knows that Jeremy’s will probably not be taken care of if she doesn’t take care of them, so she does so. This theme also shows up in part two. “Jeremy’s shoes cost what Jolly would pay me for six hours of sitting. / [...] … I put the money up on the counter…” (Wolff 79) This shows that LaVaughn will really do anything for Jeremy. In this situation, LaVaughn payed for Jeremy’s shoes with her own money, six hours of babysitting worth of money. Furthermore, this really shows the relationship between Jeremy and LaVaughn. LaVaughn forgot about herself, to do Mr. Jeremy a nice favor because she actually loves and cares about him. I mean, think about it, this quote really represents family. And finally, this message also uncovers itself in the final pages of the book. “ I show Jeremy where he gets to sleep on the sofa…” 195 This really shows how their relationship just genuinely illustrates family. Because even though Jeremy is kind of in some rough times, there is always a backbone for him… That backbone is LaVaughn. She will take care of him because she cares for the needs of Jeremy, and I’m sure if he was older, he would take care of the needs of LaVaughn…

    • 1401 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    20.Q.What does Francie’s father give her aunt money for when he realizes he won't be around when she graduates?…

    • 980 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ashes's father might be trying to buy drugs or he could be planning to use the money in order to leave town. He is most likely to never pay them back after he gets the money. “You know how those guys are. They get itchy when you owe them money.”This demonstrates how Ashes's father could be dealing with a loan shark, or could owe someone money for drugs. He could plan to skip town using the money to escape the loan.…

    • 478 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lori idolizes her mother and always sympathizes with her. When Lori says her mother has got it rough, Jeannette breaks the news and says she doesn’t have it any harder than them. She tries to show Lori that her mother needs to act right. She knows that her mom isn’t being responsible and wants to show Lori this. Not only does she say that, but she gives a way for her mom to do better with handling the family. Jeannette tells that her mother needs to, “be firmer, lay down the law for dad instead of getting hysterical all the time” (208). She knows that if her family is going to get better, something needs to change between her parents. The reader is surprised by this because Jeannette shows how she really feels about her parents and how they are being negative towards the family. The truth is coming out, Jeannette is losing faith in her parents and she is taking the responsibility. It was surprising to the reader that of all the kids Jeannette assumed…

    • 736 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As we’re about to discuss the third scenario from the book “Confusing Love with Obsession”. Think about this, can money truly buy your happiness? This scenario involves the use of money to maintain power. Patrick has been married to his wife Sarah for five years. He goes on to explain that Sarah receives whatever her heart desires. He continued to think that she was satisfied in their relationship. Patrick’s mindset is that it’s the woman’s place to stay at home. She does all the cooking and household chores while he is at work making the money to support their lifestyle. He gave her a weekly allowance, but after that he needed to approve of her expenses. From what I understand is that Sarah felt unfulfilled in her life and she expressed the idea of wanting to go to school to become an interior designer. Patrick disapproved of this idea therefore she had no way of going to school without his money. “The fact that he believed she should stay home during the day and not work, coupled with his refusal to let her attend school, represented a more serious issue, which I suspected was a deeply held a fear of abandonment.” (Moore,2006). Patrick had problems in his past that shaped his mindset about woman and their…

    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Emily and Laura were raised in wealthy homes with the comfort of financial security, though Emily lost the majority of her riches when her father died in her thirties. Possessing money was a symbol of importance which was greeted with unmerited respect. “Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, an obligation, and a care; a sort of…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays