Entry tags:
more musings, final musings, about The Tiger's Child
I finally finished the book; I have to read those books slowly because it's all so powerful and emotional and overwhelming.
And it was.... Wow. I'll have a hard time condensing my feelings/reactions into a review, that's for sure. It was so amazing and sad and serious and it's definitely one of those books that really makes you THINK. Like, sometimes I actually put down the book and just sat there thinking, about what was going on, about Sheila's past during One Child, about everything.
Like, it was really really interesting and confusing and shocking to realize that maybe, possibly, Torey did more harm then good back when Sheila was six. That maybe Sheila would have been better off never having been in her class. I mean, here's this small young little thing, this so seriously deprived little child, and omg she just melts your heart and of course you want so badly to help her. And when I read the first book, I was so completely behind Torey and what she was doing that I didn't even think about what might happen later. But reading about what Sheila went through after she left that class.... For five months she was introduced to things she had never known, a WORLD she had never known existed. Luxuries like cleanliness, attention, toys, books, LOVE... things she had never really known she was missing so much. Kinda like, until then, she probably didn't realize just how deprived her life really was, because it's all she'd ever known. And then she gets used to all this stuff... And then it's gone. Torey leaves, and of course she didn't mean it to go this way, but when Torey left Sheila didn't get better and better. It went back to the way it was before Torey, before that class, except this time Sheila KNEW just how deprived her life really was, she knew what her life COULD be like, she knew what it was like to feel loved... So suddenly life was even worse then it was before. And maybe that's something that needs to be considered when trying to help children like this, if you know you aren't going to be able to stick around forever. Because... It hurt Sheila so bad. Sheila was more damaged, more betrayed, by Torey leaving then basically anything else that had happened.
This entire book was just... Wow. It finally came out that the reason Sheila was angry at Torey so often, the reason she always seemed to have this undercurrent of deep anger towards her, was because Sheila thought it was Torey who abandoned her on the highway. Her memories had fused together or something, and she honestly remembered it as *Torey* being the one who abandoned her on the highway, instead of her mom. That really speaks volumes about just how hard it was for her when Torey left.
I'm very, very, VERY glad to know that Sheila did turn out okay, despite all the shit that happened to her. That she's doing well and ended up working at McDonalds and becoming fairly stable, I'm so thankful to know that. But all in all, this book was... sobering. Kinda like, finding out at the end of a fairytale that none of it was real. It's just... I've always seen Torey Hayden as this savior, this amazing person who changes children's lives for the better, who is basically the reason these children were able to make it despite their situations.... But it turned out it wasn't like that with Sheila, her life didn't *stay* better after Torey left, and now I'm wondering how many other children had that same thing happen. I know Torey did what she could to help Sheila, and she probably did in certain ways, but it's just... I dunno. It's kinda sad.
And it was.... Wow. I'll have a hard time condensing my feelings/reactions into a review, that's for sure. It was so amazing and sad and serious and it's definitely one of those books that really makes you THINK. Like, sometimes I actually put down the book and just sat there thinking, about what was going on, about Sheila's past during One Child, about everything.
Like, it was really really interesting and confusing and shocking to realize that maybe, possibly, Torey did more harm then good back when Sheila was six. That maybe Sheila would have been better off never having been in her class. I mean, here's this small young little thing, this so seriously deprived little child, and omg she just melts your heart and of course you want so badly to help her. And when I read the first book, I was so completely behind Torey and what she was doing that I didn't even think about what might happen later. But reading about what Sheila went through after she left that class.... For five months she was introduced to things she had never known, a WORLD she had never known existed. Luxuries like cleanliness, attention, toys, books, LOVE... things she had never really known she was missing so much. Kinda like, until then, she probably didn't realize just how deprived her life really was, because it's all she'd ever known. And then she gets used to all this stuff... And then it's gone. Torey leaves, and of course she didn't mean it to go this way, but when Torey left Sheila didn't get better and better. It went back to the way it was before Torey, before that class, except this time Sheila KNEW just how deprived her life really was, she knew what her life COULD be like, she knew what it was like to feel loved... So suddenly life was even worse then it was before. And maybe that's something that needs to be considered when trying to help children like this, if you know you aren't going to be able to stick around forever. Because... It hurt Sheila so bad. Sheila was more damaged, more betrayed, by Torey leaving then basically anything else that had happened.
This entire book was just... Wow. It finally came out that the reason Sheila was angry at Torey so often, the reason she always seemed to have this undercurrent of deep anger towards her, was because Sheila thought it was Torey who abandoned her on the highway. Her memories had fused together or something, and she honestly remembered it as *Torey* being the one who abandoned her on the highway, instead of her mom. That really speaks volumes about just how hard it was for her when Torey left.
I'm very, very, VERY glad to know that Sheila did turn out okay, despite all the shit that happened to her. That she's doing well and ended up working at McDonalds and becoming fairly stable, I'm so thankful to know that. But all in all, this book was... sobering. Kinda like, finding out at the end of a fairytale that none of it was real. It's just... I've always seen Torey Hayden as this savior, this amazing person who changes children's lives for the better, who is basically the reason these children were able to make it despite their situations.... But it turned out it wasn't like that with Sheila, her life didn't *stay* better after Torey left, and now I'm wondering how many other children had that same thing happen. I know Torey did what she could to help Sheila, and she probably did in certain ways, but it's just... I dunno. It's kinda sad.