Awake And Dreaming: A Literary Analysis

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The long journey on planet earth known as life has it ups and downs, growing up as a young individual in today’s world is an obvious rollercoaster. The characters of Phoebe and Theo, are two young girls who endured completely different lives in the books The Hollow Tree, and Awake and Dreaming although they did encounter some similarities throughout their stories. The two children encountered similar family complications, utilised similar coping mechanisms to escape reality, and both became more assertive over their lifespans in the novels. These two novels offer young females readers a logical view on how tough life can get, and how the readers can overcome similar complications they have in their personal lives, while doing all this generating …show more content…

During the beginning of Awake and Dreaming Theo was a very quiet, timid and shy girl. She didn’t participate much during her schooling and she didn’t do much when her mother yelled at her or hit her. Given her experiences living with her Aunt Sharon as well as living with the Kaldor family in her dream state, she developed more confidence in herself and got a more forceful personality as she grew a little bit. Nearing the closing parts of Awake and Dreaming her new assertiveness is portrayed when talking with her mother about starting a new life in Victoria. Theo with power and emotion says, “No!, I’m not leaving Victoria! I like it. Sharon’s found us a place to live and you can look for a job here!...I’m more important. When I’m old enough to live on my own, you can do what you want. Right now you have to do what’s best for me.” (pg. 247-248). Before this point Theo never really had a voice of her own, especially when talking to her mother. Rae always had so much authority over Theo and never let Theo truly speak for herself and make her own decisions. This quote proves that Theo has become more assertive when she was living without her mother. She spoke up for once and Rae realized that Theo truly meant it when she was speaking with such passion and meaning. This self-confidence she delivered changed Rae’s plans of leaving Victoria and going …show more content…

During their early childhoods, Theo and Phoebe both had to overcome difficult family problems that can relate to many of the readers. The books address us to admire the shining moments in life no matter how difficult the circumstances are. Secondly, Theo and Phoebe used different coping formats to escape reality to reach a safe peaceful alternative viewpoint. Thirdly, both of the girls became more assertive with time throughout the novels. Each girl stood up for what she wanted and what she believed in, something all readers should take away from this and incorporate into their own lives. To conclude, The Hollow Tree and Awake and Dreaming provide great morals for not only the young female audience, but anyone who has read these

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