Acceptance In Samantha Young's Novel 'The Impossible Vastness Of Us'

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Acceptance is not a long word; with only ten letters it is able to carry so much meaning. It is the action or process of being received as adequate or suitable. In other words, being good enough for people. In Samantha Young’s novel, The Impossible Vastness of Us, you are able to see how acceptance is evident in everyone’s life, whether it be the abundance or lack of it. India Maxwell was uprooted after spending years building up her social status from her dark past. She learns to let some people into her life and accept them as well as trying to be accepted by others around her. One of the people she begins to rely on is her stepsister, Eloise, who is portrayed as a perfect student, daughter, and girlfriend, but underneath her act you are …show more content…

They were fine before India turned eight years old and Hayley abandoned her and their family. Hayley had to take her in again after she was almost killed by her father, but their relationship was never the same. India has despised her and never completely respected her as her own mother. She refers to her as “Hayley” and not “Mother” because she feels as though she does not deserve that title. After years of pushing away her only surviving family member, she sees how much Eloise, her stepsister, appreciates finally having a mother again. Small things like complimenting her wedding dress assured Hayley that she could be part of a family again. India is still unsure about letting Hayley into her life, “There was something like desperation in her. Desperation for what, though? For my love? My acceptance? My trust? Did she genuinely want that from me?” (121) Hayley is trying to reach out and reconnect with her daughter without pushing it too far while India wants to be loved and accept Hayley again, but she is so afraid of abandonment that she does not allow herself to open up. Hayley is striving towards being accepted and so is India, but they still don’t connect for some reason. This is because India does not notice how lonely she actually is. She is trying to fill her heart with friends, but there is a certain way that family can fill your heart that friends can’t. She’s in a dilemma, to either let Hayley back into her life and risk being hurt and abandoned again or keep excluding her and live in her own loneliness. Hayley is waiting patiently, but how long does she have to wait before India realizes that you have to learn to forgive people and give them a second

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