Themes

I think the theme is hurting people that care about you. In "The Life You Save May Be Your Own", Mr. Shiftlet hurts both Lucynell and her mother. First, he leaves the mute Lucynell at a bar, where who knows if she'll find her way home or not. Then, he steals the car. Lucynell and her mother both cared about Mr. Shiftlet or her mother wouldn't have let them get married. In the "Rules of the Game", Mei Mei hurts her mother by telling her that she didn't like it when she pointed her out to everyone she saw. Then by running away from her mother Mei Mei hurt her even more. In "Teenage Wasteland", the hurt goes two ways. Donny hurt his parents by not trying and letting them think that everything that was wrong with him was there fault. His parents hurt him by not trying hard enough. They obviously tried but they didn't really try and work things out with him. I know sometimes just my dad asking how things are going at school, makes me feel a lot better about it. In "The Book of the Dead", Annie's dad hurt her by lying about his past. I still don't understand why he didn't want her to know. He also destroyed her work of art. A piece of art that she put time and energy and thought into it. If he didn't want her to make the statue about him, he shouldn't have lied to her in the first place.