I have finished the book "Identical" by: Ellen Hopkins, and now I have just started another of her poem anthology's called "Burn." I'm still in the begining of this book, but I've read enough to be able to make powerful predictions.
The book "Burned" takes place in Utah, and it's about a mormon girl living under the extreme customs that her family and society, (the society of mormons around her) expect from her. Before starting to read this book, I vaguely new about mormon culture. I assumed that it was strict, and I had heard that men where allowed many wives, but I didn't comprehend how strict they are with rules, and how over-top they are with supervising their children's lives. Pattyn, the main character in this book seems to always be thinking about the things she's forbidden to do. (this is probably a utility the author is using to get us to understand the background in the story). Anyways, Pattyn is in high school, and she's "forbidden" to kiss, or for any matter show any kind of affection towards any boys. For her, romance is to take place after marrage, and it is just disgraceful for a girl to start being attracted to boys at her age (somewhere around 15, 16). Yet, I've noticed that all these social barriers telling her what not to do, are fuelling her with defiance and eagerness to break the rules.
That is what I wanted to talk about, and I've come with an inference. I think that the more rules that are enforced on a kid, the more he'll want to break them. And, the more reasons why he/she will grab any chance they get to defy their superiors. In the book "Burned" the more and more these rules and expectations are recited to Pattyn, the more and more she starts thinking about breaking them. Or "what it would be like to kiss a boy?". The more she uses her mind to think about these forbidin actions, the more and more she wants to do them.
This whole concept that strict rules lead to chaos reminds me of a similar story about a girl. Not in a mormon society but instead a puritan one (which is different, but they both have the same concept of being pure before marrage and they are both very uptight cultures). A little over 300 years ago in North America the Salem which trials occured. Last year in school we watched the movie the Crucible and found the significanse of the main character Abigail's, accusations. In the crucible, Abigail is a girl around the same age of Pattyn, and in a very similar situation. Puritan life just like mormon life is very strict. The girls are meant to be silent, well mannered, religious and "pure" meaning no expressions of physical attractions until they're married. And all these rules are enforced on them harshly and daily. They have no choice. No voice. The tragedy of the Salem which trials definitely has to do with the fact that Abigail was a puritan girl with know power at all, and once she made these accusations, her voice was heard, and she was important. In fact, some would say she went "crazy" with power and abused her decition to take away lives. One after another innocent people died, because of a girl, who was so tangled up with orders. Once she got the chance to give them, she abused it and broke all the rules, going too far.
I haven't read enough of this book to know what will happen to Pattyn. But, I am predicting tragedy similar to the Crucible. I don't know if Pattyn will end up in a powerful position like Abigail, but I do know that she's being treated like Abigail, and she's just getting closer and closer to breaking out of her obedient exterior and defying all the rules along with everyone around her. Being controlled 24-7 and having expectations like "Marry and then breed as many children as your body can bear" can't lead to any good. Something in this story will change, I don't know what. But, I do know that when the time comes that Pattyn gets a little freedom, she is going to abuse it. Leaving the rest of the story in over-the top tragedy and a failure at recovery.
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