Lock and Key

I am currently reading a book called Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen. This is a book about a girl who had a troubled life when living with her mom and now she is forced to live under the circumstances of her sister, whom she had not seen in over 10 years. Now that I have read more into the book I have figured out what the cause of Ruby's family structure was like, and what teared her family apart.

In the beginning of the story Ruby and her mother live in a farm house working together going to work with eachother everyday. "Helping eachother out." But then after Ruby's mother disappears it left me as a reader, confused. Because I knew that the relationship between Ruby and her mother wasn't the best relationship, but it wasn't necessarily a horrible one it was more of an understanding between the two of them. At least from my perspective. But now I have a clue as to why Ruby had gotten abandoned by her mother. I can surmise that her mother left because she didn't want to live in that farmhouse anymore and she probably just wanted to go off with her boyfriend, because she ignores Ruby every time her mother invites her boyfriend over. And I think that there may be some tyoe of justice being served after Ruby's mother left because Ruby was actually happy living by her self.

It seems like Ruby is dieing to be a grown up because she is almost 18. Ruby is the type of character that is very independent and depends on no one but herself. When her mother gave her the opportunity to live on her own she wasn't doing so well. And she was living in very poor conditions until her sister had to step in; after 10 years of her not being in contact with her family what so ever.

Now that Ruby is staying with her sister Cora, the relationship between eachother is also damaged. And in this section of the book is where I discovered that when Cora and Ruby were little Cora used to protect Ruby when she was little because of their mother. Their mother was an alchoholic and would be very violet when she had too much to drink. Ever since then when Cora had gotten older she moved out and never wanted anything to do with the family again. And when Ruby and Cora were reunited it was an awkward sort of tension between the two. They used to be so close but now they both act like they have never had any sort of relation to eachother.

To conclude this post, there are many mixed emotions and questions that are still un- answered about this tattered family. But I will get to answer the remaining questions that I still have. For example, why doesn't Cora try to communicate with Ruby like she used to when they were little, or fill Ruby in on what she's been doing in her life. And also why didn't Cora take Ruby with her to raise her on her own instead of leaving Ruby with their alcoholic mother. And hopefully I will be able to get a better understanding and a more detailed story as to why Ruby's  mother became the way she is now.

Lock and key blog post

The lives of teenagers may seem very typical when an average adult is talking about one. They usually all perceive teenagers the same way. But for this teenager named Ruby, her life is a life that you wouldn't be able to compare to any (typical) life of a teenager. Ruby experiences in my opinion, one of the most confusing teenage life all because of one person.

In this book that I am reading called Lock and key, this character named Ruby who is about 17 or 18 in the beginning, lives with her mother in a farm house. And throughout Ruby's time living with her mom in this small farm house, they both make a living together off of one bedroom and the rest of their house requirements. And then all of a sudden Ruby get's abandoned by her mother and she is forced to make a living on her own for a little while. Meanwhile her landlords are unaware of Ruby's mother's disappearance so things start to go wrong in the place that they were staying in. And she has to face struggles that a normal teenager wouldn't have to face just quite yet by paying bills on their own or being forced to struggle with the circumstances that you were put in. And in this case Ruby's struggle was not being able to pay her rent, or able to fix her broken appliances. In a way I feel like this part of the book is confusing because no one in actuality could just get up and go for no apparent reason. Or not return from home one day, there would obviously have to be a logical reason for why that person left. For example, if they had gotten into an argument about something and then the next day the person would be so angry or upset that they would not show up from when the left. And I also find it confusing why Ruby doesn't seem to care as to why her mother had left in the first place.

After Ruby's mother had left the land lords had eventually found out about her living alone in the farm house for a little while and they began to question Ruby about her mother and where she had gone. And all Ruby's response was that she didn't know and then all conversation had ended there. From Ruby's response to the land lords I was under the impression that she liked to be by herself and she didn't care much for her mother. Because when her mother WAS in fact around, her mother didn't really say much to Ruby unless she had to. It was never the close mother daughter relationship that some people might have with their mothers when it's only just two people living in that household. 

I can infer that maybe since the beginning they never had a close  relationship. Ruby also has another older sister, who had left the household at 19. And got her life together because now she lives in a nice big home, happily married. But my inference is that there had to be some drama within the family within the time that Ruby's sister left and the time that Ruby and her mom lived together in that farm house. Now that the fact that Ruby was living alone in that farm house she now has to move in with her sister who she hasn't spoken to in 10 years. Which is also why I believe that Ruby's mom walked out for some dramatic reason that wasn't yet shown in the book yet. Clearly from just the beginning of the book, while reading, I can tell her life isn't like an average teenager.