LU
LIN
ENG
70
Nov 16 2012
Final
Draft
The Road to Happiness
A chrysalis
will becomes a beautiful butterfly after it experiences a hard time, like
people will find their happiness after they experience many things. There was a
little girl named Lily, who killed her mother when she only was 4 years old. Even
if everyone told her that it was an accident, it still had a weigh on her mind.
She was missing her mom everyday, and she could not open her mind to anyone,
even her father T-Ray, who did not care about her, and did not like her to
think about her mom. Fortunately, she found a paper bag, which had a photograph
of her mom, a pair of white gloves, and a small wooden picture of a black Mary.
Those things became her big secret, and she always wondered about an address,
which she found from the black Marry, because she thought that there may be
there has someone, who knew her mom, living in this place. One day, her babysitter made a big mistake,
and Lily saved her life, but they could not go back home, so they went to the
address, which Lily found from the black Mary. They found this place, and met
August Boatwright and her two sisters. Finally, August let them stay at her
house. Since then, Lily’s life changed, more
specifically, her living environment, appearance, and psychology changed.
First, Lily’s living environment is changed. Before Lily went to August’ house, she lived with her father T-Ray in outside Sylvan,
South Carolina. Everyday she stayed with her babysitter Rosaleen, and she did
not has any friends, so her spare time was very boring, according to the book, “ I spent the afternoon in the peach stand out on the highway,
selling T-Ray’s peaches. It was the loneliest
summer job a girl could have, stuck in a roadside hut with three walls and a
flat tin roof.” If she did something wrong,
T-Ray had a especial way to punish her, according to the book, “I’d been kneeling on grits since I was six, but sill I never got
used to that powdered-glass feeling beneath my skin. I walked toward them with
those tiny feather steps you expect of a girl in Japan, and lowered myself to
the floor, determined not to cry, but the sting was already gathering in my
eyes.” However, after Lily came to
August’ house, her world is changed.
She studies about how to raise bees and get honey, from August, and August also
teaches her some philosophy of life, according to the book, “I hadn’t been out to the
hives before, so to start off she gave me a lesson in what she called ’bee yard etiquette’. She reminded me
that the world was really one big bee yard, and the same rules worked fine in
both places: Don’t be afraid, as no life-loving
bee wants to sting you. Still, do not be an idiot; wear long sleeves and long
pants. Do not swat. Do not even think about swatting. If you feel angry,
whistle. Anger agitates, while whistling melts a bee’s temper. Act like
you know what you are doing, even if you do not. Above all, send the bees love.
Every little thing wants to be loved.” Moreover, She had many friends like August,
June, May, and Zach, and they always had a lot of fun when they stayed
together.
Second,
Lily’s appearance is changed. When she lived with T-Ray, she did not think
about herself like a normal girl, according to the book, “I kept thinking I’d
grow one the same time my breasts came in, but it didn’t work out that way. I
had nice eyes, though, what you would call Sophia Loren eyes, but sill, even
the boys who wore their hair in ducktails dripping with Vitalis and carried
combs in their shirt pockets didn’t seem attracted to me, and they were
considered hard up.” She had a scraggly hair, because nobody helped her or teaches
her to make her hair looks nice. She even did not have a feat cloth, according
to the book, “My father did not care that I wore clothes I made for myself in
home economics class, cotton print shirtwaists with crooked zippers and skirts
hanging below my knees, outfits only the Pentecostal girls wore. I might as
well have worn a sign on my back: I am not popular and never will be.” However,
after she lived with August and her two sisters, she felt that she is becoming
like a girl and she was growing up. According to the book, “I was the last
person to deserve a halo, but I studied the effect, cupping my hands under my
breasts, studied my pinky-brown nipples, the thin curves of my waist, every
soft and glowing turn. It was the first time I’d felt like more than a scraggly
girl.” When Zach told Lily “ I like you better than any girl I’ve know, ” Lily
must know that she was becoming attractive.
Finally,
Lily’s psychology is changed. Before Lily’s life with August and her sisters,
her life was full with depressive and guilt, according to the book, “Time
folded in on itself then. What is left lies in clear yet disjointed pieces in
my head. The gun shining like a toy in her hand, how he snatched it away and
waved it around. The gun on the floor. Bending to pick it up. The noise that
exploded around us. This is what I know about myself. She was all I wanted. And
I took her away.” She lost her mom when
she was so young even thought she did not feel any father’s love. According to
the book, “I thought if I spelled out the meaning of Daddy to you, it would
help you along,” but her father let her down. On the other hand, when Lily
lived with August, she became cheerful, confident, and happy.
The reason is they treat her like their family, and they take
care about each other. In addition, Lily experienced her first love with Zach,
and they were so happy to stay together. According to the book, “ It seemed
like I was now thinking of Zach forty minutes out of every hour”. Lily started
to write down something by using the notebook, which Zach gave to her. Everyday,
Lily was so happy, and she enjoyed her new live.
In
conclusion, Lily’s living environment, appearance, and psychology change, and I
believe that she will continue her happiness. I think this book not only wants
to show us a girl’s sad destiny but also wants us to focus
on her strong mind, and how she fight with her sad destiny. Furthermore, this
book teaches us that when you live with pain or hopeless, you should keep going
and never give up, because sometime you are on the road to happiness, but you just
do not know that you will reach it on the next step.
