THE IMPOSSIBLE KNIFE OF MEMORY

Your parents take care of you. Your parents and adults in general are people who will teach you valuable lessons. Your parents are always there for you, to help you with problems or issues that you have. In the book The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson, Hayley’s issue is her alcoholic father, Andy, who suffers from PTSD. He drinks and does drugs to try and forget all the horrible things that have happened in his life. He can often forget that he is a father as well. Hayley always ends up taking care of her father and making sure her gets back on his feet again. Hayley does all of this by herself without any help, and throughout the story the reader can see her struggle to deal with the burden of caring for her father. The story teaches teen readers that some issues are too big and overwhelming for teenagers to handle by themselves, and that sometimes teenagers need to ask for help.

When you are a kid, you don’t have all the knowledge you need in life. Parents should teach you how to solve the big issues. Without parents and trusted adults in your life, it can be hard to figure out who and how you want to be in your life. Hayley is left to handle her own life without any parental guidance. Her life revolves around taking care of and worrying about her father. She constantly worries about her dad doing something to himself or to someone else. Because she is so overwhelmed by having to take care of her father, she doesn’t focus on her schoolwork, she doesn’t get enough sleep, and she doesn’t really take care of herself. In the beginning of the book Hayley is afraid to reach out to any adult because she doesn’t trust anyone. All her life she has felt abandoned by her mother who died in a car accident and by her stepmom who left because she was too overwhelmed by Andy’s problems. And by her father. But he is all she has left, so she is protective of him, and she doesn’t want someone new to come change her life or take her dad away.

Being around violence a lot can really scar someone, and especially when its coming from someone you love, it can be really traumatic.  Hayley’s dad can be really dangerous, and because there is no other adult in their lives, Hayley feels responsible to keep him under control. Andy’s experience with the war, as well as his problems with alcohol, have made him into someone that is constantly violent and unavailable. “Dad grabbed the pistol and shot the television in the guts. Then he picked it up and heaved it against the wall and sent a table lamp flying after it. I sat, paralyzed, while he raged, until finally he slid down the wall, crying, his right hand a bleeding mess.” (285). This shows how dangerous Andy gets and how when he becomes uncontrollable and brutal, Hayley gets scared and can’t stop him. This quote shows how, even though Hayley thinks that she can handle her father by herself, the reality is that she can’t. Hayley has convinced herself that she is managing everything by herself and that she doesn’t need anyone to help her. But in the end of the story Hayley reaches her breaking point and she realizes that her father needs a lot more help than she can provide by herself. When she finally gets the help for her father she is relieved because it takes a lot of the burden off of her shoulders.

This book is beneficial because it teaches teens two really important lessons, that some issues are too consequential to handle by themselves, and that it’s okay to ask for help. The book also connects to kids in situations where they don’t have a parent that is always functioning at their best, and it educates kids on the idea that not every ones family is perfect. And now when I see someone in school that doesn’t talk much or who doesn’t look like they are trying very hard, I think about the fact that they may be trying really hard for someone else and that they don’t have time to try for themselves. Hayley’s character is really inspiring, because she is a strong independent girl who doesn’t care what people think of her. And her actions in the book teach readers these valuable lessons that are really critical to have in your life.