Essay Questions

Why is Josie initially reluctant to re-connect with her father?

When her father reappears in her life, Josie picks up her anger where she had left it the last time she thought about him. To Josie, her father is an absentee deadbeat dad who only wants to be back in her life because it suits him. She is not interested in listening to his side of the story because in her opinion there is no side that justifies walking out on your kid like he did. Josie's emotions regarding her father are all based in her feelings as his child; they involve her feelings of rejection, her feelings of hurt, her feeling that she would never walk out on her child under any circumstances so why should she listen to his explanations?

Josie is also angry about the timing of her father's reappearance. She is struggling emotionally, but knows that he has come back on his terms and in his time. His reappearance has nothing to do with her, or what she needs, and this is more evidence to Josie of his self-centered nature and his inability to put her first.

Why does Josie relent and decide to re-connect with her father?

Josie has no illusions about her dad. She knows that he did not come back because of what she needs, but gradually, this starts to make less difference. Perhaps life, or fate, sent him back into her life at a time when she is feeling more alone than ever. She has nobody, and even the somebody for whom she has so much unresolved anger might be better than nothing. By continuing to reject him she wonders if she is cutting off her nose to spite her face. He will be emotionally fine without his daughter in his life; she is not sure sure that she will be just as fine without her father.

Is Josie's view of John's suicide selfish?

Of course, Josie feels terrible after John's suicide. She feels terrible that he was in so much emotional pain that he felt he had no other option than to kill himself. However, Josie feels more pity and sorrow for herself than she does for John; he has left her behind with nobody, and instead of thinking about how alone he must have felt, she once again focuses on how alone she feels. without her friend.

This could have been quite a teachable moment for Josie, and could have shown her how her own tendency to self-absorption makes others feel alone in their friendship with her, which could in turn have helped her look outward more than she looks inward. Unfortunately it does not do this and she spends more time thinking about how John's suicide has affected her than she does thinking about what was going on in his life that made him end it all.