“Do you know how many people there are in this city who are dying of AIDS or malnutrition or even hepatitis? These people can’t afford shoes, much less choices. Your mother has every opportunity to choose life, and she won’t.”
The narrative delves into the social disparity between the upper classes and the lower class through the families and households. The Campbells, Jessica’s family, are privileged and more economically stable thus offer their help as a foster household. In comparison, the Cheng family is poor and their daughters have a rough childhood eventually taken in by the Campbells. Therefore, the narrative focuses on how financial background plays a major role in child development. In the statement, Trevor confronts Jessica regarding her mother Donna refusing to continue chemotherapy for her cancer. Thus, they disagree as Trevor points the privilege Jessica’s family has compared to others in terms of having choices.
“What am I doing wrong?”
After the discovery of Jamie and Casey’s dead bodies, the narrative takes a turn and becomes more of character exploration. Jessica reminisces on her childhood and probes into her mother’s childhood and motherhood too. Thus, reveals the true side of her mother as a foster parent to the children who came to their lives all through her childhood. In the assertion, Jessica recalls something her mother uttered shortly after taking in the Cheng sisters. Jessica now as a social worker understands the hardship and complexities of dealing with foster kids from troubled homes. Therefore, while the story does not reveal how the children died the statement offers a glimpse of what might have caused the unfortunate event. The sisters were evidently her greatest challenge when it came to catering for and nurturing foster kids.
“I want you to remember one thing: these girls have had a hard life. Their last foster home wasn’t safe, not like our house. They deserve kindness and understanding.”
The world of foster parents, foster children, and social work is explored in the narrative through the Campbell and Cheng families. Consequently demonstrates the struggles all the parties in this social work have to go through in creating a home for troubled kids. In that dealing with children who have faced abuse or loss whilst being moved from home to home is not an easy feat. In the quotation, Donna informs her daughter Jessica that the sisters have not had a privileged life as she has.
