Novel: Girl Stolen Author: April Henry Quote Connection to the Story Outside Connection “Every blind person had their own way of folding money to tell it apart” (13). Cheyenne is blind and has just been kidnapped by accident. She offered her kidnapper money to let her go in return and reached into her wallet. This is just one of many adjustments she has had to make when she lost her sight. Also, this quote gives the reader a perspective on what it is like to be blind. It is miraculous to think about all the adjustments that people without sight have to make to thrive in this world. One of which I never considered is money. It is fascinating to see the different methods of those who are blind used to function in the world.
“She talked about raising false hope” “But Cheyenne had long ago decided that she would rather have false hope than no hope at all” (50). This is the attitude that Chyenne looks at life with. Her father gave her hope when she became blind. He told her stories about how some people had recovered their sight, and how she might still have a chance to see again. It is this outlook on life that if there is just a speck of hope Chyenne will grasp on to it never letting go. Her attitude helped lead her to her escape.
This outlook on life is very important to attain in the world. Grasping on to hope even when life feels hopeless is vital. Especially in these trying times, one should not let themself fall into a loop of hopelessness. It is always good and there will always be hope. It just might be a bit harder to grip at times, but that doesn’t mean it is not there.
“She didn’t like to accept more than she could give back”(60). This is another reason that leads to Chyenne’s escape. She is a greatly independent girl. It took her a while to get there but now she prefers doing as much as she possibly can on her own. She doesn't like taking charity just because she is blind. Having this independent attitude pushed her to excel at performing actions on her own; like navigating by herself. Cheyenne is very strong-willed and independent; this helps lead to her escape. This resonates with me. I often find myself feeling bad when accepting gifts from others. I feel that I need to give back before I can receive gifts from others. I do not want to be considered selfish.
“It was strange how quickly things could become normal, she thought as she took the plate from Griffin’s hand”(107). Cheyenne is getting used to the routine of being a held captive. It can be effortless to get used to an everyday routine. She finds it odd that she is slowly getting used to being held captive. She finds it odd how fast things can feel normal again. This reminds me of the beginning of the quarantine. I felt like things were out of control. Nothing felt normal or routine. All of my structure was gone overnight. Now, as time went on things began to feel normal again. My life regained a form of structure, and the shock of it all seemed to dissipate.
“If you start believing what other people think, you’ll never get anywhere” (124). This is what Chyanne told Griffin. He felt like he was worthless because he dropped out of high school. She tells him that he needs to stop listening to others and the internal voice inside his head that tells him that he can’t do it. Because Chyanne chooses to ignore the voices, she was able to pull herself out of depression and take control of her life again. This also resonates with me. If I would have believed everything that others have told me, or what I told myself. I would have just sunk into a hole of self-doubt believing that I was nothing and that would have gotten me nowhere in life.
“They save money, and we make money” “So everybody’s happy”(77). This is what Griffin told Cheyenne about his father’s business. It goes to tell that they are ruthless and do not care about others. This is very true about many companies today. Sadly, so many companies are out for one thing only, that is money. They are willing to do the unthinkable just to make a dollar.
“His shirt collar didn’t hide everything, and once people noticed, most of them couldn’t stop staring, whether it was in a movie line or at the grocery store” (149). Griffin was burned badly in a meth explosion from his father’s lab. That left him scarred and deformed on his neck. He can relate to Cheyenne in this way. People look at him as a monster like he has a disease. People treat Cheyenne the same way. Kids point and stare and people treat her like a child. Thus she can relate to him in this way. Griffin feels like he is not alone. Sometimes it feels like people do not accept others for who they are. Any differences that make people unique others just poke fun, state at them, or treat them like they have some sort of disease. Sadly, people can not embrace the differences in others. Liking in a world where everyone is the same would be very dull. It is the uniqueness of what makes the world beautiful.
“Knowing she was probably going to die gave her a certain amount of freedom”(190). Cheyenne has gotten an immense amount of boldness. The loss of fear has made her laxer focus on one thing and one thing only. That is escaping. Her mindset has completely changed and is now freed from fear’s grasp. Having fear absent from the mind causes people to do a lot of things they would not normally do. Sometimes fear is supposed to be there as a safety mechanism. Other times fear can be the one thing holding someone back from reaching their true potential.
“Instead she wanted Cheyenne to focus on what she had, on what she could do”(92). Cheyenne’s abilities shrunk overnight and she became extremely depressed. She again had to find the right mindset or she would just be helpless for all her life. She had to turn her thinking around and look at the positives. This way of thinking turned her into a very strong, independent, capable, girl which probably saved her life. Positive thinking is remarkably powerful. This resonates with me quite deeply with me right now. At the beginning of all of this, I just focused on what could not do and all the things I have lost. Now I have changed my mindset and looked at all the experiences I have gained from all of this. I focused on the things I could do like help around the house, exercise, and connect to friends from far away and family.
“Her world had shrunk to the edges of her skin”(93). Cheyenne is trying to grasp the concept of what has just happened to her. Just not too long ago, she was a spirited thirteen-year-old girl. Now her world drastically changed. She is in shock and feels trapped in her own body. I have also felt like Cheyenne. Not to that extent of course but I know how it feels to have your world shrunk to the walls of your house overnight. It is a terrifying feeling. So many unknowns, and new challenges that we will all have to face together.
“She just wanted to go to sleep and wake up and have it all be a bad dream” (94). Cheyenne feels trapped in a horrible dark nightmare. She can not see, she is very sick and kidnapped. She feels alone and terrified. She sees no certain way out or if she does find a way she doubts she can make it far on her own. She is so lost and afraid. Looking at the world today and all of the chaos around us makes me like Cheyenne; I wish that I could just wake up and the world could be normal. I loathe for the end of my senior year the last few months where my work pays off. Senior trips canceled lost time with friends. I wish someone would tell me that it is not true and it is all just a bad dream.
“Blindness took away the nonverbal cues that let her know whether someone else was tired, sad, happy, or worried” (139).
I have never put any real thought into the blind community because I do not have any blind friends or family members. I never would have thought about how they live life or experience the world they live in. This passage gave me some insight that I would have never considered before.
“If she hid her cane, then people talked to her, not whoever was with her” (60). Cheyenne does not like using her cane because if people did not know she was blind, they would treat her like she had her sight. She is very capable of doing many things that people with sight can do. It is a shame that people do not recognize that the blind are capable of doing so much for themselves. It is upsetting to see that people do not consider how they treat others. Even though they may not see or mean it their words and actions hold deeper meanings that deeply affect others.
“She had done more than she had ever thought possible”(172). Cheyenne reflects on her life before her kidnapping. She looks back when she just lost her sight. She realizes just how little she could do. She would have never thought that she could be independent again. Let alone escape from being kidnapped. She is amazed at her wits and independence. She has seen just how far she has come and what she is truly capable of. Looking back at my school career there were many times that I thought that I could not do it. That it would just be easier to give up. Especially when I was working on senior project. I doubted that I would pass or even get my project completed. But I kept going no matter how much I wanted to give up. Looking back I am amazed and all that I have accomplished in my high school career
“She had to relearn things that she had known how to do for so long” This proves that Cheyenne is mentally strong and learns to take whatever life throws her way. She can fight and work her way through just about anything. She does not lose hope when life seems hopeless. She picks up the piece and strides through it. Even when something as horrible as losing her sight and her mother on the same day. She relies not only on physical aspects of life but herself too, realizing just what a strong person she has become. Sometimes in life, one has to learn to live again. To relearn how to do the simplest things. That can be devastating. In my struggle with anxiety and mental illness, I have had to learn myself again. It was tricky but that does not mean that I can not do it.