Independent Novel Study Assignment #21
If I were a character….
If I were Trisha in the traumatic 9-day-long event she endured, I would feel much more isolated than she seemed at the end of the book. Once she was saved from the Wendigo and the vast forest, she went into the hospital to undo her malnutrition. It almost seemed to me as if she was perfectly fine once with her family. I doubt I would be back to normal that quickly, especially as a 9-year-old. She had no support, no companion, and no living qualities; how could she or I come out happy?
A better way to illustrate how traumatic her living conditions were is a comparison between her being home alone versus out in a forest. A child home alone for over a week with food but no family or friends would likely still be wildly lonely and withdrawn. Trisha on her own for the same amount of time without a home or food is a much worse situation. If I were Trisha, I would need a lifetimes worth of mental compensation for the lost childhood.