Quarter 2 SSR Reflection

      This quarter for SSR, I read The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, written by Stephanie Oakes. Clearly by the title, the main character is Minnow Bly; a young women whose past is challenged by the law. As there were many valuable characters in my book, Minnow Bly spoke out to me the most. For twelve years of her life, Minnow was taught to keep her mouth shut, to obey the rules, and to be apart of the Kevinians. She was shy and frightened. But as she grew older, she became more confident, talkative, and extremely strong for someone without hands. Minnow soon did what no one was suppose to do, ask questions about their forced religion. From the beginning, Minnow always bent the truth, afraid it would get her in trouble. However, throughout the book, Minnow opened up about her past to her therapist and roommate, granting her freedom and protection. I connected the most with Minnow because of the way she perceived things; like her religion, her faith, her family, her boyfriend, her leader, and her value of herself. She questioned everything and yearned to learn. I found it amazing how a girl our age was able to see past the lies that she grew up with, while hundreds of others couldn't. If it wasn't for Jude, I don't believe that Minnow would have been strong as she is. I think that she would't have argued against their leader about marrying him, therefore, not having her hands viciously cut off. Out of everything that Minnow has to offer, her not having hands makes her who she is and I believe that Oakes knew exactly what she was doing when she wrote it. To clarify, when their Prophet ordered her father to slice off her hands, he thought he was silencing her, making her weak, letting her understand who was in charge. However, when Minnow Bly's hands were gone, her words and thoughts only got stronger and louder, so powerful that the girl with no hands destroyed the man who lied to hundreds of people for more than a century.