Blog Option #4

Blog Option #4

“I don’t want to grow up” and “I’m not a little baby”

Have you ever just wanted to be able to act like a little kid at moments and have no responsibilities? However, just moments later you may use the excuse that you aren’t a baby anymore and don’t want to be treated like one. Well I have. Different occasions can bring forth different attitudes and personalities.

Similarly, Rachel from “Eleven” identifies as different ages depending on the situation. I feel like I can relate to Rachel, as there are days when I just “need to cry like if [I’m] three, and that’s okay”(Cisneros par 2). There are those moments when everything just seems to upset me or frustrate me for no reason at all and I just need to be able to throw a fit like a toddler. Yet, in some situations where I might not have the courage or wisdom I need “I wish I was one hundred and two”(Cisneros par 5). I understand why Rachel wishes she were older, because in certain conditions it seems like it would be easier to stick up for yourself or to know how to handle the circumstance.

Every year on my birthday, without fail I get asked if I feel any older. Yet, every time my answer remains the same. I never feel older; rather just feel a combination of all the previous ages before. Rachel makes an interesting argument when she says “the way you grow old is kind of like an onion or like the rings inside a tree trunk or like my little wooden dolls that fit one inside the other, each year inside the next one”(Cisneros par 3).  This statement seems very accurate to me. Constantly, I feel like different ages surface and control the way I act. For example, when I don’t know anybody I may act shy like a three year old, but if you throw me in a room with my close friends I may act hyper and immature like an eight year old.

Overall, I felt like I could connect to Rachel in “Eleven” by understanding exactly how she felt when she talked about acting different ages. You just never know what age you might get. One day I may be an energy filled nine year old and the next I may be a restless fifteen year old.