From the story “Ashes” by Susan Beth Pfeffer, the reader knows Ashleigh steals her mother’s money. Ashleigh stole the money because her father makes her feel special. She is worried about her father, and she is being manipulated by him. Parents can cause their children to have to make difficult decisions. Before she had to make this decision, Ashleigh’s mom and dad were divorced; they were all left with very little money. Of the two personalities, her mother was very strict and responsible, and her father was fun and loving. Ashleigh’s father asks her to steal the money from her mother to pay off a debt that he owes.
Ashleigh tends to follow her father’s leadership because he makes her feel unique and loved. Her father gave her the nickname
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That made me feel special all over again. Mom might not ever be caught without batteries or tissues, but she just called me Ashleigh . . .and never promised me anything.”
Because her feelings for him are so strong, he could persuade her to do anything he asked of her. Ashleigh was willing to steal money from her mother because she worried about the wellbeing of her father. When Ashleigh and her father went out to eat, he ordered nothing for himself because it seemed he was trying to save money. Ashleigh even offered him some of her food. She is protective of him. We can see that in this quote from page 3: “‘You owe them two hundred dollars?’ I asked, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.” Ashleigh can tell that money is a big deal; and from her expression, it seems her father has been in debt before.
Ashleigh has been manipulated by her father to get the money for him by promising to pay back the money and claiming her mother’s worries aren’t real. One example of this on page 4 when her father says, “You let me have the money tonight, and I’ll straighten out my little difficulty, and Thursday night . . .I’ll give you back what I owe you. No earthquakes, no Martians, no problem.” He shows a total disregard for the mother’s emergency money by saying no earthquakes or