Lillie Fields Hour 7 District Common Assessment: “Ashes” Many things can often take people by surprise. Many of which have two negative outcomes and choosing either one can effect someone you love. Ashleigh faces a similar dilemma in the short story, “Ashes”. At the end of the narrative, Ashleigh is faced with this difficult decision. Debating between betraying her mother or father, she is caught in a life-changing situation. Her father is counting on Ashleigh to get him the money, but she knows that it will upset her mother. This is one of many choices in life that defines who and what you are and what you make of things. At the end of the story, Ashleigh chooses to borrow the money for her father because he has built up her trust, he makes her feel special, and she has more sympathy for him. Ashleigh chooses to steal the money from her mother's teapot because over the course of time, her father has built up her trust for him. …show more content…
The phrase, “You’re one in a million” is repetitive throughout the story. Ashleighs fathers strategy in doing this was to make her feel like just that- one in a million. Her dad has made Ashleigh feels so good about herself, she feels that it is her duty to repay him by stealing the money from the teapot. Ashleigh admits, “And I realized he still called me Ashes, where mom couldn’t hear him to be annoyed. And that made me feel special all over again.” (Pfeffer 1) For a while, Ashleigh believed that her dad just called her “Ashes” to annoy her mother. Then she realizes, when he says it while they are alone, that he really does mean it, and that he doesn’t call her “Ashes” just to annoy her mother. This makes her feel special and loved, which motivates her to take the money. Finally, Ashleighs dad suggests, “There's a new diner, opened right around the block. Let's treat ourselves Ashes, and go out on the