Saint Anything Literary Analysis

The Problematic Life of Sydney Stranford In Sarah Dessen’s novel, Saint Anything, a young girl named, Sydney Stranford, shows multiple manifestations of her low-self esteem. Readers catch a glimpse of how Sydney carries herself, with minimal confidence and self-punishment, which shapes her narration. Sydney’s insecurities originate from her parents and their behavior towards her, which elucidates the motives behind her actions. Although Sydney feels helpless in her situation, her issues are resolved effortlessly and disappear to present her a happy ending. One indication of Sydney’s low self-esteem is that she views herself as unattractive. As a matter of fact, she compares herself to her brother, Peyton, who is undeniably handsome, and

Despite all of the judgmental glares, she feels invisible. In fact, Sydney tells Mac, “I’m used to being invisible. So any kind of attention makes me nervous” (247). Even though Sydney feels that she has been disregarded by everyone, this statement seems like a plea for attention, which is something she claims makes her “nervous”. Again with her inconsistency, Sydney feels more comfortable with being ignored, however is desperate for any sliver of attention, which is another manifestation of her lack of

This minimizes Sydney’s self-confidence, which is a common occurrence in relationships between neglectful parents and their children. According to her research, Lucy C. Driscoll’s thesis, “Parenting Styles and Self-Esteem”, unveils the correlation between parental neglect and an adolescent’s self esteem. Studies by Martinez and Garcia indicated that children, like Sydney, who are raised by parents who show no interest, obtain the lowest self esteem compared to children who were raised with more nurturing ones. Driscoll states, “The research showed that adolescents with authoritarian and neglectful parents had the lowest levels of self-esteem,” (Driscoll 8). Sydney’s parents are both authoritarian and neglectful towards her. Her mother dismisses Sydney’s personal interests, whereas her father barely speaks up for her, yet once she does something wrong, she is severely disciplined for it. Sydney being punished for obscure reasons is due to the fact that her parents fear the possibility of her following Peyton’s footsteps. Sydney’s mother says to her, “your brother started off with one mistake, which led to another and another” (Dessen 328), and compares Sydney’s behaviors to Peyton’s, which is an unfair justification of being over-dictatorial. They also neglect Sydney and her teenage angst, which is why Sydney claims that her parents “don’t look too closely at me”