Many facets of poverty were impactful on Liz’s life, but the three most important aspects were drug addiction, hunger and family dissolution. When Liz was growing up her parents lives were consumed with drugs. At one point in the book Liz’s mom steals her birthday money from her to buy drugs. As she observes throughout her life how much drugs wreck her parents and her family. Lizzy vows to never ever do drugs. With this strong of an addiction from both her parents, adequate food was also a problem that impacted Liz’s life. Her parents never had enough money to buy food for their kids. It’s not that her parents didn’t love Liz and her sister but addiction was so strong that any money they had was spent on drugs. Most days the girls ate eggs …show more content…
These relationships shape the very fundamental values Lizzy has in the life she wants to lead. One very unhealthy relationship Lizzy has is the one with Carlos, her not boyfriend. Carlos cheats on her, lies to her and hurts her beyond repair. When Lizzy originally decides she wants to live on the streets Carlos vows to protect and makes her feel like he cares about her. Insert quote here. Lizzy gets fooled by his façade for a while but then she starts to doubt him. Carlos had promised Lizzy that he would start looking into apartments for them to live in. She demands to see what he has found. “I held the paper up to my eyes and saw the title of the real estate section underlined in black pen. Next to it, there were a couple of phone numbers printed in Carlos’s handwriting; one of them was circled” (Murray 202). Lizzy is filled with relief, and is again put under Carlos’s façade. “I was flooded with regret for not believing him. I saw myself through his eyes and sensed how selfish I must seem [...] I was immediately sorry and determined to make it up to him” (Murray 202). Life continues for Lizzy but it doesn’t get any better. One healthy relationship Lizzy does have though is the one she has with Bobby. Bobby is one of her friends and he is always there for her. “Friends’ houses were our safe haven for when the journey began to feel less like an adventure and more like a marathon” (Murray 190). These healthy relationships Liz has with her friends fill in some of the holes in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Her friends will give her food and a place to sleep, while also giving Liz love and making her feel a sense of belonging.These and many other healthy and unhealthy relationships along with her hard work get Liz into