Until The Well is Dried Up

I finished the story Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs. It was different from many other books because it contained unaltered vintage photographs. It is about a collection of peculiar children, all with special talents, who are condemned to live the same day over and over again. They live in what is called a “loop.” A boy whose grandfather used to live in it finds the loop. Jacob has to choose between living in the loop and save the peculiar children, or leave his life forever. He learns about sacrifice, and goes through events that a sixteen year old should never have to encounter. This book did not have one obvious theme, but I think that the author is trying to show you how sometimes the most important things are right in front of you and you have to see them before the slip away.

In the story, the Wight (a sole-eating monster) disguises himself as multiple people in order to observe and control Jacobs’s life.  He is his bus driver, his lawn-mower, his neighbor, and finally his psychiatrist.  You would think you would recognize it if all of these people were the same, but Jacob does not, until it is too late. I think Riggs was trying to show the reader how some things may seem very obvious, but when put to the test, we are oblivious to them. All of these people did not have a very big impact on Jacob's life; the bus driver, the lawn mower, the neighbor, but his ignorance to them almost got his sole eaten. In your life, it may be as simple as the common:  boy who sat behind you all last year and you never paid him any attention until he was no longer interested in you scenario. Or it might be how you never really realized how important friends are, until one day, you had none. Maybe it is the small things we take for granted that end up hurting us the most.

But what would happen if you cherished every common thing or action as a gift? Would that just make the loses greater? Or would it open your eyes to the wonders of our world? I think in order to see everything that is good, you really have to become a wallflower and just observe.  I think if for one day, you did not say or participate in anything, you would be able to see exactly how the world worked. You would see the boy sitting behind the girl trying to catch her eye. And you would see as the group of friends slowly stared to exclude that one person.  Do you think you can be social and still read the world? Is it one or the other? This reminds me of another book, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Charlie starts out as a wallflower. He watches. He sees. But at the end he has friends and he still sees. I think it is possible to do both, but you need to be aware. Like constantly trying to lift a very thin veil over your eyes, and never letting it slip.