Iona Moon Essay, Research Paper

Over the years of my adolescence I personally have felt the need to run away at

times. I have felt that in order for people to perceive me a certain way I must

behave in a certain manner. It got to a point where I just did not care about

anyone’s opinion about myself but my own. In Melanie Rae Thon’s novel, Iona

Moon, the main character Iona thought in the same way as I did. At one point in

her adolescence she felt that she needed to act a certain way so that people

would like her. She also felt that running away from her problems was the best

solution. However, in the end, she just did not care anymore. Iona Moon was a

simple country girl. She lived in an isolated rural town of White Falls, Idaho.

Her house was located in the country called the Kila Flats. She had three older

brothers and lived with her mother and her father. She attended the public

highschool located in town. Iona grew up as a very promiscuous girl. She had the

notion that if she gave the boys what they wanted that they would like her more.

The boys thought she was easy and none of the good ?catholic’ girls would talk

to her. In my opinion she probably grew up this way as a result of the constant

molestations from her brothers when she was younger. At first she cared what the

boys said about her. However, at one point in time she just did not care

anymore. She just ignored what everyone said about her. As long as she still had

her best friend Jeweldeen (who was also a country girl) by her side then

everything was ok. Her promiscuous ways got her in trouble from time to time.

She just did not care anymore. After her mother died, Iona became a different

person. She never liked school but after the death of her mother she just did

not even attend anymore. She failed her senior year and did not graduate with

her class. She was tired of being a slave to her father and her brothers. She

had much recent towards her brothers for treated her the way they did. Give her

a nickel to strip for them and a quarter to sleep with her, and to top it all

off they did not even thank her for the dinners that she made or the way she

tended to the house. Iona was angry at her father. He witnessed how the boys

would treat her and never said anything. Once in a while he would give them a

little look and they would be quiet, but that was all. After her graduation she

decided to pick up and go. She had no idea where she was going to go. She took

all the grocery money and hitchhiked a ride. Along the ride she thought of many

things. She thought of her best friend and she thought of how her brothers and

her father were going to react to the fact that she had left with all the money.

She thought about her mother the most. Everything her mother had taught her

about life. Everything her mother had done to her while she was growing up.

Nevertheless, she did not care. She did not write to them because she did not

want to be found. She was running. Running away from all her problems, form all

her misery. In her mind that was the best solution to everything. The theme to

this novel is adolescence. Everyone struggles through adolescence. In

adolescence people try to find themselves. They try to find out their purpose in

life and why they are here. Most of all people have many inner conflicts. Iona

Moon struggled greatly through adolescence. She struggled to find her true self.

She mentality about life and about her self changed many times throughout the

story. She thought she needed to act a certain way so people would like her.

Being fake brought her happiness for a while but in the end it hurt her greatly.

Even when she went out to live on her own she struggled. Living in a strange

room in a strange city was not exactly what she had in mind. However, she saw

herself as an independent person and, with all the lonely nights she had she had

time to think and find her true self.