s shot right back at her because Matt didnt give her the attention she wanted. For this reason, Matt became stronger and more successful, because he ignored the people trying to make him fail.Matt came home each day with a calculator attached to his belt, in case he needed to figure something out quickly, I guess, like in an emergency. He went to his room, came out for dinner, and then went back to his desk to his desk.(p. 75)Matt knew he could succeed, so he didnt let Ruth get to him. He continued to study, and became valedictorian of his class. He left the house immediately after high school to pursue a career in astronomy. He got out of his house as fast as he could. Yet when his sister, who had verbally abused him through their childhood, was almost killed by her husband, Matt was there for her. He helped her when she needed him most. Although she was cruel to him even when he came to visit her in the hospital, he forgave her, without words, for all the pain she had put him through. He wrote Aunt Sid a letter that Ruth found in which he explained his view of his childhood and family. He writes,I dont know much about them (his family) and their situation. It is always strange, going home, facing people and a place with which I have nothing in common. I wont bore you with the difficulties of my childhood, but to be honest, my main preoccupation was trying to figure out who was worse, my mother or my sister. Which one to avoid more strenuously. I must have realized early on that my inquiring mind differentiated me from them, and would lead me away from their household.(p. 318)Matt knew from the beginning that he would escape the life he had learned to hate so much. He did escape, and the outcome of his attitude was that he lived a happy life for the years after he left, unlike May and Ruth.Ruths friend Daisy dealt with many problems and interesting situations. Her father was ill most of her life, and she was even more p...
