Hope's Boy 6

Andy continutes living in his foster home and although it is better than the facility, it is not that great. He doesn't have the attention that a child needs to thrive. He is socially excluded in the household and his situation at school isn't much better. On the rare occasion that somebody tries to make friends with him, his embarrasment over his situation causes him to push people away. There were people that gave up but, "For the few that persisted, I endured their advances but held to my restrictions. If classmates insisted on stopping by the house, I did my best to meet them on the sidewalk or at the front door"(Bridge 240). He doesn't want people to know that he is living in a foster home. He is afraid that having friends over would reveal that so he kept to himself. He avoided things like pep rallies and ate lunch by himself. When a classmate,David, asks him to go skiing, "There was something in the threat of closeness that was more than I could sustain. In the moment that it arrived, even the offer itself was too much"(Bridge 241). He is willing to do anything to prevent people from knowing his past. He pushes everybody away because he is scared that the truth might make a him an outcast. He turns down David's offer and says some very hurtful things to him in an effort to push him away. When he sees David in the hallway all he can do is remember the chance at friendship he offered him.
Andy's difficult childhood has made Andy different from other kids his age. He has dealt with a lot more hardship than many other people his age. When he runs for Student Body President he, "Knew not to rely on popularity or friends lobbying on my behalf. Instead, I chose the quality that childhood had taught me best:endurance"(Bridge 242). His difficult childhood forced him to take care of himself at a very young age. Peopel usually remember their childhood as fun times that they enjoyed but Andy remembers it as something that taught him how to endure life's hardships. In a letter he wrote to an admissions officer, "If I could show you MacLaren Hall or the house where I have grown up, you would see that angels and saviors are rare. Then, like me, you would know to stop looking for them, too"(247). His perspective of life is not very uplifting and this is obviously caused by his childhood. He has seen the world at a different angle and his experiences have affected him greatly. He only relies on himself to get what he wants and refuses help from others because he fears they will let him down.

Hope's Boy 5

Hope's mental health has deteriorated to the point where she has been institutionalized. This leaves Andy without a guardian so he is put into a facility until a foster home can be located. His days in the foster home were not easy. He realized that some wounds on the other boys could only be made by adults but he knew speaking up would result in adverse consequences. When a foster home is found, his living condition has not improved very much. The boy he is sharing a room with is very angry with his presence and Andy realizes this when , "He locked his amber eyes on me in that way that an older boy silently tells a younger one, Don't look for fairness from me"(Bridge 129). The older boy is obviously agitated by Andy's presence and he is venting his anger at Andy. He is now living in a house with strangers and sharing a room with a boy four years older than him that is not pleased with his arrival. Andy is terrified and doesn't know what to do. When the man of the house,Mr.Leonard, arrives he meets Andy and, "He would tolerate me in the house, but I should expect nothing more. I would be his wife's concern"(Bridge 130). Andy has lacked a father figure in his whole life and now that he's in a household with a father he is completely ignored. Everybody in the house either really dislikes him or is indifferent about his presence. This is obviously not good for a little boy's self-esteem. He is not accepted by anybody. Even though he has left the facility his living conditions have not really improved a great amount.
When he starts school again the lack of paperwork makes his admission very difficult. However he is able to be admitted after an argument between Mrs.Leonard and the secretary in the office. By the time Andy was admitted it was time for recess so he walked out to the playgrounfd alone and sat down. When the other children asked him questions he tells a lot of lies to avoid embarrassment and, "I denied my mother and put the Leonards in her place. I have forgotten the details of what I said, though I must have claimed the Leonards' daughter Becky and son Christopher as my siblings"(Bridge 134). He is unable to tell the truth to any of the kids, so he makes up a lot of lies to avoid being singled out. He doesn't want to be wierd or be different. He just wants to fit in with everyone else and he resorts to lies. When it was time for lunch he didn't eat at first but, "Later, I would learn to watch the lunch line dwindle before rushing to the window just before it closed,avoiding humiliation but also eating"(Bridge 135). He thought that using a ticket for a free lunch would make him stand out from the other children. That's why he would wait until everyone else went before he got his lunch. He doesn't want to be the one different kid at school but his life is different from the other children's lives and he is trying to hide it.Andy is not living in the most caring home and he has to do a lot of things to avoid people finding out about his life.