Paper Things

“Twenty-six cents won’t get you much, but a library card will.”

While having no home, Ari learns the power of small but important things like library cards and loose change on the sidewalk. While having so little, she comes to value what few things she does have and the small rewards that they bring.

“You’re not my father! I feel like saying. But I don’t. Instead I stay invisible. At least, that’s what my silence feels like to me: I’m deep inside myself—with Gage, but not with Gage.”

Ari and Gage often argue and have conflicts due to the stress of the situation as well as the unspoken resentment that Ari has toward Gage for lying to her. Added to this is the fact that Gage feels guilty for putting Ari in such a situation. Ari often has difficulty speaking up for herself or saying what is truly on her mind. This passage is an example of how the first-person perspective allows the reader to understand Ari’s feelings when she doesn’t communicate them.

“You become my bed

Shielding me from

The foot-worn rug

Encrusted with Cheerios.”

Ari writes a poem that is an ode to the couch cushions that she sleeps on. Although they aren’t much, they prevent her from having to endure the dirty, cold floor below. Luxuries in Ari’s life are few, and she grows to appreciate things that most people would take for granted. The poem is also an example of Ari’s intelligence, her potential as a writer, and her aptitude for seeing her situation positively. Through her poem, her difficult situation becomes a creative act.

“Even though I know that Sasha is a little bit resentful about having to ask her mother if I can stay over again, all I can think of at this moment is that extra twin bed in her room, with the puffy comforter and clean, crisp sheets.”

After spending months without a proper bed or shelter, Ari becomes desperate and starts sacrificing her friendship with Sasha to meet her basic needs. Their friendship never fully recovers from this, although they do eventually make amends with one another. Ari uses alliteration to describe the comfort of sleeping in an ordinary bed—something many people take for granted.

“It helps to think that there are only so many bad times in my sack. That sooner or later the good things will have to take over.”

Ari sees life as a series of good and bad moments. She hopes that each person is given the same amount of each and that because she has experienced so much bad lately, she is bound to get something good soon. Ari is a strong and optimistic person, which is why she is able to endure such harrowing circumstances.

“I look at that word on that wingtip one more time. Then I pull the plane back to my shoulder and let it fly. Please, I whisper to the wind. Please.”

The Power of Hope is an important force in Ari’s life while she doesn’t have a home. The wish that she makes on Reggie’s paper airplane turns out to spread as Reggie makes paper planes for more and more people. Hope is an important motivator in overcoming situations like homelessness.

“It might be true that the only thing we need is love—but a porkchop dinner and a job at Jiffy Lube sure don’t hurt!”

Ari occasionally narrates in a casual manner, particularly when she feels a glimmer of hope and sees signs of things improving around her. Although the joy of the moment is temporary, it is an example of how much Ari admires her brother and how proud she is of his accomplishment.

“It’s OK, Arianna Hazard, I tell myself. You like being invisible. You’re good at it.”

Ari often describes a feeling of invisibility, like she isn’t seen and cannot manage to speak up or make her feelings known. This is Ari’s burden and part of the reason that she stays with Gage for so long, waiting until she has endured several horrible experiences before finally making the decision to return home.

“I am more determined than ever to do what I need to get into Carter. Maybe it won’t be enough, but at least I won’t have gone own without a fight.”

Ari has something that many people in her position do not: The Power of Hope. Ari constantly looks to the future and knows in her heart that things are bound to improve. She also knows that even if she doesn’t reach her goal, she will have at least tried. She learns this from her hero, Louisa May Alcott, whose character runs through the book as a role model for Ari.

“Now I’m the tired one. Tired of uncertainty. Tired of the unfamiliar. Tired of trying to figure things out. For a few moments I want to be five years old again.”

In this repetitive statement, Ari emphasizes her exhaustion and frustration at living an unpredictable and unfulfilling life. The linguistic repetition highlights the tedium and fatigue she feels. At age 11, Ari has had to grow up quickly and take care of herself while worrying about things that no child should have to worry about. All of this makes her feel like she just wants to be a young child again.

“If I had to explain why I wanted to reinstate the traditions at Eastland Elementary, what would I say? Maybe something about how traditions give us a sense of belonging, that doing the same activities each year, the very same activities that our older siblings or even our parents did, makes us feel like we’re all one big family.”

Ari lacks much knowledge of her past or her family’s past, and what little she does know she holds onto dearly. This includes the traditions of her elementary school, which her principal attempts to take away. Ari and her peers demonstrate their belief in The Necessity of Community by building a positive learning atmosphere.

“It was a burst of pink daises tied up with a hot-pink bow. The bow matches the ribbon around Janna’s lacy pink-and-white dress. Janna looks so young, and she’s wearing an expression that I’ve rarely seen on her before: a full smile, which lights up her whole face.”

When Ari explores Janna’s room and scrapbooks, she slowly and carefully observes every detail in the photographs as though they are the most precious treasure. Ari sees great value in examining the past because she knows so little about where she came from and who her family was before she was born. Belongings are also increasingly wondrous to Ari because she lives without possessions or places to keep her things.

“I realize that today, unlike the day we left, I really made a choice. I chose to go with my brother rather than stay with Janna. Suddenly I feel more sad than angry. No matter which way I turn, I have to say goodbye to someone I care about. To someone I love.”

Ari finally realizes The Weight of Decisions and her own part in her current position. She looks back and sees that she didn’t have to leave with Gage, but chose to, and that in doing so, put her own future at risk. She also feels as though she betrayed Janna, who did everything she could to take care of Ari. Despite these feelings, Ari leaves one more time with Gage, although not for long.

“You came back to make sure I was OK even though you knew you might get fired. You came back.”

Whenever Gage admits his insecurities and guilt over the position that he and Ari are in, Ari reassures him. She is a loyal and loving sister and sees the best in her brother, even when he fails or puts her in danger. Ari’s optimism is one of the major factors in her and Gage’s survival and continued connection despite difficult circumstances.

“And I realize that just as Reggie isn’t my secret, neither is his little home.”

Reggie is a kind person, and despite his position as someone without a home, he is generous and gives what little he has to those who need it. Ari observes him taking another family back to his storage unit one night and realizes she isn’t the only person he has helped. Reggie is an example of The Necessity of Community for people who do not have homes.

“I think of the people that I pass on the streets, the ones who are huddled against buildings or standing on curbs, asking for money, sometimes talking to themselves. They’re homeless. I think of the girls at Lighthouse who drew all over my Paper Things and talked about which shelters had the nicest beds. They’re homeless. But then I think of Reggie, and Omar, and the young family with the baby. Homeless people are people who don’t have homes…like us.”

For a long time, Ari doesn’t fully understand her situation or want to believe that she and Gage are unhoused. She doesn’t think that her brother could put her in such a position, and like many people, she believes that she could never be the one to end up in such circumstances. After meeting so many different types of people without homes, Ari realizes that she is not much different from them, after all.

“I’m not crying because the show reminded me that I don’t have a home.

I am crying because I do have one.

I do have one.

And I miss it.”

After months of needlessly living without a home and facing unbearable difficulties, Ari comes to her anagnorisis (internal revelation). She realizes she has had a home all along and that she does not share the same resentment toward Janna that Gage has. Because of this realization, Ari returns to Janna’s house, making her most important decision yet.

“Her voice is more vulnerable than I’ve ever heard it.”

Ari is perceptive and wise beyond her years. She has watched the conflict between Janna and Gage grow since they have known each other, and it softens everyone’s hearts when Janna, who is usually quite closed off, offers her unconditional support to Gage.

“You can be your best self no matter where you are.”

Perhaps the most important lesson that Ari learns while living without a home is that she never lost who she was. If anything, she only became stronger and better because of her challenging experiences. Ari looks back and realizes that she was brave and wise and maintained a sense of hope, all of which kept her safe and gave her the will to press forward.

“Even though the traditions might not appear on academic tests, they’re still important. They give us common experiences and help us feel like we’re part of a community.”

Ari understands the importance of traditions in bringing together a community and that her school is a community that needs more unity. Along with Ari, Sasha’s new friend seems to share this understanding. Ari in particular needed the community found in a school when she was unable to rely on her family.

“I wanted to make sure that everyone who wanted to be a part of Crazy Hat Day had that opportunity—whatever their lives are like or whatever group they belong to.”

After Ari experienced having no home, she has become more aware and empathetic toward other people who might be struggling to make ends meet. It is important to her that everyone can be included. She learns The Necessity of Community in the lives of people everywhere and brings that newfound value to her elementary school.

“Why would you leave the home you had?”

After Ari reveals the truth about her experiences, she is bombarded with questions by the students at school. She handles these questions with maturity and poise as much as possible. This particular question speaks to The Weight of Decisions and the complexity of Ari’s choice to leave home with Gage.

“Rebuilding my Paper Things collection just doesn’t feel right. That folder represents a me that no longer exists. I’m not embarrassed of her, but at the same time, I no longer want to be her. I’ve moved on.”

Ari’s paper things were a way for her to cope with the turmoil around her and the loss of the family she could have had. Now that she has overcome the chaotic part of her life and found a way to connect to her family’s past, she no longer feels the need to play with her dolls. It is demonstrative of Ari’s growth as a person.