Growing Up Too Fast

 From: Marisa
           When I visited my aunt over the weekend and went up to her daughter Sadie’s room, a picture idea came up very quickly. They had just finished cleaning her room up and deciding which toys and stuffed animals she could and should give up. It was definitely a hard process for her, even more so because just a week before she had already had the same type of cleaning where she had to get rid of some of her toys.

            In the photo we see two large bins filled with stuffed animals, toys, and clothes for dress up. She’s had to give up some in the past week, but now it’s already time for her to give up even more childhood items in hopes of her growing up and becoming more mature. We see that she has a bright dress up hat outside of the bins. We can also see by the mattress and blankets on the wooden structure that she has a bunk bed. These show that there are some childlike things that she is allowed to keep, but not much compared to the large bins.

We also see a window with the curtains half open. On one hand, this is signifying that the box she was placed in is opening, and she is now allowed to explore more mature things and not stick to children things. One the other hand, the curtains being slightly covered show that although she is being let out of her previous box, another one waits for her. Now that she is no longer in her childhood, she now has to follow a specific way of acting as a woman, and has been shoved into a new box too fast. The curtains are like layers and parts of life. They open slightly at every phase of life, but will always be there, blocking her from breaking free of the expectations of society.

One final part to look at is the color of the wall. Normally the green color should be vibrant and bright, but once exposed to the sun after opening the curtains it looks much duller. As a child she was given more freedom to be unique and to express herself, but now the way she is expected to act gives fewer openings for individuality, and dulls her personality.