Adoration of Jenna Fox - Essay

The Adoration of Jenna Fox If a person had no friends, no family, would they know what kind of person to be? Family and friends make up a part of someone and shape their character into that of which they develop into. Having that aspect as a part of life, helps make more sense of a person’s identity, and the world around them. Looking at the novel, The Adoration of Jenna Fox, by Mary E. Pearson, through the psychological/psychoanalytical lens, the importance of friends and family in a person’s life is a strongly suggested theme that is recognized in a variety of ways. Jenna Fox is a mentally unstable adolescent because, after waking up from a yearlong coma, she has no memory of her friends or family. She soon recognizes how her actions toward her parents, and grandmother, have different effects on their expressions and body language, but she still does not understand what she is supposed to be feeling. “I don’t remember my mother, my father, or Lily. I don’t remember that I once lived in Boston. I don’t remember the accident. I don’t remember Jenna Fox,” (Pearson, 7). This excerpt from the novel explains that Jenna is lacking the knowledge of who she is. She doesn’t understand how she cannot remember the people that were closest to her. As the story progresses, Jenna wonders if she has ever had friends, “Did I have friends? … I may not remember everything, but I know there should be these things. Something. I know when someone is sick that people check on her. What kind of person was Jenna Fox that she didn’t have any friends? Was she someone I even want to remember? Everyone should have at least one friend,” (Pearson, 17). Using the psychological lens, the quoted thought of Jenna Fox explains to the reader that she knows from her instinct that it is normal to have friends. She starts to question herself as an individual, creating an unstable self-esteem. Throughout the novel, Jenna starts to acquire a few friends, making her self-esteem and psychological