Wavy seems to live by the phases "Nothing left to be afraid of" and "Nothing belongs to me." Do you think these ideas have a harmful or helpful influence on her life?

Wavy seems to live by the phases "Nothing left to be afraid of" and "Nothing belongs to me." Do you think these ideas have a harmful or helpful influence on her life?

These two phrases seem to be her mantras for sanity, her meditation in a way to give her the mental and physical strength to keep going.

Given the realities of her life, I think these phrases are a positive influence. She is not forming attachments to possessions or circumstances, which keeps her from feeling constant loss. In this way she can focus her energy on surviving in the moment, rather than protecting what is taken from her.

I think given her life and what happened to her throughout the book, being shunted from one home to another and from one person to another, she was wise to limit her attachments. She kept what mattered to her--Kellen and her brother. Nothing else mattered. Although she did keep Kellen's bike and the ring, which showed the level of her commitment to him.

There was little in Way's life to make her believe in the value of attachment to anything - material or otherwise. I think these "rules were self-protective, although had she followed them rigidly she would have missed out ofn the things that eventually gave her a degree of stability.

If you live by the "Nothing left to be afraid of" viewpoint it may work for a short time but will be extremely bad for longevity. You need to have self-preservation in mind or your recklessness will eventually catch up with you. Fear is necessary at various points in your life.

The "Nothing belongs to me" point of view is the safest way to live in her world. It kept her from being devastated when she was moved around and lost what few things she had. She was deeply hurt when she felt Kellen belonged to her and life had other ideas. In the end it worked out but she would have had much less heartache if she had kept to her "Nothing belongs to me" philosophy. She also would have had less love and joy.

I think it was a helpful way for her to not feel completely alone and abandoned. Setting the bar low made her less likely to be devastated when things went south, as they always seemed to do for her.

These two attitudes allow Wavy to get through the rough parts of her life and to sustain through the hardships to the best of her ability at the time.

I believe these phrases to be very insightful.. ideals that I wish to aspire to. I think people who have lived a long life (I am 69), don't want to be afraid of anything and do want to let go of things and not be tied down to them.

But this is a young girl we are talking about. It is justifiable to see these phrases as negative when stated by a person so young. Wavy has lived through so many terrible events that she is now cynical about fear. She owns nothing. Luckily though, Kellen has given her a ring. When Kellen is taken away, she still has that.

This topic has caused me some consternation. I applaud the previous answers that state Wavy uses these ideas to survive. But that word NOTHING shows a negativity that I find sad.

I actually think these two phrases are good ones to live by. Obviously, Wavy needed a method to deal with her chaotic life and these worked for her. I think though, if we all lived by these thoughts, life might be easier.
Fear stops all of us from doing things we might enjoy or even need to do. And the need to possess, own or control causes a lot of turmoil and grief.

This was a positive mantra for her that kept her in charge of herself without influences that could harm her. She had to be empowered to survive and she may be able to shed these protective rules as she ages.

This was a positive mantra for her that kept her in charge of herself without influences that could harm her. She had to be empowered to survive and she may be able to shed these protective rules as she ages.