What do you think the ponytail incident suggests about Arlo and Sarah's understanding of each other, and how, in your opinion, does it affect their relationship as they become adults?

Arlo cuts off Sarah's ponytail while she's sleeping. Why do you think he took that action, and why do you believe Sarah initially tells her parents she did it herself? What do you feel this incident suggests about Arlo and Sarah's understanding of each other, and how, in your opinion, does it affect their relationship as they become adults?

I think this is part of the push-pull I mentioned in my earlier post where Arlo desperately wants to belong yet pushes away as a form of punishment. The ponytail was punishment in the extreme and I think Sarah recognized this but also recognized they why, which is why she did not reveal Arlo as the ponytail chopper.

Sarah and Arlo had a competitive relationship and cutting off Sarah's hair was an extreme way for Arlo to get to her. I think Sarah realized that if she told on Arlo he would be the "winner" in this situation. Instead, she takes credit for the "new look" herself, thus foiling his attempt of one-upmenship.

Arlo was always jealous of Sarah and in a fit of pique he cut off her ponytail as a way to get to her. Or maybe get back at her for having the family that he didn’t. I think she covered for him so he wouldn’t get into trouble and once again be the “black sheep.”

I think this was another example of Arlo’s hunger for attention, even if it meant getting into trouble. Then Sarah thwarts that by saying she did it and that surprises him. I think it changed his viewpoint of her for the future. He has more respect for her rather than just jealousy.

I found this scene really disturbing since it seemed like Arlo was thinking about actually harming Sarah. I intellectually understand that people don't develop good decision-making skills until they're in their twenties. However, as someone who doesn't have children, I don't understand what kids like Arlo gain by acting out. Arlo already had attention - Spence definitely seemed to want him to be a member of the family - yet Arlo seemed to want to sabotage the relationship, like he wasn't getting out of it what he needed. Or perhaps he felt he wasn't worthy of a family, and felt like they'd eventually reject him anyway so he was giving them an excuse? His actions seemed realistic but at the same time perplexing.

Arlo wanted to do something that would really impact Sarah, so he cut her hair off, leaving it ragged and unattractive. She did not react the way he expected. I could see the action as Arlo's way of making Sarah like him--missing something. Completely aside, I thought about F. Scott Fitzgerald's story, "Bernice Bobs her Hair." Of course, in that story, Bernice goes to the barber and has her own hair cut, but before she leaves her cousin's home, she cuts off Marjorie's hair!

I agree with the comments above. Arlo wanted to get at Sarah. He was jealous and wanted to do something that would cause her to react. She foiled his plan when she took responsibility for the cut pony tail. Yet, she did tell her mother that Arlo cut off her hair. It states in the book, “ He’d been waiting for punishment, but instead there was this: no rebuke, no drama, nothing at all.”
I think Arlo is like a feral cat. He wants to belong to something, he thinks he wants what he sees, a family, a home, stability, but too much time has passed and the attention, the structure is too much, too foreign he has to take steps to ruin it, to cause it to fail, and he can’t help it. I also found the scene disturbing. I think it put Arlo a bit in awe of Sarah’s power and self awareness. It changed how he viewed her going forward. Later, on pg 176 Sarah asks him why he cut off her hair. And he wants to know why she didn’t tell. Apparently, he never knew that she had. He saw her refusal to acknowledge what he’d done chilling “ as if he didn’t exist at all” and her composure “ haunted him”. Sarah feels “guilty for the life she had, as if in coming along she’d taken Arlo’s life away, as if life were a meal and she’d eaten more than her fair share of it.” I think the entire episode, understandably left them uneasy around each other and untrusting as well.

I believe that Arlo cut off Sarah's' ponytail because he was angry and jealous and did know how to express his feelings differently and wanted to get back at Sarah for her having something that he did not. I loved that Sarah did not put the blame on Arlo - that seemed to show a lot of strength on her part and took from him the "prize" that he expected to get from his actions. I could see that Arlo could have upped his game and tried more extreme actions but it seems that he did not and gained a level of respect for Sarah.

I think Arlo was trying to justify his leaving by doing something so bad, that he thinks his dad and step mother would force him to leave. But when Sarah took the blame herself, it changed things for Arlo. Although he still chose to leave, I think it totally changed his feeling for Sarah and made him feel like maybe he did have an ally in a family in which he never really felt like he totally belonged.

I agree with most of the comments. Arlo was angry because his stepsister had what he did not--a stable family and a full-time father. Is he angry at his stepsister or angry at his father or angry because he thinks he doesn't deserve what he is now offered? I think Sarah doesn't get him in trouble because she realizes that she has what he has longed for.