Because I am Furniture

 "Because I Am Furniture" by Thalia Chaltas, a book in verse, is mainly regarding the point of view of a teenage girl, Anke. She is observing how her father is being abusive towards her siblings and not her. Throughout the book, she finds herself through volleyball. She learns to stand up to her father and in the end, the feeling of fear is lifted off everybody her house.

The title, "Because I Am Furniture" is sort of the main theme of the book. I say this because Anke is invisible to her father and because she seems like a ghost, she's able to overcome her 'quietness' and tell her father off. I see this happening when she first begins her volleyball lessons.On page 49, when she learns to shout "MY BALL" she realizes that she has a voice. This is her turning point. This is where she starts to understand her role. It's almost like when a child have learned how to write a full sentence. They get really excited and they start to feel many emotions.  Anke, when she 'hears' voice, the hair on her arm stood up and felt like they were going to go on fire. Her lungs were calming the expanding space in her body. She, suddenly, felt, ALIVE! I can sort of relate to this feeling. When I received my bike on my eighth birthday, I frustrated because I didn't know how to ride it. I began teaching myself. I used gates to steady myself. I need this many, many times over the next 3 years. And one day, my dad took me to the park. When I got on that bike, I rode. I FREAKING rode the bike. I felt like all my hard work finally paid off.

When Anke begins to realize that she has voice, other things start to happen. Her 'supposedly best friend' Angie is under the spell of Anke's father, (he is apparently very, very handsome). When Anke catches her father about to rape Angie, she realizes that he has gone to far. Anke's father has put a weight on the members of the family, that nobody wants to say anything. For example, on page 146, when Anke's brother, Darren comes into the kitchen with black eyes, it's obvious that his father did that to him during their 'talks', he doesn't say a thing. The fact that Anke's father has done so much damage to the family, they are too sacred to say anything. This is true because when Anke's mother sees her husband doing abusive actions, she doesn't do anything to stop it. His actions has put the family in sacred and frighten mode.

I am sort of, no, GLAD, that Anke stood her to her father, even though he broke her leg. He had got arrested and now the rest of the family is relieved. For example on page 328, when her mom tells Anke that she threw her father out, she pulled a petal of the rose she was holding. I think that petal she ripped out represented the father. All the petals on the rose represent a family and because she finally kicked her out, that one petal is out of their lives. Everybody is now so glad that he's gone. I think they'll grow closer and depend on one another then keep their secrets to themselves.