FREE ESSAY ON IONA MOON

IONA MOON

Iona Moon
Over the years of my adolescence I personally have felt the need to run away at times. I
have felt that in order for people to perceive me a certain way I must behave in a
certain manner. It got to a point where I just did not care about anyone's opinion about
myself but my own. In Melanie Rae Thon's novel, Iona Moon, the main character Iona
thought in the same way as I did. At one point in her adolescence she felt that she
needed to act a certain way so that people would like her. She also felt that running
away from her problems was the best solution. However, in the end, she just did not care
anymore. 
Iona Moon was a simple country girl. She lived in an isolated rural town of White Falls,
Idaho. Her house was located in the country called the Kila Flats. She had three older
brothers and lived with her mother and her father. She attended the public highschool
located in town. Iona grew up as a very promiscuous girl. She had the notion that if she
gave the boys what they wanted that they would like her more. The boys thought she was
easy and none of the good 'catholic' girls would talk to her. In my opinion she probably
grew up this way as a result of the constant molestations from her brothers when she was
younger. At first she cared what the boys said about her. However, at one point in time
she just did not care anymore. She just ignored what everyone said about her. As long as
she still had her best friend Jeweldeen (who was also a country girl) by her side then
everything was ok. Her promiscuous ways got her in trouble from time to time. She just
did not care anymore.
After her mother died, Iona became a different person. She never liked school but after
the death of her mother she just did not even attend anymore. She failed her senior year
and did not graduate with her class. She was tired of being a slave to her father and her
brothers. She had much recent towards her brothers for treated her the way they did. Give
her a nickel to strip for them and a quarter to sleep with her, and to top it all off
they did not even thank her for the dinners that she made or the way she tended to the
house. Iona was angry at her father. He witnessed how the boys would treat her and never
said anything. Once in a while he would give them a little look and they would be quiet,
but that was all. 
After her graduation she decided to pick up and go. She had no idea where she was going
to go. She took all the grocery money and hitchhiked a ride. Along the ride she thought
of many things. She thought of her best friend and she thought of how her brothers and
her father were going to react to the fact that she had left with all the money. She
thought about her mother the most. Everything her mother had taught her about life.
Everything her mother had done to her while she was growing up. Nevertheless, she did not
care. She did not write to them because she did not want to be found. She was running.
Running away from all her problems, form all her misery. In her mind that was the best
solution to everything. 
The theme to this novel is adolescence. Everyone struggles through adolescence. 
In adolescence people try to find themselves. They try to find out their purpose in life
and why they are here. Most of all people have many inner conflicts. Iona Moon struggled
greatly through adolescence. She struggled to find her true self. She mentality about
life and about her self changed many times throughout the story. She thought she needed
to act a certain way so people would like her. Being fake brought her happiness for a
while but in the end it hurt her greatly. Even when she went out to live on her own she
struggled. Living in a strange room in a strange city was not exactly what she had in
mind. However, she saw herself as an independent person and, with all the lonely nights
she had she had time to think and find her true self.