Dependence on Love

     Skinny by Ibi Kaslik is a book about two sisters. One is a recovering anorexic, the other is extremely troubled at school. I found it to be fascinating to almost  be inside a recovering anorexic's mind, specifically Gisele's (one of the sisters) . I was surprised about how much effect the other characters in the book had on Gisele and her sickness,  specifically the male characters.

       One of the male characters that had a big effect on Gisele was her boyfriend, Sol. When she was with him, she really pushed herself to eat, so she would seem normal. Being with Sol also blocked out this "voice" in her head that was telling her to eat as little as possible. So, in general, Sol had a positive effect on her, that is , until he "broke up" with her (I put "broke up" in quotations because I am not even 100% sure that Sol actually broke up with Gisele, or whether it was all in her head). She then went on a downward spiral and hit an all time low, at 87 pounds.  I was surprised that this had so much affect on her and her sickness. It was if she was almost dependent on him, dependent on him to love her.

     But the truth is, it pretty much all boils down to gisele's father.Gisele adored her father, but her father showed little interest. Her father only seemed to care about Gisle's sister, Holly. Gisele then becamee obsessed  with finding a reason why her father did not like her. When it came to her father, Gisele's thoughts were a little on the crazy side. Gisle's father is dead, and has been for a long time. Holly often tells Gisele about seeing his ghost. Gisele then becomes extremely jelous of Holly just because her father's ghost "decides to go" to Holly and not her. I think that this might also be the root of her problem with Sol. Her father never loved her, so she needs Sol to.

     In the end, It's not really the male characters that are the problem, it is love, or lack of it. I wonder if Gisele's father ever showed at least some affection in her chldhood everything would be different. Or maybe (because, in the end, anorexia is really a sicknesss and not a choice) nothing would have changed at all.