How my Brothers’ Experiences Impacted my Relationship with Literacy

Ever since I was little I looked up to my big brother, I wanted to be just like him. Throughout his life he has had many obsessions, I used to try and become just as interested in them as him but I never could. It’s funny how he’ll be completely engrossed in a subject for a couple months to years at a time and then wake up one day completely invested in another. They have drastically changed throughout his lifespan, from little to big toys. Whether it be knights to pirates or legos to motorcycles. And with me trailing behind, close in age, I of course wanted to follow in his footsteps. I tried everything, I tried his interests and then what most girls my age at that time would enjoy, barbies, American girl dolls, having a blankie just like him and much more yet nothing worked. Something wasn’t right, I just didn’t care as much as he did, I could live without these objects, nothing particularly fascinated me.

One of his particular phases was books. He would be notorious for rushing through his school work just so that he could read Harry Potter. Teachers would even have to hold onto his books until they checked over his work to make sure it was completed and correct! My parents would get phone calls home regarding how reading that much began to affect his school work due to him not paying attention. All he could focus on was his book, nothing in the classroom seemed relevant or important to him. And although this wasn’t my own literacy journey and experiences it had an impact on mine. When all of this was going down I decided I would give reading a go, see if it sparked my interest since not only did I want to be like him (not to that extreme) but I wanted to find something I enjoyed. I tried Harry Potter of course and some other books my brothers adored but I didn’t care for them.

But then I started to look around at the library and got into a series called “Shadow Children”, it was simply fascinating. It completely consumed my thoughts for the context was so interesting and bewildering to me at the time. It was about a society in which adults could only have two children and any other would have to be killed. The book was about the unkilled children living among the rest and how they eventually attempt to overthrow the government. And once I finished these books I moved onto “Unwind” which is about a world in which children are killed and broken down for their body parts for the greater good. Limbs are able to be reused and moved around to different bodies such as arms and more. Those who were selfless and punished were subjected to being “unwound”. And following these two pivotal texts in my life came many more dystopia based novels.

I looked forward to reading them whenever possible, and before I knew it my mom was coming upstair in the middle of the night to tell me to turn my lamp off and go to bed. To this day I still don’t believe I will ever truly be as captivative as my brother when it comes to his interests and pursuits yet this was the start of an appreciation for reading. It allowed for me to realize how text can truly consume one’s thoughts, especially if it is a radical new idea that isn’t the norm. In addition to this, it provided me with an escape from reality, due to the thoughts taking control of my mind, as well as the books mellowing me down. It is truly calming and is nice to know that that opportunity always exists. Seeing others works enabled me to try more and think outside of the box. It allowed for me to see reading as enjoyable and not strictly homework. And although I don’t typically like assigned readings it gives me practice. With all of that said, I definitely enjoy and have a respect for reading literacy.