Tackle the Text A Metaphor for Me

by Nia Rivera on 03.19.2010

29 Responses

Commendable brainstorming, comrades. That’s what I call teamwork. Your ideas and connotations make a lot of sense. We completely agree with AniStory and dem_94 that charms are symbols of yourself, something unique that distinguishes you from everyone else. They’re little fragments of your life, like AllieK and Sakura said, and when you put them all together, you get something utterly individual. Distinct.

And if there’s one thing Susanna isn’t, at least in my mind, it’s distinct. That empty bracelet is definitely a metaphor for Susanna’s place in this whole mystery.

Amanda would consider it a tragedy for anyone to go through life—or even just high school—without a story of her own. She would consider it a curse to just blend in or be like everyone else. In fact, Callie and Amanda once had a conversation very similar to this one…

I hadn’t realized I’d been smiling until Amanda poked me in the side. “What, what?” I asked, unable to prevent my smile’s growing.

“What’s with the smile?”

Since I was now practically grinning from ear to ear, my “What smile?” sounded even more ridiculous.

“Nothing!” I said. “I’m just . . .” I shrugged.

“You’re intrigued,” said Amanda.

I loved how she said that. Not, You’re crushed out, which is what Heidi or Traci or Kelli would have said. Not, You like him.

You’re intrigued.

I nodded, still smiling. “I’m intrigued,” I admitted.

“Why?” asked Amanda. “What intrigues you about him?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “He’s just . . .” I closed my eyes and again saw Hal running by. “He’s just . . . he’s so his own person, you know? You didn’t meet him before, when we were in middle school, but he was this enormous . . . dork, really. And then he comes back this year and he’s a total hottie and there’s all this buzz about him and it’s like he doesn’t care. It’s like he doesn’t even know!” I opened my eyes, finally, and looked at the space where Hal had been. “I’d like to be like that.”

“A total hottie everyone’s buzzing about?” asked Amanda, laughing. But the way she said it I knew that she knew that wasn’t what I meant.

“My own person,” I said quietly. “I’d like to be my own person.”

If ever there were a mantra for Amanda, Callie basically identified it without even realizing it, in that one little nugget of a statement. I believe it was the great Dr. Seuss who said there is no one alive who is you-er than you . . . or words to that effect. And maybe that is exactly what Amanda is trying to get us all to do, each and every one of us, for ourselves and each other? I know, it’s a little woo-woo, but possible, right? Now it’s up to us, Amanda’s brain trust, to figure out the next step.

TheAccomplice and GirlinBlack13 said none of us really knows Susanna that well. We can’t help her become her own person until we know who that person is. As Amanda always said, if you start by looking at yourself, you can sometimes find out a lot about other people …

Do you have any important objects in your life – clothing, books, tiny treasures – that are metaphors for who you are? Symbols of yourself?

29 responses

  1. ♥MLE♥

    I think that many things in my life that i have are all metaphors of me. Like for instance i wear the same simple heart necklace everyday. I think it symbolizes my love and simplicity life.. even though we take it for granted. Symbols are special for everyone. I think that we have to look into more the lives of people Amanda was associated and maybe we will get closer to finding the truth about this all…

    • AllieK

      I agree with MLE, there are a lot of things in my life that symbolize who I am.  One of them is this old stuffed wolf from when I was young that I just discovered I still have XD It really reminds me of some of the happy times I had when I was young I used to play with it and imagine going on lots of adventures with it.  So I think it symbolizes my imaginary side of me.

      • RRRules

        I have this toy toy dog collar I wear on my wrist. It’s a toy (play thing) for a toy dog (like a lap dog). It’s camouflage blue with a black buckle. I never take it off. It’s a reminder to myself “hey, you’re tough. Don’t let this stuff get to you.” It’s also the only thing I can wear that symbolizes that I agree with punk beliefs.

        Back to the mystery.
        If I may quote what Nia just said.
        “We can’t help her become her own person until we know who that person is.”
        Nia is talking about Susanna, but what about AV. I’ve been saying this for a while, but I’ll say it again, how can we figure out who AV is, if maybe AV doesn’t know herself? This girl we call Amanda Valentino; maybe she’s on some sort of discovery journey, trying to figure out who she is?
        Nia said we can’t help her till we know her. But what I say is, we can’t help her become her own person until we help her figure out who she is.

        • Milana

          To continue the Dr. Suess, “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” 

          My only symbol would be summer.  It makes me laugh and have fun and act crazy.  It’s warm and yellow and free.  It’s the only time in the world and the year that makes me feel happy.

          • trumpetgirl

            I wear an orange bracelet that says “Life, Live it!” I like it because it reminds me to just live life. Be who I am and no one I’m not, and take chances.

            Onto another topic….Nia said the empty bracelet is a metaphor of Susanna in this whole mystery. Connecting that to what others said about charms making a bracelet distinct, then the metaphor would be “Susanna is like an empty bracelet. She doesn’t really have a personality, or story of her own. She blends in with the crowd” (At least that’s what I concluded lots of people are saying). I think Amanda gave her the bracelet, maybe just to give her something to look at every day and remember who she is, or at least who she wants to be. Not exactly a metaphor, but something along the lines of it.

            • GirlinBlack13

              My charm changes every day. Sometimes its a wooden raven, sometimes its a little necklace with my letter on it. Just depends…

              • ICUPEEKING

                I think a major symbol of myself are books. Mostly because I have many emotions while reading or remembering those books, and the way I react to them tells you alot about me.

                • Pipper

                  my bookshelf would be one, i have an outrageous imagination, and stories are a part of life, every one has a story to tell, where it be a trajic tale of how they escaped WW2 and their whole family died, or a comedy about something really funny that happened on the weekend while they were out shopping

                  • TheAccomplice

                    No, not exactly. I DO have some things that I once thought symbolized me, but then I realized I don’t know who I am. Yeah. I know my friends, including “Amanda”, better than myself. How is that for a sob story? But you know what? Fighting yourself builds muscle.

                    • xMabelx

                      I have a little necklace, it’s gold and has a little charm of an angel! My sketchbook symbolizes me :)

                      • marycaulf

                        Yes!  I have things in my life.

                        • ilovebooks

                          yes, i have a gold heart necklace and poeple say i have a true heart and my jornals and notebooks and sketchbooks are all me…

                          • _Sakura_

                            No, not really.  I wear this little bracelet with butterflies and little jewels at times, and maybe I wear a simple necklace on one day. What it says about me is that I’m simple but still have a lot of personality and opinions.
                            Now, to the mystery of Susanna-
                            “We can’t help her become her own person until we know who that person is.”
                            We should maybe at least TRY to be her friend, and see what she likes to do. If she has a sketchbook that she drawing in at lunch, or doodling on a diary, we can observe her from a distance then try to help her be unique and her own person.

                            • Miranda_Hope

                              well i have a necklace with different charms and ones a cross so that symbolize im a christian and theres the circle of life so that means i love life i guess but i wear this necklace near every day

                              • LaurelQ

                                When Amanda first left, Hal warned Nia and Callie not to tell the principal, that this was something THEY had to figure out, and that THEY were chosen by Amanda. Has anyone thought that perhaps Susanna was meant to discover herself on her own? While finding Amanda is important, we shouldn’t interfere with Susanna’s life. Maybe she knows what the charms mean, and maybe she doesn’t, but it is impossible to help someone who doesn’t truly want it . . . we need to wait for Susanna to decide whether she wants us to be involved or not. Remember, you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.

                                • Coupe

                                  A friend of mine just pointed out my symbol the other day. She said my hair reflects my personality. It’s crazy blonde curls everywhere. Thats who i am i guess. Im crazy, fun and bright and Im constantly pointing out the positive things in a situation. I can make people crack up when they’re crying and can wear the color yellow. It’s funny how this artical came out right after i realized my hair is my metaphore.
                                  So looking at how Susanna dresses or wears her hair might tell you about what kind of a person she really is. You said she wears basically the same things every day . . . does that mean she’s a creature of habit? or just doesn’t care. I like _Sakura_’s idea. Look at what she doodles or watch and see if she uses a journal.

                                  • ronhagrid

                                    An object in my life that is a metaphor for me… I don’t, like a lot of people, have a necklace, or a symbol I wear everyday. I think, for me, it is something I carry everywhere I go, not in a purse or in my pocket, but something that I carry with me. My personality. Every person I know thinks of me in a different way, but every piece of that makes up who I am. I am considered funny, smart, athletic, energetic, serious, helpful, organized, sneaky, outgoing. I think you get the idea. If I could have something to represent that, personally I think it would be a silver necklace chain, something simple that is hiding its true meaning. (FYI, silver is one of the best conductors of electricity!)

                                    • BlueRoseGrey

                                      For one i have my bookshelf—so many vampire and sci-fi and fantasy books… and all the stories i write on my laptop says a lot about who i am—-all my characters are who i’d like to be, or who i am. Then there’s just my room—-black and purple and white. all the black clothing shows how i prefer darker colors and i like to be different than every other girl in my school. I have a lot of jewelry, like huge earrings and long and layered necklaces and huge rings… i suppose that means i like to stand out. And all the music on my ipod says stuff about me… like the songs “Smile Like You Mean It”, “Everyone Like Me”, “It’s About Time”, “Anything But Ordinary”, and “This Is Your Life”. I think music and clothing choice tells a lot about a person—or hides a lot about a person; it depends, i suppose. Let’s see… oh i have 3 pocket knives close at hand, i guess that shows i can protect myself. And then I have a lot of fire stuff—showing my pyro-ness (gotta love fire! <3) For me, i am considered funny, smart, energetic, sarcastic, serious at times, helpful, caring, outgoing, reclusive… depends on how you know me. If you’re an enemy i’m hostile and obstinate, but if you’re a friend, i’m most of the above. *shrugs* so yeah, i think that things that people own can define them.

                                      • emX

                                        For me, it’s basically everything I have that makes me who I am. I mean, everyone can have different personalities and if you just look at one or a few of my items, you wouldn’t see the real me, but a fragment.

                                        • SarahB

                                          My piano - it shows my creative nature, my inspiration, my drive to make beautiful, inspirational things. I couldn’t be without it, I don’t think. <3

                                          • PastryPop

                                            My treasure is my additude. It changes from day to day, going with how I see myself on that day. Some days I’m happy, some I’m sad. But my additude is always there to show it. A charm can be a treasure to some but, what would happen if you lost it? You wouln’t have it anymore and that treaure would be lost. So your additud i not only a treasure, but a charm aswell. My mother always said, “I wear my heart on my sleeve and my soul is like an open book”.
                                            Maybe that’s what we need, to open Susana’s books. Not illegally of course but if w see what she writes on the inside, maybe it’ll tell us about her outside personality. Like Callie and her Scribble book; It shows how sh’s feeling the inside even when her outside doesn’t show it. Maybe the girl doodles, or writes stories, or even draws something that might be of interest to us. Maybe little hint on Amanda’s whereabouts?

                                            • Bellamariette

                                              I wear a circle on a cord around my neck that says “Laugh”. I don’t think it symbolizes all of me but I like to make people laugh because it’s impossible to be completely sad if you can laugh. Anyway, I can’t help but think we shouldn’t spy on Susanna. It would be a much better approach if someone were simply to get to know her. There’s just this big vibe of everyone underestimating her and I don’t think that’s fair.

                                              • sparklylava

                                                i carry around a book!! if u are 1 of my friends u would know that when u look at me im reading! reading symbolizes me!!

                                                • ummichan40

                                                  Yeah, sparklylava, i TOTALLY carry books with me like EVEYWHERE. where ever i go you can allways count that I’ll have at least ONE book on me.  I like to think that i become one of the characters in the books i read and i probably act like then unconsciously as well… Books would most likely symbolize me the best cuz well, some people call me a book freak. i take that as a compliment.

                                                  • jessicahuey

                                                    my cape cod bracelet and books lol

                                                    • SerenaRules

                                                      The books that I write. Each one of them is a little bit of me. Its like I took my personality made a copy of it and stamped it in each and every page of the book. Cool right!

                                                      • Skinnyhippo

                                                        the piles of note books in my room. There me! I love to write, and draw, and they show that. They may look messy on the out side but if you understood how important they are to me, you would relise there not ragady there just well loved.

                                                        • izzap2

                                                          When I was 3 I had gum in my hair, so I cut a ton of hair off and kept it.

                                                          • awesomenerd

                                                            i definatley do. i think of amanda as my guide even if she is not here she is her own special person to all of us and i believe amanda will never show up face to face with you but she is always there you can just never notice her. but she is there giving advice and help to all who seek it and www.theamandaproject.com is where we wish to become closer to amanda and i believe that she is the one who will lead us to us greatest things in life. the things that represent me are things that no one else can see.things that mean most to me are the ones i notice the least. i love you amanda.

                                                            You must be logged in to see responses and contribute to the conversation.

                                                            Latest Responses

                                                            1. The Way He Looks Now

                                                              I like your idea a lot Niv! I read Shattered too, and your idea seems likely.. …

                                                            2. The Way He Looks Now

                                                              • response by Niv on 02.06.2012

                                                              I think that the firefighters came in to hide stuff, like microphones to listen in to …

                                                            3. The Way He Looks Now

                                                              • response by arvi777 on 02.05.2012

                                                              Okay, so now ANOTHER piece to the puzzle, but whats bothering me is that there are …

                                                            4. The Way He Looks Now

                                                              i have to say that this is probably a father-son situation. :I Or hey, maybe Stark …

                                                            5. Choose the Title for Book 4!!

                                                              I like Unlocked because of Amanda's key or Unraveled because they are unraveling the mystery!! :) …

                                                            Most Popular

                                                            1. Amanda's Yellow Brick Road

                                                            2. Cross my heart and hope to die…

                                                            3. Trickster Tagging

                                                            4. It's in the Cards, Or is it?

                                                            5. The Transatlantic Railroad

                                                            Subscribe to Our Stories

                                                            Be the first to know when discoveries are made!