In class writing

In the very beginning of the book, Pobby and Dingan, there is a quote says, “The secret of an opal’s color lies not in its substance but in its absences.” In my perspective, it means something that’s missing is more important than what’s already showed.

In the book, the family was week at first. So, when Pobby and Dingan have been lost, too many things happen to the family. They are actually imaginary friends, but Kellyanne is care about them. The family lost some morality in the beginning of the book, they don’t trust each other, they doubt each other’s decision and they are so cold for each member in their family. This is what the family shows readers at the first of the book, which can imply the “substance” from the quote.

However, when Pobby and Dingan are lost, the family starts to change. The father has been caught because of finding Pobby and Dingan across Old Sid’s claim. The mother is always homesick. The brother, Ashmol is not caring. Then, for Kellyanne, she’s kind of crazy and sick. After the father has been caught and the fire burns their house, it seems like the family would be destroyed. Nevertheless, just because of these things happens, it makes Ashmol wants to change the family.

He finds the main reason why the family became so weak is the lost of Pobby and Dingan, so he asked everybody in the town to help him finding them. He wished Kellyanne would be better and not making their parents to be so worried, so he sell to opal to hold a funeral for Pobby and Dingan. Actually, in the writer’s mind, the family eventually finds the opal because they get better and care more.

By doing tons of work, Ashmol finds Pobby and Dingan, he holds a funeral, he makes the family to be warm again. That is what’s missing in the beginning of the book, which implies “absences” in the quote. It means that sometime things that are missing can do more than things that have been already had. So when the family gets what they lost before, it becomes better and the relationship between the family members are as beautiful as the mysterious opal.