The Warden’s Daughter

Growing up without the shelter of maternal love, Cammie, witnessed her mother sacrificing her own life in the hope to save her from a precarious car accident. So heart-wrenching was the mishap that Cammie never recalled it without traumatic sorrow striking her derelict heart. However, there is no one but yearn to indulge in the unconditional, unrequited love from the mother. It was during this time that Eloda came into her life. Cammie badgered her to do the mother’s things and she even puffed to catch Eloda’s attention. Nevertheless, Eloda, suppressing her surging emotion, never let herself take Cammie's course in that she had her reasons.

Nonetheless, misfortune never comes singly. Arguably Cammie’s best friend in the prison, Boo Boo, hanged herself to death, which wreaked a disastrous blow to Cammie’s already saddened mind. She went totally rogue, be it verbally or behaviorally. At last, Cammie, the warden’s daughter, was caught with her pocket full of booties. Eloda came and spurred Cammie to mediate her obnoxiousness-her melancholic state of mind. Finally, in the innermost recesses of her heart, Cammie, once so sick unto distress, found peace in her heart of hearts. Except for Eloda, the gloom would have expanded its veil. Eloda, ultimately, saved a mother-bereaved girl, as she always intended to.

It is a story about a girl steering her life back to the right track and reconciling with herself. She was redemptive. Nevertheless, what strikes a responsive chord with me is the inmates, especially Eloda and Boo Boo.

As written in The Count of Monte Cristo, “For all evils, there are two remedies - time and silence.’’Eloda could have been released but she took Cammie as her reflection and resolved to drag her back from the way to the abyss. She could have let time alone efface Cammie’s wounds and saw the predicament ravaging Cammie’s life. But she became Cammie’s savior. The prison didn’t ruin her inherent kindness, which made me hold high regard for her and reassured me of the power of humans’ instinctive goodness.

Conversely, so optimistic and easygoing was Boo Boo that no one predicted her demise. She spun a pleasant yarn about her past enriching life, showing off her “criminal success.” Nothing appeared to be unusual, yet she committed suicide the day right before being released. Not merely Cammie but I was so bewildered and heart-stricken. Likely as not, afflicted as she was, she dreaded the angst that the world presented. Outside the prison, she was anxious about failing to inure herself to the ever-changing society. She was at the end of her tether.

Prison has been a heated debate since its establishment. Some strain themselves to attain liberated lives and cope with subsequent obloquy, while others degraded themselves to conceive desperate despair and accustom the monotonous lives in jail. Both Eloda and Boo Boo had convicted wrongdoings and expected free lives; nevertheless, their lives progressed in a world of difference. When facing the release, Boo Boo chose to end her life whereas Eloda confronted blurred destiny. It is our mindset that determines the path of our lives.

I, somehow, understood Boo Boo’s anxiety, for I had been swept over by such mixed emotion the moment I stepped out of my comfort zone. Having been a most intelligent student, as it were, at my tender age, I obtained many an achievement with ease. However, neither the confidently-predicted rank of grade nor the highly-acclaimed reputation came in the right course. I saw the broad urban-rural gap among the class and me. To top it off, I encountered my “War of Waterloo” in the mid-term test soon after I entered high school.

I once had a hard time adapting to high school, which is the similar apprehension that bogged Boo Boo in the mammoth panic. Eventually, after a semester of struggle, I, with the modification of my mindset, brave the elements in pressure. Despite lucid knowing that I can’t steer clear of all impediments in my life, I can get busy living rather than busy dying. I have no right to criticize the choice of Boo Boo, yet I can navigate my voyage, fostering an absolute ambition.

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”