Analysis Of Barry Lopez's 'Sliver Of Sky'

It would be entirely wrong for me to describe my childhood as alone, unwanted, vulnerable, and hurt. I am privileged; I grew up with both my parents giving me more love and attention than I could hold. Most times I grew to hate all the constant affection and attention. To me, it seemed like my overprotective parents didn’t want me to have fun and live. I didn’t understand why they cared so much about where I was going or why I couldn’t go hang out with my friends. I remember all the times I cried because they didn’t let me go out—because it was dangerous—or when they didn’t let me sleep over my friend’s house. But that was the most of my problems as a child. Yet, I still saw their overprotection as horrific and annoying, because I saw all the

When Lopez was seven years old, he was introduced to Doctor Shier, who “could “cure” alcoholism” and who molested Barry Lopez and many young boys (123, Lopez). His parents were divorced and his father moved to Florida, while he lived with his mother in California. Barry Lopez didn’t have my overprotective parents, who wouldn’t let me leave the house without giving them all the information they wanted. He didn’t have parents consistently asking him where, who, what, why, every time he left. But Lopez at seven years old needed someone to protect him from the dangers of the world. His mother at no point during all this questioned his whereabouts or even why he spent so much time with Shier. In fact, when she found out, eighteen years later the only words she uttered was “I know what happened. I know what happened to you.” (130). And that was that. She refused to speak to her son, to reconcile or to even try to amend what’s left of that horrible

In his essay, Someone Else, Offutt describes himself as “free”, “vulnerable”, and as a “lonely kid”. His parents only cared about his “academic grades”, leaving him to be alone in the world as a fourteen year old boy. The abuser provided for him in ways his parents didn’t. “The Fatman listened to me”, Offutt says, “He offered a kind of sympathy and attentiveness that I needed.” (140). Through Offutt’s eyes the “fatman” gave him everything his parents never did: attention, sympathy, candy, and movie theater popcorn. Offutt was seeking affection to replace the void he felt. He writes that his parents are “accustomed to his absences”, so they failed to notice what was happening with their son. (140). Again, the lack of attention and protection from their parents swayed the boys into such a situation. His parents trusted him to care for himself and Lopez’s mother trusted Shier with her