Hidden In Plain Sight Analysis

Hidden In Plain Sight

Going From Grief to Gratitude

In the society that we live in today, many feel secure falling asleep at night in their own home. To most people home feels like a safe and comforting place. It’s wherever you are with your family. It’s realizing that regardless of how hard times get, someone will always be there for you. Imagine being taken away from the people you love and trust. Being so close to them, but yet so far away. Losing all sense of comfort and security, not knowing when your next meal would be or if will ever see your family again. Being hidden in plain sight, however no one knows where to find you.

Elizabeth started out as a regular teenage girl living in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was constantly perceived

as the outgoing cheerleader type, yet in her eyes, she was nothing more than shy and awkward. She never really accepted who she was. She never thought of herself as beautiful or confident. She always felt misunderstood by her classmates, teachers and even by her own family. Elizabeth definitely didn’t understand the world and she never truly felt like she fit in. Most of the girls that she knew were boy-crazy, but she was not concerned with those things. She never wore makeup and she never had a boyfriend. Her favourite things to do were talking to her mom and jumping on her trampoline. She was still a little girl, shy, obedient and no one could ever change that. Or so she thought.

When Elizabeth was just 14 years old, she was kidnapped from her own home. Her captor Brian David Mitchell broke into her house and made his way towards her bedroom. Elizabeth was awakened by an unusual man’s voice and she saw him holding a knife to her throat. He told her to get out of bed and if she did not come with him, he would kill her family. Elizabeth made the gracious decision to comply with him and not fight back, so she immediately got out up. She obeyed Mitchell’s orders so that her family's’ lives would not be jeopardized. Elizabeth asked him what he was going to do to her and he told her that he was taking her hostage. Then he forcefully took her out of her home and walked her up the hills and trails behind her house. Less than 4 miles from her house was a campsite concealed in the mountains. This was the home of Brian David Mitchell and his wife Wanda Barzee. There, that first night, Mitchell performed a sacred wedding ceremony, and afterward he raped her. This was not a one time thing, he assaulted her numerous times a day and it made her feel worthless and powerless.

For the first couple of weeks in the camp Elizabeth’s hope started to fade away. She questions if it is worth it for her to stay alive. She realizes that surviving is not the same as living. Elizabeth feels worthless after being raped and thinks about the idea of giving up. She realizes that her nightmare has not ended, but rather it has just begun. She is beginning to believe that this will be the only life that she will ever remember. She feels that her life is over and that she will live in these horrible conditions forever. She is uncertain if she will ever see her family again or if she will be accepted back into their lives. Elizabeth envisions how troublesome it would be to jump back into her old lifestyle and re-establish the relationships with her family members.

Michell told Elizabeth “You’re not ready” to have freedom. He was essentially saying that if she behaves, he will reward her, but she has to earn it. He will only give her opportunity if she obeys him. Mitchell withheld water from Elizabeth from unless she co-operated. Michell denied freedom and basic human rights. He manipulated Elizabeth until she felt powerless, like she had no control over anything that went on in her life. This was the beginning of her subjection to him, which she did in order to survive. Pg 100

A large amount of volunteers searched the neighborhood, looking in window wells, going through piles of wood. They looked through the trails, and up the hills calling out her name. Throughout the summer Elizabeth's photo hung in each window of every shop and on each light post. Her dad and the rest of her family appeared regularly on local, national and international news programs, begging and weeping for her safe return.

During the time that Elizabeth is away from her family she begins to question her relationship with God.

She says “I was the reason for it all.” By saying this, she is basically blaming herself for her abduction and she feels remorseful for not trying harder to escape. Elizabeth believes that she must have done something wrong or against her religion in order to deserve such a tragic fate. She must have sinned against God for him to treat her along these lines and to deny her freedom and protection. She is blaming herself for all of the heartache and misery that her family has felt following the time when she was taken from her

home.

One day, Elizabeth noticed a little sapling growing out of a tree stump. It was one single branch with just a couple of leaves, smaller than her pinky finger. She stared at the sapling as it struggled to grow. Over the summer she would gaze at the tree admiring its determination. It was surrounded by bare dirt and plastic tarp, no matter it kept on battling to survive. [insert quote here pg 71] The small sapling implies far beyond something growing out of the ground, to her it symbolizes hope and strength. She has the realization that if such a delicate tree can grow in such poor living conditions, then maybe she can survive as well. To her the branches of the tree symbolize the security and trust that she felt in her past. It helps her to remember God’s love and protection and that he is continually watching over her. All of these factors keep Elizabeth determined to stay alive. This realization empowers Elizabeth to become closer to God in all ways. It enables her to put all of her trust in God and rely on him to give her hope, strength and guidance.

Elizabeth recalls the impactful speech that her teacher once gave. He said “If you lose yourself in the service of God, He will redirect you.” Elizabeth is reminded of her loyalty to God and her strong conviction that he will always be there for her. She begins to confide in God’s plan for her because she knows that he will guide her on the right path. She trusts that he will help her through the suffering and make her feel comforted.

Throughout this traumatizing experience, she realizes that her life is valuable even after being abducted, raped and poorly influenced that she should not give up. She knows how devastated her family members would be if they would never get the opportunity to see her again, so she decides to continue fighting. After about 9 months of being brutalized and raped, there was something new inside of her. Something changed inside her soul. She felt stronger and more self assured. She said “There was a burning now inside me, a fierce determination that no matter what I had to do, I was going to live!” Her courageous determination was the only thing that enabled her to maintain hope. She acknowledges that if she can survive one more day, then maybe she can find a way back home.

After many days without food and water Mitchell finally took Barzee and Elizabeth to a nearby Walmart.

She glanced at the wall with all of the pictures of the missing children. Elizabeth noticed that her picture was taken off of the wall. In her mind this meant that everyone had forgotten about her. She lost all of the hope that took her so long to establish. Then he dragged her out of the store. They made it about two blocks before a police car stopped beside them. It wasn’t long before police cars were surrounding them. The policemen started walking towards them and aggressively said “I need to see some ID!” (Elizabeth Smart, 273). Mitchell’s eyes were wide with fear and he couldn’t get any words out. Elizabeth realizes that she can trust the policemen and she was excited to see her family again. From that moment on she knows that Mitchell can never hurt her

again.

Over time, Elizabeth has gained so much appreciation for being taken and the experiences that she has gone through because it has helped to change her perspective. Gratitude was an enormous step in overcoming these obstacles. From this point, Elizabeth made the resolution that she would always be thankful and never feel sorry for herself. She learns that the challenges that she lived through can help her connect and reach out to others in a way that she never would have before having this exposure. Now she is more confident allowing her to share her story and be the voice of change. Quote pg 303 I am grateful… In the 10 years after her rescue, she transformed herself from a victim to a nationally recognized advocate for children’s rights. Elizabeth's discovery that she can control her own destiny by being grateful and optimistic changed her life and the lives of others forever.