Prince Taren

I had so much trouble getting through the book in the beginning because of all the unnecessary(in my opinion at the time) backstories (Louise) and side stories (Judyta). I felt like it took away from the main plot of the missing kids. Towards the end i realised how smart it actually was.

The ending of the book was right there in the name of the house. 'Self Reliance'. Thats literally the whole plot. It wasn't just about Barbara getting out of her neglietful environment and learning to live on her own but it was also about Louise and Judyta's self reliance.

Lousie's story was about how she had to be self reliant because she had no one else to fall back on. She stayed with John Paul, put up with him because that was the only way she could get Jesse our of their mother's house.

John Paul is in the situation he is in because he is too much of a whimp to properly stand up to his parents.

For Judyta, it was about finally standing up for her own independence and moving out to a house that was closer to her job though it went against what her parents wanted. She needed to prove herself just as capable or more capable than her male co-workers. She could have easily turned Barbara in. She said herself that if she did a promotion would come along with it. Any one of her co-workers would have taken the opportunity but she didn't. She understood Barbara's need to leave her home. Barbara would have probably tried the same thing a few years down the line. She would have never been happy going back to Self Reliance.

Alice was never self reliant. When she found out about her husband and her sister she decided that she would not tell anyone for she knew of only one other couple that had gotten divorced. The man still showed up for events but the woman hadn't been heard from in a while. She couldn't imagine a life like that. She is willing to turn a blind eye to their betrayal as she does not have to give up the comforts she was so accustomed to. This is a stark contrast to Barbara.

Barbara was born self reliant. She was the replacement child to her brother Bear and she was a girl. Her father neglected her as he didn't reguard her as an heir. Her mother couldn't come to terms with her son's disappearance. She's had to rely on her self her whole life. T.J trains her to live in the wilderness till she is 18 and she seems to be a natural at it. She finally gets to live on her own terms.