"Old Demon"

Tonight I attended the Freshman Connections event with Jeannette Walls and I have to say I was very impressed. She was so down to earth and surprisingly funny. Her speech was eye opening and inspiring. I remember reading the book and coming across the story where she had a monster under her bed, or “old demon”. She went to her father complaining of a monster and unlike any other parent he went along with it. Trying to help his daughter get rid of this demon and overcome her fears. During her speech she went on to tell how she was surprised by her dad’s reaction to the monster yet thankful. She discussed how we all have our demons, and sometimes are biggest demons can be ourselves. We are our biggest critics constantly bashing ourselves and comparing ourselves to others. We humans have so many fears and insecurities and it is our demons that block us from overcoming them. Her father told her how this demon was a coward and was hiding from them; he used this as a metaphor for our fears. We become cowardice when it comes to our fears, we don’t have enough confidence in ourselves to know that we can rid ourselves of our demons. Even though I was very much against the father throughout the novel hearing Walls speak about him made me admire some of his qualities. He may have been an awful parent but he made sure his children were not cowardly fools. Walls mentioned how she believes she is a very brave person and I think “old demon” helped her achieve that.