In the Metts family, the kids have little understanding of how others live. They make their own decisions without the guidance of their parents, who are slaves to alcohol. Their only guidance comes indirectly from a caring neighbor. They know they aren't like other families. While age gives them greater awareness of their plight, it also punctuates
their sense of being inferior.
When kids grow up embarrassed and ashamed of their home and family, it undermines their self-worth and spoils their identity. Steeped in the chaos of their circumstances, lacking a true perspective, they can ignore opportunities, forfeit their potential, and settle for less than they are capable of, sometimes frustrating mentors who try to help them.
The story of the Metts family is fiction; a shadow o! reality. The weight of illegitimate shame is real. Those burdened by it might never understand, since nothing they did caused it.
