Starfish

“Fat Girl Rules / I learned / at five: / No cannonballs. / No splashing. / No making waves. / / You don’t deserve / to be seen or heard, / to take up room, / to be noticed. / / Make yourself small.”

Ellie’s Fat Girl Rules define the way she views herself and the way she lives. All of the rules focus on making her smaller, reinforcing others’ dehumanization of her. The Fat Girl Rules characterize Ellie’s initial conflicts and position her for her character development as someone who embraces Self-Acceptance and Support from Others.

“I plan to become a storyteller, / and a poet, / to help people feel what it’s like / to live in / someone else’s skin. / / Mom’s a journalist, / determined to expose / all that’s wrong in the world / and spotlight everyone’s flaws, / not caring if she / gets under people’s skin.”

This quote establishes the dynamic and conflict between Ellie and Mom. Ellie uses their respective roles as writers to analogize their approaches to the world: She herself is a poet who treats others with empathy, while Mom is a journalist who criticizes. This analogy situates Ellie’s relationship with Mom within The Power of Words theme, displaying how both characters use words as tools of expression, but in contrasting creative and destructive ways.

“As I float, / I spread out my arms / and my legs. / I’m a starfish, / taking up all the room I want.”

This is the first moment in which Ellie associates the image of a starfish with herself. Following her experience at a plus-size boutique, she begins to accept the idea that she doesn’t have to make herself smaller to fit into the world. Thus, the starfish becomes a symbol of Ellie’s journey toward self-acceptance and taking up space.