Run, run, run, but can you really get away?

What strikes me as odd about Lucy's character is her repetition of running away. It seems she ran away from home but the reason is not clear. Her avoidance of her home is shown as she describes that she can never go back to that place. She states, "the object of my life now was to put as much distance between myself and the events mentioned in [my mother's] letter as I could manage" (31). Distancing herself from her childhood home seems to be a clear form of running away. Why would someone want to distance themselves unless they had some guilt or regret that they were hiding? It may possible that Lucy wanted a new and improved life. However, Lucy seems afraid and ashamed of her former home because she never even mentions the name of her home. All her descriptions feel distant. Especial, when she calls her home "the place" and presents some bitterness towards her mother. Lucy continues to show her desire to escape in her sleep.

Not only does she state she wanted to distance herself, she also is taunted by her dreams. Lucy often has a reoccurring nightmare of being chased by something that wants to cut her into little pieces. She runs away from people casing her on horseback (32) and runs from daffodils and buried under them (18). Her dreams often have her running from something very frightful to her. She never walks or observes her dreams. Instead, she is hunted down and unable to escape her fears quick enough. If she slows her paces, then she is consumed by her fears that chase her. I am forced to question why she actually runs and I become caught by her fears.

Dreams are often reflective of you personally life and experiences. They can also possess symbolic meaning. So what do the frightening daffodils and the horseback riders actually mean for Lucy. I am beginning to wonder if they all represent her home or "the place she came from." She wants to distance herself, but I am certain she worries her past with catch up to her just as the objects of her dreams reach her eventually. Regardless of how fast she moves forward the object following her; always reach her from behind her. The objects following her represent her past constantly trying to be put behind her but are simply inescapable. Lucy cannot forever avoid her home or the events that occurred there because as her dreams prove; something will always follow you.