Leah's Diary

  Leah’s journal is interesting, because while she writes about her specific situation and her sadness at having to leave for America, she still has universally relatable feelings. Her anger at not having any agency because she is a child and her bitterness about leaving her friends and school behind are something any young teen would feel in her situation.

  There is a duality in her feelings, as one day she writes about how depressed she feels and how dark the world itself is, and the very next day feels much better and is not sure why she was so emotional the day before. Her writings, too, reflect this, with themes of light/dark and life/death. The tumultuousness of her feelings is understandable given her situation; she has no choice in the matter and has to express her feelings using this outlet. 

  One of my favorite parts was the friendship book in which she writes to her friends, expresses her appreciation for them, and wishes them well in the future. I feel that this section gives a lot of insight into Leah’s personality, showing that she was well-loved and had many friends. I’m not sure if this is part of the production or not, but if it is I think we could do something interesting with it. 

  Going along with this is the section written about her, which gives insight about her from her friend’s perspective. Her sadness at leaving was clearly evident to others, although one friend mentions how she distanced herself before she left. Her diary was likely her way of expressing feelings that she had trouble sharing with her friends.