Final Thoughts

Overall, I really enjoyed “All Souls” by Michael Patrick MacDonald and that makes me feel a bit bad. How can I enjoy such a tragic, true tale about the pain someone else went through his or her whole childhood? I think the way in which I enjoyed was more in the way that it made me grateful and opened my eyes. Not that I wasn’t already before, but it expounded my gratitude for the life I am lucky enough to have. Of course, you always hear stories that leave you feeling like you should feel happy fate was on your side, but until you read a whole narrative like this one, those feelings only last for so long. I feel like this is one of those books that’s really going to stay with me, and I’ll be thinking about it years from now.

It amazes me just how strong all of the characters in it were; they had to be. Ma had ten children and did everything in her power to support them. Some would criticize her and say, “Well, stop having children,” but she loved every single one of them with her whole heart and didn’t back down when someone challenged her children’s safety. Ma wasn’t the only strong character though, I feel like Michael is truly strong to be able to come out the other side of his childhood relatively clean. He didn’t fall into any of the things everyone else in the Old Colony and other similar neighborhoods seemed to. Of course he wasn’t innocent and did partake in some underage drinking, drugs, and violence, but I feel like when you look at the bigger picture, he was able to pull himself together for his family and return to school. Not only that put he took his misfortune and pain and used it to motivate him. He became an activist. I feel like many of people can learn a lot from Michael with this book, and I know I’m certainly left inspired by his perseverance.