Breaking Night Section 1

Nearly each page from this gripping book ignites thoughts of discussion that I wish to share outlaid, but alas I must confine my thoughts for three separate sections. For chapters 1-3, I would like to highlight how Murray's tone distorts my (and I assume other's) perception of normality. From the very beginning Murray addresses her father's jail sentence and both of her parents' addiction to heroine and coke. Nearly every page has the words drug run or getting high. Through the use of extreme repetition, I nearly forget that this is a six-ten year old girl we are talking about that is witnessing the abuse of illegal substances, and everything else that comes along with it: creepy men willing to supply finances/supplies for drugs, late-night attacks/muggings, no food to eat due to money depletion from drugs, and irresponsible parents that fail to supply the children they brought into the world with a decent home. Murray's tone, however, through all of her descriptions of such horrific and unimaginable circumstances comes off as regular and normal - almost natural! I understand why; being born into this way of life, she struggles to comprehend an alternative lifestyle (even when meeting friends with parents that cook meals regularly and have higher standards of living, Murray never questions why she was unlucky enough to be born to drug-addicted parents. She continue to accepts her family and how they live.) Perhaps for a 18 year old that has experienced otherwise, reading how drug addiction is tearing her family apart is normal drives me crazy as I continually wish she would become mad with how her parents choose to live. That's not to say she doesn't experience emotion - she often describes how she cries when particular events occur, such as her mom stealing her money to buy another bag of drugs or when she learns that her mother is contracted with AIDS, but I often find myself yearning for her to be mad at her predicament.