One For The Murphys Character Analysis

Do you know anyone who keeps people at a distance to avoid getting hurt? Well Carley Connors, the main character from One For The Murphys written by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, keeps people at a distance to avoid getting hurt.

For example, in the beginning Carley lies to Toni, her friend, about her life. She lies about Mrs. Murphy being her mother, the boys being her brothers, and Mr. Murphy being her father. Carley then realizes that Toni won't hurt her so she tells her new friend about herself. This shows that once Carley gets comfortable with someone, she will tell them about herself. Until then she would rather tell them a lie than something true about herself. Carley also keeps Mrs. Murphy, her foster mother, at a distance. Carley speaks disrespectfully Mrs. Murphy to make sure she won't

They once had lunch together and Carley treated the waiter very poorly just to see Mrs. Murphy's reaction. Carley said to the waiter whose name was Rainer, "Rainer? That's your name? Do you have a brother named Thunder?" This made Mrs. Murphy embarrassed and the situation later escalated into a bigger circumstance. This is significant because it shows that Carley thinks Mrs. Murphy is getting close to her so she keeps pushing her away. On top of Toni and Mrs. Murphy, Carley doesn't let the boys, Adam, Daniel, and Michael Eric, get close to her either. Adam and Carley don't really have that much of a relationship together. Their relationship is pretty much non-existant other than the fact that they are foster-siblings.In the beginning of the book, Carley didn't give Michael Eric her stuffed giraffe in fear that he would think she was like a sister to him and he would get affixed to her. Carley and Daniel have a relationship, but not a good one because Daniel feels as though Carley took his mother away from him. Even though Carley pushes the boys away I know she really loves