Themes

I think that all of the short stories convey that life is going to give a person lemons. Basically, there is going to be a hard time in every life. It is up to the individual how she handles it. A person can become bitter and take advantage of people, or she could put all her focus on becoming better at one thing. There is always the option of hiding the past from others, or the person could just run away from life. Each story shows a different way the characters dealt with their "lemons." I learned that the best way to deal with the hardships is to take the hit and try to improve the current weakness.

Not only will life give a person "lemons," that person will always run into the users and genuine good people. For example the users of the short stories are Mr. Shiftlet, Waverly's mother, Annie's father, and Donny. The genuine good people would be Lucynell (the daughter), Waverly, Annie, and Daisy. Each story conveyed the idea that at some time a person is going to get used in his lifetime. It could be a simple as being used for showing off or as dramatic as being stolen from. It all depends on the user that particular person meets.