I'M Not Scared

The harsh poverty-striken environment of Aqua Traverse lead's both children and adults to search for forms of escape. To what extent do you agree?

I do agree with this statement greatly and it is evident throughout the text. A perfect example of this is the kidnapping of Fillipo, as we found out later in the story most of the adults in Aqua Traverse, played some part in the kidnapping of this boy, all hoping for freedom...

Though they all feel they need to escape this is not actually true, they simply want a better life, as it is human nature to 'want'. Because the truth is they have more than enough to survive eg; food, water, a roof over their heads. However greed drives them to do what they know is wrong in hope that they may one day be able to leave this horrible corrupt town, and have a more enjoyable life.

The want of escape is shown differently though different characters. The mother of Michelle (Theresa) seems to want the escape a lot, and I believe she really just wants her kids to leave the town and not be corrupted by it; as she says to Michelle "Promise me you will leave" when they are talking about Felice, as we all saw how he turned out. I think she wants them to leave because she realises that even good hearted people, like herself, can be driven (by greed) to do such evil things (kidnapping Fillipo). So she realises no matter how good she raises her kids, greed will always be there and cannot be stopped.

The Children see it differently also. I believe that the reason the kids in the gang play so many games using their imagination is as a sort of self-conscious way to escape their boring lives. They also never see things under the surface. For example Michelle does not understand why his parents would be involved in something like this, because all he sees is what is immediately in front of him which is a boy suffering for