Matthew lives in constant fear of his abusive mother. He sees her not as a mother but as a dangerous murderer based on the horrible acts of violence she has committed against him and his sisters over the years. Matthew meets Murdoch, a kind man who works to protect children from abuse. Murdoch inspires Matthew and gives him hope that a better life may be possible. The story highlights the harsh realities of child abuse and encourages supporting organizations that fight for children's rights and safety.

1. Danilyn Sanchez
8-73
Ruined Childhood, Distorted Memories
Feeling fear might not bedaily in your life, but in the world that Matthew lives in, it has
already become a part of his routine. Matthew is the protagonist in the book The Rules of
Survivalwrote by my new favourite author Nancy Werlin, and also the book that I am currently
typing this essay about.From the very day that Matthew was born, nothing has changed, not even
a single day has changed during his 13 years worth of memories. Nothing changed, boththe
house and his violent mother whose always been torturing him. He has already grown to the
young man he is, knowing and accepting the fact that when he wakes up, he might suddenly see
his own mother, pressing a knife into his neck, heartlessly. Now for you, fear might just be
another word to describe the feeling when you lose your beloved cellphone, I know, it’s
heartbreaking. To Matthew, fear is not really a bad thing. Fear to him is a friend that warns you
to pay attentionwhen you’re in danger. It tells you to fight or run, to save yourself. Save yourself
before danger finds you, but apparently, he doesn’t have that option when he lives with a
monstrous mother. Matthew has always thought of his mother some kind of dangerous murderer.
Maybe he did see her as one, but he did have a good reason. When he looks at her, he never
really did see her as his mother,he sees the things that she did over the years and the expression
of hers while doing it. Horrible, horrible memories. But now, if I told you a wonderful idea on
saving children such as Matthew from horrid experiences, would you join and support me? By
reading the book “the rules of survival”, you will notice how hard a child’s life can be when you
live in a home where an abusive mother is a day-to-day struggle for survival. And how his life, is
not even close to ours where we freely move and get what we want. To him, it would not even
matter if he was alive or not, if it were not for his little sisters.
But let us be honest here shall we? Are you spoiled? Do you take things for granted, like
your parents perhaps? You might not notice it but once in your life time- no—more than once,
you have probably been spoiled. Think about it carefully, I know it might sound really stupid but
girls when you were three years old, did not you have an obsession for Barbie dolls? And boys,
do you remember the bond you shared with your HotWheels collection? Sometimes were so
obsessed that we would even get mad at our parents,but why? To the fact that they did not buy an
item that you wanted so badly? Well for Matthew, he never really did have the chance to be
spoiled, he rather not try because he did not want to make her angry. Unlike Matthew, you

2. Danilyn Sanchez
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thought that you understood fearbecause all along you thought it was a scary being, am I correct?
If you do, then stop. Your whole body will tear up if you live with yourself thinking that way.
The ability to become aware of fear is a gift, an ability. But what do you do with it when you
have to live with the feeling all the time(Werlin, 8)?Then will you be able to feel and understand
Matthew’s feelings and maybe, just maybe, then will you be able to relate. On the other hand
Matthew, who has no worries about fear becauseto him, it reminds you to pay attention, to act, to
save yourself. To run, run when your fear tells you to (Werlin, 8).Like when you stole an Oreo
cookie from the Oreo package, did your mom, scar your throat as your punishment? While
giggling to herself(Werlin, 9)?Were you scared? Or did you just accept the fact that your throat
is going to be cut? Well, that was Matthew’s only choice. He could not even try and run.
Truth is, when Matthew sees his mother, Nikki. He does not look at her as his mother
instead he recalls the things that she did and the expression of her face while doing it(Werlin,
21). In Nikki’s young age, she had long blonde hair that seemed to be flowing or floating around
her, whenever she walks, as described as Matthew’s father. On the other hand, Matthew’s father
was someone who gets frightened so easily, just by a look at Nikki, he would already start
running. Well, Matthew could not blame his father, she was a heartless woman, you never even
knew if she loved you or not and whenever she tried to show her love, it would all be just a
mistake. She was someone, someone capable of murder to her own kids, to her own children.For
example, there was this one time, when Callie was punished just because of Nikki’s ego. Callie,
who was the 2nd oldest after Matthew was usually the one whostays back home and takes care of
Emmy. There were times when she went outside with Matthew to explore but that was only an
exception if Emmy was sleeping. Emmy, is the youngest out of all three of them, and the one
who they have to protect the most.Emmy has always been the good girl, who listens to her
mother at all times. Callie came home saying she had learned that there were 12 inches in 1 foot.
Nikki made Callie measure her hair. It was less than one foot. This made Nikki very, very angry.
She ended up cutting Callie’s hair almost to the scalp to show her how important hair was to
women(Werlin, 22).Or there was this other time where she slammed mussels into Matthew’s
face. Once.Even twice(Werlin, 29).Sometimes, the people who mean you harm are the people
who say they love and care for you(Werlin, backcover).Please be aware of that.

3. Danilyn Sanchez
8-73
Please, also be aware of anyone and everyone has the right to survive, if they can(Werlin,
THE HARSH TRUTH).A miracle just had to happen for the sake of Matthew and his sisters, and
that is where Murdoch steps up. He was introduced into a beginning of a miracle
summer(Werlin, 30). If Murdoch was ever a word in the dictionary, his simile might as well be
Eshan Khan.Both of them had the same intentions, they both wanted to protect children whose
rights were denied, it is as if they were born in this world to protect. He was a medium man with
a medium height and body(Werlin, 5).They met him at a candy shop. Where Murdoch he was
saving a little boy from his father, who seem to care about money more than his own son. He
was not someone who would cause a fight, or someone who would cause an injury. He was
someone that paid his respects and kept a very good posture, someone who kept a good attitude,
someone who would just stand there, defending a little boy from a father whose about to start
throwing his fists at him. He was someone, who seems to be too good to be a role model, but fits
enough to be a heroine in a story. He was someone, inspiring. This story taught me a lot of
hardships that kids have to go through. And, how I should feel lucky to live in Canada where I
live in a house, aplace where I know I am safe. If I were to ask of you to help and support this
cause, will you join me? Today?Tomorrow?Right now?
How passionate are you? Do you feel your heart raging to stop child abuse? Now that you
have a summary about how child abuse can be severe, and that was not even half abusive to be
compared with other cases. But now, are you determined to help the children who do not have a
place where they should be safe? Because sadly, the one place they should feel safe is the one
place they fear the most (Kpai). And that is where my inspiration came from. I saw two pictures
on the internet that sparked my interests. One was a little girl covering her eyes with both of her
hands and a shadow beside her. An angry shadow. The other picture I saw was a painting I
believe, it had a girl with duct tape on her mouth. Written on the duct tape were these words: IF
YOU TELL ANYONE, I WILL KILL YOU. I wanted to make an advertisement but the girl
who is originally by the shadow is now replaced with the girl who has duct-tape on her mouth.
Child abuse is a silent killer, but do not let that evolve into gruesome murder.This book taught
me many things. Why lessons were made to be obeyed, why were there laws if there are people
around who waves a gun? Why, why do people decide to have children if their just going to tear
them up apart? This book, helped me realized that all my questions, were idiotic, because if I
look closely into our world, the answer was already right at my face. Please take action, and

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support. You can support by helping organizations, spread out all around the world. Some major
organizations that support child rights are Free The Children and UNICEF and that is not even
all of them, there are many more. Each organization has their own advantages and disadvantages
use those advantages to your liking. Always remember that, each supporting member of the
community, counts.