Response to Clary from "City of Bones"

Inquiry: How do Characters feel when they face problems with other characters?

     You may often wonder why many people shut others out or are not very friendly. This could be just their personality but many times people act this way because of something that has affected them in their life. In the book, "City of Bones" by Cassandra Clare, Clary's mother mysteriously disappears and Clary has no clue where she is or why she is gone. Clary meets many people, some of which try to help her but Clary can only trust herself, especially with her secrets. Clary doesn't trust anyone in her life because over her years she has learnt to fend on her own.
     In the book Clary only trusts herself because that is what she is used to. In the book Clary's mother has lied to Clary her whole life, kept secrets and told Clary lies. In the book, Clary's mother, Jocylen, tells Clary that they were just normal people, when infact, they are shadowhunters. Also in the text, Clary tells her mom that she doesnt want to go on a vacation because her mom isnt thinking of what she wants and needs. Clary had planned her whole summer and her mom wanted to take this away from her even though it meant so much, her mom couldn't be trusted. Clearly there is a reason for Clary to shut others out, the person she was supposed to support her told her lies and kept secrets. If she couldn't trust her own mother, then who could she trust others? Clary responds to these lies by telling herself that she can't trust anyone; on page 74 Clary doesn't want the Shadowhunters to see her emotions, "I will not cry, she thought, not in front of these people". It is easy to see that Clary shuts others out, she would rather keep to herself than risk being hurt by others. Another time, Clary doesn't even trust her best friend, on page 17 the text says, "She wondered why she was not telling him the truth" and "something about his voice when he'd said have you talked with the night children? that she wanted to keep to herself." Obviously Clary doesn't trust the people who are closest to her because the last time she did that, her own mother lied to her. It is hard for Clary to let people in on what is really going on in her life because a huge part of her life was false.
     Finally, Clary chooses not to let people into her life because she has been betrayed before by someone who was meant to always make the best choices for her. This is so important because it portrays how one friend's honesty and loyalty can change the other's social comfortabiliy and relationship with so may other people. A person should be able to rely on friends in their life without worrying if they are fake.