Hush Hush About TillyTilly

So I have done quite a bit of reading so far this semester, and we're only about half way through.  A few weeks ago, we read The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyami, and it was a book that I really got into because the character of TillyTilly is such a mystery.  Although TillyTilly can do all of this great stuff, and is there as a friend for Jess, she wants to be kept a secret.  In my opinion this is because she is trying to protect Jess from what others are going to think about her.  Despite what TillyTilly wants, Jess blabs, and honestly I would have done the same.   Her parents just take the idea of TillyTilly as Jess’s imaginary friend.  As events continue to unfold with Jess and TillyTilly, her parents start to believe that there is something wrong with her psychologically.  This leads to visiting a psychologist, which is something TillyTilly really didn’t want to happen.  Although she meets a friend, Jess ends up getting hurt physically and mentally, which is what I think TillyTilly was trying to avoid and that is why she wanted to be a secret. 

Just as TillyTilly wants Jess to keep her a secret, Oyeyami keeps TillyTilly somewhat of a secret from the reader.  Oyeyami would want to keep TillyTilly a secret to keep readers guessing.  It kept me hooked until the end, where Oyeyami still doesn’t expose if TillyTilly is real or not.  This definitely challenges the material reality of here and now.  It also challenges the reader’s psychological, spiritual, and supernatural beliefs.  The belief of TillyTilly being real or not up to the readers, so keeping her a secret really allows the reader critically think to come up with their own conclusions.