They Cage the Animals At Night: An Authobiographical Novel about the Story of a Strong Orphan

The novel “They Cage the Animals At Night”, portrays the heartbreaking story of a young boy named Jennings Micheal Burch. Left at an orphanage when he was only nine, Jennings was thrown into a world full of grief, sorrow, and despair while he was shuttled through the American Foster Care System. He was often intertwined within his family’s constant fighting at home, while also receiving horrific name-calling and bullying at school. Throughout his traumatizing years, Jennings never stayed in one place long enough to make a friend. Instead, he resorted to his ragged stuffed animal named Doggie for the compassion, love, and hope that he was longing to receive. However, while his experiences were terrifying and poignant, Jennings does eventually reach his ultimate goal — the feeling of love and care. After Jennings final runaway attempt, he is caught by a police officer named Officer Daily.

Officer Daily welcomes Jennings into his home and promises that he will find someone to take care of him. In the end, Jennings is overjoyed after finding out that Sal is ready to adopt him into his loving family. This true story represents the struggles and problems that Jennings faced and how he changed to overcome them. Without a doubt, Jennings survival is undeniably a result of his physiological strength.

To begin, Jennings was definitely in for a surprise when he was abruptly thrown into an Orphanage called “The Home Of the Angels”. From here on out, he would quickly realize that his life would take a turn for the worst. Jennings was initially scared, timid, and afraid, which he described as, “They left me in the middle of what seemed to be a thousand staring eyes. I felt strange and tingly all over. I couldn’t move” (4). Already in shock, it doesn’t help to ease Jennings nerves when he is beaten up and yelled at by Sister Frances. Jennings recalls, “She began dragging me across the floor of the now empty room,” and then, “In one great sweep she opened the door marked “Boys”, and flung me through it. I staggered into pitch-black darkness” (5). Jenning finally experiences something positive when he meets Mark, a chubby boy with dark, horn-rimmed glasses. When Jennings explains to Mark, “I guess I'm just not paying too much attention. I want to go home”, Mark shoots back with, “Now, that is rule number one, don't ever think about going home.” From here on out, Jennings concludes he must have a strong mindset to survive, and so he clings to Mark for guidance.

Also, Jennings shows that he is quite clueless about many of the rules in the orphanage. For instance, his lack of knowledge of the procedures causes him to be scolded and yelled at by the nuns.

At one incident, Jennings was simply attempting to sit on his assigned chair, but would instantly regret it when Sister Frances harshly yanked on his left ear for sitting before the clicker. She yelled, “Sit when you’re supposed to, and not a moment before!” (9). Additionally, Jennings also shows that he is timid to talk to girls. This is proven when Stacy Anne Perry walks up to Jennings and asks, “How old are you?” (28). Jennings shyly responds with, “Uh... eight and a half” (28). It seems that Jennings feels embarrassed that he socializing with a girl, even though none of the other boys seem to care. Moreover, when Butch, the bully of the orphanage is making fun of Mark, Jennings is not able to control his anger and lashes out at Butch, knocking him to the floor. The fight continued until Sister Frances came and slapped both kids, before throwing them back into their beds. By succumbing to Butch’s irritating behaviors, this shows the reader that Jennings has not developed the emotional strength to resist the urge to start a fight. Lastly, Jennings is extremely homesick. Without much context of why he was left at the orphanage, Jennings often questioned when or if his mom was going to ever return. He longs to be tucked into bed like other kids, and have someone who will comfort him when is feeling depressed. As a result, Jennings always seems to be experiencing a wave of emotions, never truly understanding where he will end up the next day. To conclude, Jennings is scared, timid, and shy at the beginning of the novel.

However, while Jennings may be afraid, he shows that he has the willpower to overcome the multitude of physiological problems thrown at him through the years. For instance, the greatest problem he faces would be the loss of his many friends. The first would be Stacy, a girl that he quite fond of. After witnessing Sister Frances call Stacy’s name, Jennings knew that she would most likely be leaving soon. He found out, however, when Stacy burst through the door, shouting to everyone that she is going home. After Jennings and Stacy say their goodbyes, Mark suddenly says to Jennings, “About the kids rule ‘No Friends’. It's hard to explain the feeling you just feel it.” This is the first time Jennings would understand what Mark said when he first got to the orphanage, about how hard it is to lose a friend. Not long after this incident, Jennings would be even more devastated after finding out he would be departing with Mark as well. When Jennings finds out that his mother had come back to take him out of the orphanage, he is ecstatic, but then quickly realized that he could potentially lose Mark Forever. He asks his mom, “Mark is my friend. He lives here. Can we take him home, can we?”(60) Jennings finds out the answer is no, and so he runs over to mark and throws his arms around him, bawling out tears along the way. As a result of these feelings of separation and sadness, Jennings builds tougher skin, realizing that friendships come and go. This mentality helps him in the later orphanages, where he can make new friends. Furthermore, another problem that Jennings had to overcome was his transition back to school. Due to spending so much time at the orphanage, he was quite behind all the other kids. He is bullied and tormented by it, and even the teacher pitches in by humiliating him in front of the entire class. However, Jennings stays strong, and perseveres, eventually learning that he shouldn’t care what other people think. Later, Jennings finds out that he will be sent to another orphanage, called St. Theresa's. Here, Jennings notices a young boy, Peter, lifting a metal cup of hot cocoa. Quickly realizing the extent of without the cup was, the innocent boy drops it on the table cloth, spilling it everywhere. Relating to the young boy’s situation, Jennings shoots up and states, “Sister, I spilled my Cocoa!”. Jenning ends up taking the blame, sparring the boy from a harsh beating. Jennings knew that he did the right thing, even if he ended up paying the price.

Finally, Jennings also has to deal with the challenge of his family, who are often separated from each other, His mother is constantly burdened with stress because of George and Walter’s no stop fighting. Not to mention that she is fighting a constant battle of debilitating illnesses that prevent her from working and taking care of the family. For George, his method of escape was to drink like the old man, but this only added to the list of problems. George felt like he isn't being recognized for all the hard work and effort he puts into the family, and he felt that it was unfair that he had a job while Walter just studied all day. To make matters worse, one of the brothers (Jerome), is in the hospital due to a fatal heart condition, and this causes even more stress for the family. To overcome these problems, Jennings learns to be almost the middle man in the relationship, learning both perspectives of everyone in the family. This allows him to build strong relationships with his brothers, in which he understands where everyone is coming from. By doing so, Jennings can comfort his brothers, like when he told George, “I see other things. You once me Doggie when I needed him. You tried to get more out of this home, and you're the only one who calls me Mike” (227). These are just some of the terrible challenges Jennings has to face, and the struggles of how he overcame them.

Throughout the years, Jennings encountered physiological problems that would bring tears to anyone's eyes. However, through perseverance and willpower, he managed to overcome them, resulting in many changes in his character. To start, Jennings matured mentally. A lot of the times when he was young, he was often scared, helpless, and lost. However, as he suffered through emotional troubles, he grew more independent as a person. For instance, Jennings took the responsibility of finding Sal, after finding out Larry had run away. He stated, “Now what? I didn’t know. I didn’t have any money. I had to think. I know, I’ll go to the Bronx and find Sal. I walked to the corner to wait for the bus. (172)”. However, after questioning the bus driver, Jennings finds out that Sal doesn't work again until Monday. Now, at this point any normal ten years old would turn around, or call the police for help, but not Jennings. He camps in the Bronx Zoo, surviving on some old ladies popcorn and a half eating frankfurter. When the time finally comes, Jennings is relieved to be with Sal once again. He asks him, “Sal, what good is it to like people?” (179). Sal responds by explaining about the old man, and how pushing everyone away only leads to unhappiness and regret. Instead of being afraid if they would leave, enjoy the friendship while it lasts or you will always be alone. Jenning’s takes this lesson to heart, as when a boy gained the courage to apologize for making fun of Jennings. He could have either ignored him or accepted the apology. By accepting the apology, Jennings made a new friend. Later, Jenning’s also shows how his view on love has changed as well. As a kid, Jennings was always really embarrassed whenever Stacy would show signs of affection towards him. He would blush, and try to hide it from everyone else.

However, now Jennings released a new perspective on what love is. For example, he kissed Stacy back and realized that by keeping his feelings trapped inside him that he would only result in more pain than it was worth. Finally, Jennings changed as he started to understand what other people were going through. For instance, during his stay at one of the orphanages, he got into a fight with a kid named Ronny. Instead of holding a grudge against him, Jennings thought back to when he was younger and about kids like Butch. So, when Ronnie said, “Who is the toughest kid here”, and then “I am!”, Jennings responded with ‘Maybe you are, and maybe you’re not.” Ronnie blushed because of this, and then smiled for the first time, shaking hands with Jennings. Jennings most likely understood that Ronnie was probably hurting inside too, and then it was no use in fighting someone who didn't know how to control the emotions and problems in their life. And for Ronnie, his escape from life was to tell people that he was the toughest one out there. These are some of the many ways that Jennings personality and character changed due to his physiological strength.

In conclusion, the autobiography, “They Cage the Animals at Night”, is truly a heart-wrenching story filled with unforgettable events. Not only does it provoke sadness and tears in the reader's eyes, but it also demonstrates how perseverance and willpower enable you to overcome even the greatest challenges thrown at you in your life. It takes guts, determination, and hope to be in Jenning’s shoes, and most people simply couldn’t even fathom if they were suddenly thrown into his life. From the beginning of the novel, the reader witnessed Jennings massive transformation. He was initially scared, timid, and afraid, but over time he developed independence, willpower, and so much more. Based on examples from the novel, Jennings survival was undoubtedly due to his physiological strength.