The Hard Life on the Run

"Compare and contrast Daisy's life on the farm with her cousins to life on the run with Piper, and determine which of these two scenarios Daisy prefers."

Farm life in Britain is simple and beautiful

Nobody is safe in a war

In the book How I Live Now, Daisy greatly prefers her life on the farm with all of her cousins to her life on the run with Piper.  While on the run from what the story only names as "The Enemy," Daisy and Piper spend every day afraid that they will not survive until the next.  They live in constant fear of being killed, and even some of their friends, including their caretaker Major McEvoy, are killed.  When on the run, Daisy also has to ration the little food that she still has to make it last for as long as possible.  Daisy finds this quite difficult, and she becomes even thinner than she was before.  On top of all this, Daisy is separated from Edmond, her lover, and is constantly missing him.

Compared to this, Daisy's life on the farm is quite pleasant.  Daisy gets all the food that she needs, and spends most every day having fun with her family.  There is no worry of being attacked, and life on the farm is relatively easygoing.  Daisy gets to see Edmond every day, and Daisy remains relatively happy with her stress-free life on the farm with her cousins.  When she is forced to leave her life on the farm, Daisy thought, "All I could do was stare at Edmond and Isaac and even Osbert and try to keep from crying" (Meg Rosoff, 755).  Daisy's first reaction to realizing she would be separated from her family was to cry.  This suggests that, from there onward, Daisy fears she will never have a fun, carefree, relaxing day with her family ever again.  All in all, Daisy's time on the run is an incredibly painful experience for her, and she much prefers the time she spent with her family.