Compares how “Treasure Island” and “Charlotte’s Web” demonstrate how protagonist avatars for ourselves establish they truly matter to “parents” who pretend to value them but whose true lack of interest in them as individuals can’t be mistaken. Argues for seeing stories as recognizing the problem of “not being seen” by parents, and as them as arguing that there exists a remedy for this interest — it is possible to be seen; to accomplish something special enough to warrant genuine interest — rather than for blunt consideration of the possibility that it will always remain impossible.