Sunday, January 5, 2014
Online Analysis: Independent Reading Assignment #2, Literary Fiction
Answer the following question making specific references to your text:
The most important themes in literature are sometimes developed in that scene or those scenes which capture the climax of the plot. Explain how the specific scenes of your text's climax help to illuminate the meaning of the work as a whole. (Adapted from AP English Literature Free Response Question, 2004.)
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The book I read was Grendel. Grendel is a monster who understands the English language and likes to observe humans and the way they interact with each other. The book is written through his perspective therefore making the reader feel sympathy. Grendel lived a very lonesome and misunderstood life. He felt disgust and confused with the way people would negotiate and express with each other. Like when he saw a young king give off his sister to an older king, as a way to establish a friendship between the two kingdoms. Grendel didn't know much about morals but was yet able to think that some of the actions the humans would do were wrong. Another example is when there would be war. He knew there was a dispute and that two sides were enemies but could it have been pointless?
ReplyDeleteA scene in which Grendel's life was endangered showed that we are all alone, from the day we are born to the night that we die, we are alone, it just doesn't seem like it since were surrounded by people and share the Same interests and experiences. Another climax in the story is when Unferth a man that tries to be a hero by killing Grendel, follows him to his cave awaiting to die as a hero having no more strength to fight... Is then spared by Grendel's pitty. This falls under disappointment and grief. Unferth was left at the foot of the meadhall safely who probably didn't tell that he was carried by Grendel so that he wouldn't degrade himself even more.
At the end of the book Grendel is killed he admitted that the advantages they had was because of an accident when he slipped and that it was pure luck. He was afraid and excited to face them, wanting a challenge to see what they could do to him. The hated one, the one that cannot be named, must always be brought to an end.
Well, I read Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov and in the story, this man named Humbert Humbert (weird name, I know) , who at first I thought was the biggest creep (second to Rusty Nail from the movie Joyride haa xD) because of the way he “spoke” to the reader directly and the way he described his love for nymphets –young girls between the ages of nine and fourteen. He began to talk about his first love, Annabel who at the time, they were both around the ages of 13. After she moved away and died, he hadn’t been with anyone for 25 years, until the day he moves in with the Haze family who is a single mother with a “nymphet” of only twelve years old. After the mother gets hit by a car after reading Humberts diary entries about how hes in love with her daughter Dolores (Lolita), Humbert and Lolita begin their journey going to many different hotels across the country where they would be alone to… do their business. After a number of months, Lolita begins to grow tired of Humbert and is not as infatuated by him anymore. Humbert begins seeing a man following them wherever they went and would talk to Lolita and once Humbert would get close enough to confront the stranger, he would vanish, causing Humbert to think he was crazy. After a while, Lolita becomes ill and is taken to the hospital where the next day, she is kidnapped and Humbert searches everywhere for her. After two years after giving up his search, he receives a letter from Lolita and he goes to see her. He asks her to go back with him but she kindly refuses and he gives her money to help her with her not-yet-born baby and walks away sobbing. Those were all the points that I thought were climaxes because the way, both the characters in the story and me personally, reacted to it. Throughout the book, Humbert writes to the reader in a specific way, sort of like he’s trying to make the reader feel sympathetic towards him, which personally towards the end, I did feel pretty bad for him. Even though he did all those things to her, he had a self realization moment where he knew he had ruined her childhood and he called himself a maniac for doing it. But in all honesty, I think I felt bad for him mostly because he truly did love her while she was never really IN love with him. He did everything to make her happy and I feel like she didn’t give a damn, even until the end when he loved her so much but knew he had to let her go.
ReplyDeleteNot going to lie, I havent finished my book yet.. Anyway, the book I am reading is called "Rant" which, from what I understand, is about a famous person who has died and everyone is recalling all the memories, both good and bad, they've shared with him, Rant Casey. Since I'm not finished with the book yet, I don't really know if the book has a climax to it since it's all just a bunch of people sharing memories about rant. But, for me, I think the book started getting really interesting when one of the characters recalled a time when they were apart of some boy scout club, but the only way they could identify themselves as being part of them was by wearing a red handkerchief around their neck, while other, more wealthy kids, got to wear a full uniform. One day, they were out collecting old cans to recycle in order to receive a merit badge from their boy scout club. They went to a house and asked the owner if he had any old cans to throw out. Of course, wanting to get rid of his old cans, he gives the boys a load of old pain cans he had stored. Upon arriving home with a wheelbarrow full of the old paint cans, the boys open them up, and found they contained old silver and gold coins dating back to the 18th century. Rant decided to save his share of the money while his friend did some spending. After a while, many kids around the neighborhood ended up getting a cut of the money too, but the catch was that they had to tell their parents the money was from the tooth fairy. The kids in that neighborhood didn't believe in the tooth fairy at all, they knew it was just a lie, and the parents, confused but happy at the amount of money their kids had, just decided to play along with it, just so long as they got some of the money for themselves. Eventually, store owners and other adults wanted to con kids out of their coins, so some of them set up ice cream stands or sold balloons to the kids, and since they didn't know the true value of the coins they had, they happily gave it up. The entire town showed their true colors, they showed how greedy they are and how far they would stoop for wealth, and all because Rant. It was at this point in the story where I saw how much controversy Rant, at such a young age, caused, and all unintentionally, which made it all the more funnier. I really recommend this book.
ReplyDeleteYou need to finish it! The book is fantastic and wickedly brilliant. I loved that part of the novel and Dewey you're in for a treat because that is NOT the only statement Chuck Palahniuk makes with this brilliant novel. Plahniuk forces us to looks at our society thru his insane eyes and whats more shocking is how truthful and spot on his doomsday predictions are. Rant truly is one of the best books I've ever read and I think you will really like it, even tho is truly sickening at one point, which is no surprise coming from the writer of Fight Club. I hope you reach it soon.
DeleteI, just like Jenny, read Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov. When I started reading the book, I did think Humbert was a total creep. The way that explained Nymphets or how he spoke about his obsessions made me very uncomfortable. I agree with Jenny, somewhere along the story you stop thinking about how his desires made you feel and begin to feel empathetic towards him. I think at the moment when I finally changed to his side was when Lolita started to become very suspicious. Whether it be flirting with a guy at the pool, play tennis with the same guy, or getting it behind the wheel to 'stop the car from rolling.' I think I began to feel bad for Humbert because I could tell something was going to happen. I felt that he didn't deserve to be treated the way she was treating him after everything that he had done for her. Yes, he was a complete and utter creep, but he was in love. Then towards the end, after being without Lolita for a while and having her come back into his life, I felt bad that he once again had to live without her.
ReplyDeleteAll the scenes that Vladimir Nabakov wrote in regard to Lolita and Humbert's adventures together all had one purpose: to make the reader change their entire idea. I felt like he wanted them to come in having a personal opinion about Humbert, but by the end of the book, they would have a completely different opinion after hearing his story. It reminded me of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. He wrote about two murderers that anybody would feel hatred towards, but changed that idea by the end of the book. It was the exact same thing.
I read the book "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad. Also like Dewey, im not going to lie, i did no understand this book fully. It was very difficulty written and once again being honest, it was insanely boring. This book is basically Marlow telling the story of his journey on the Congo River, but most importantly, his meeting and time spent with Kurtz. Marlow had believed Kurtz to be a fair and just leader. The climax of this book is when Marlow realizes that like most of the world Kurtz is not in fact the person he had expected, but just as dark and corrupt as anyone else. I don't have the text any more so its going to be hard to quote it...sorry..not sorry, im glad to be rid of that book. Anyways despite Marlow's new found information about the true Kurtz he still cannot stop thinking about him and even maybe admiring him. It was almost as though he were infatuated with him. Marlow describes it as beyond his control, that said, Marlow also contradicts himself often. He also calls Kurtz "Hollow" on more than one occasion. The climax of this novel continues as Kurtz becomes sicker and sicker. He slowly begins to loose his mind..actually not so slowly, he's just crazy. And while the company wants to abandon him, Marlow stays by his side. Because of his support to Kurtz, Marlow also becomes sick. Although he Real climax of this novel is brought about by Marlow's realization of, as the title suggest, humans "heart of Dankness" I found one scene in particular the most interesting. This part is when Marlow wakes up to find Kurtz out of bed. Keep in mind that at this time Kurtz is coo coo. In fact he cant even walk, he crawls. Marlow finds him crawling in the jungle. (The crawling part makes it doubly scary) Anyways as you can imagine his part was interesting ( or at least as interesting as this book could get) because Marlow found Kurtz at his craziest, he confronted him and what not. He believed Kurtz was going to alert the natives and get them both killed, so he had to threaten Kurtz to stop him. Ya kno. Shortly after that Kurtz died... Finally!!!! i swear if he would have died sooner than the book would have been shorter! Any ways that was ma fav climax scene. Conrad built up to this scene with Kurtz illness so that made it better, also by showing that Kurtz had, not the best of relationship with some of the natives (whom he was approaching with his demented crawl). Thank you very much for reading this.. if you do. i wish i could have read Lolita.
ReplyDelete-Eva- Maria
Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time.
ReplyDeleteI read the classic time travel novel Slaughterhouse Five, by America's greatest sitarist, Kurt Vonnegut. The novel was nothing short of brilliant. Kurt made an incredible "anti-war" novel that is not structured at all like classic novels but rather the character of Billy Pilgrim being unstuck in time, which meant he just went back and forth in time. The climax can be said to be when Dresden (a German city) gets bombed and Billy Pilgrim (our main character) finally realizes how truly awful that bombing was 20 years after it occurred as it suddenly hits him psychologically. I'm sorry it seems to me like I gave you all the info without any background information. The novel is the story of how Billy Pilgrim is an American solider who has been imprisoned by the Germans and who also has been unstuck in time and is doomed to go back and forth in time, but only in his lifeline, (that means from childhood to death, he is doomed to travel back and forth between those two points in time and be fully awarded.) Some of the incidents in his time odyssey are, his marriage, his service in the army, his imprisonment by the Germans during WWII and the irony of his life being saved in a slaughterhouse, the horrific bombing of Dresden, his time in a mental institution, and of course the time he was abducted by aliens. Oh of course i forget to say, he gets abducted by aliens in the novel, the Tralfamadorians, yes what a vivid imagination Vonnegut had. The infamous aliens give Billy Pilgrim and the reader an unconvinient truth that nobody wants to hear,there is on such thing as free will. we are bound to repeat everything we do over and over, we are just stuck in the moment. That's Vonnegut's argument we are just stuck in the moment and its useless to fight it, this moment we are stuck on is full of bad things and good things. its better to remember the good things are his concluding remarks, very wise remarks. With that in mind that we are bound to repeat everything also shine slight to the anti-war section of the novel. WAR, we are bound to repeat the mistake that war is over, and over, and over again. Our human existence has not reach a place in which war is not a necessary evil, and for us to try to fight is is ridiculous. Vonnegut wrote what you might call a sad book, yet you cant help but to laugh at times because of hiss satire. Its a bittersweet journey reading this novel, much like life. Vonnegut makes a powerful statement in the middle of the novel that affects every solider who has ever fought in the war, a statement he has probably said himself since he was a solider and he talks to the reader thru the novel as a wounded solider, the statement was:
EVERYTHING WAS BEAUTIFUL AND NOTHING HURT.
That was the major punch Vonnegut was awaiting, after all it was an anti-war book with a lot of emotional detours. We are bound to live relive awful times, so remember the good ones ladies and gentleman, that's what Vonnegut was telling the reader with this novel. The book begins with the very, very first statement i wrote on top of this paragraph, "Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time". The novel ended with a statement about war, just a statement because everything else said about war was so stupid according to Vonnegut, everything about war is stupid so nothing can really be said after destruction. So all Vonnegut can said, and this is how he ended the novel, was with a bird speaking to Billy after he returned to the now ashes of what once was Dredsend. What the bird said because its truly the only thing that can be said was:
"Poo-tee-weet"
I read The Road by Cormac McCarthy, it was about an unnamed father and son living in a post-apocalyptic world filled with cannibalists and roadagents, who kidnap, torture, and eat people. In this new world, reminisces of the old world are few and sparse, however, the father teaches the boy about the old world's ideas of justice and courage in hopes of ensuring the boy continues to "carry the fire", a sense of right and wrong and humanity, inside him. Throughout the book, the boy is consumed with making sure he and his father keep on "carrying the fire" inside them and are the good guys as they see cannibalism and torture practiced all around them. As the book progresses, the father grows more and more ill and eventually dies in the end. When the man passes away, the boy refuses to leave him for three days, at which point, he is found and taken in by another family.
ReplyDeleteThe father's emphasis on justice and humanity in his talks with the boy, the father's eventual death, and the boy's continued belief in the ideas of humanity and justice after his father's death serve to show the reader that in an unjust world, even if you've never known a just one, justice and humanity will remain in some of us and will be passed on. Throughout the book, the boy is exposed to cannibalism first hand, even once seeing an eaten baby, and yet he continues to believe in humanity. McCarthy sought to show the reader that, even in the most hostile and unforgiving situations, justice and humanity will prevail, the boy was a symbol of this.
I read the Color Purple by Alice Walker. The book is organized as a journal of sorts and is about a woman named Celie and her life in America (1980's) as an abused black woman. The beginning of the book is just about Celie's everyday life. In every entry Celie starts off with "Dear God" as she is a religious person. Throughout Celie's life, men play a specific role in her life, oppressors. She was abused by her stepdad, which resulted in Celie’s lost children, and married to a man that doesn't love her. Albert, Celie’s husband and her step dad are the main antagonists through most of the book and are the main obstacles to Celie's happiness. That is until Shug Avery, Albert's mistress, comes in the picture and eventually leads Celie's to her autonomy.
ReplyDeleteThe climax scene of the book is when the whole family, including Shug, are sitting and eating. This is when Shug announces that Celie and Mary Agnes are moving to Memphis. This scene is very important because throughout the whole book we see the men, in this timeframe, as the people in power over the lives of women. In this scene Celie speaks up for herself and moves away from Albert saying "You a lowdown dog is what’s wrong, I say. It’s time to leave you and enter into the Creation. And your dead body just the welcome mat I need." p.99. I thought Shugs influence would be what moves Celie into moving on but instead it is Celie's own anger at Albert for keeping Nettie away from her that moves her from her submissive personality.
What follows the climax is what I think to be speaking on the main theme of the book. Yes, the book deals with racism in America (Sofia), sexuality (Shug and Celie), and spirituality (Celie's journal, Nettie and Shug), but the main thing that the book communicates is the power of the individual. After leaving with Shug, Celie starts her own business sewing and designing pants. Even Mary Agnes (she is usually called Squeak but Mary Agnes is actually a pretty name) tries to sing and become like Shug. We see Celie move onto being an individual because she moves away from Albert but she also learns how to live without Shug. Also, with the help of Shug, comes up with her own idea of God away from the white bearded man that she pictured. In the end, Celie's emotional and financial independence speaks on, what I think to be, the main theme of the book.
The book I read was ‘The Bonesetters Daughter’ by Amy Tan. Amy Tan is a classic American- Chinese culture writer; her stories often about the kayos of living with these cultures can create. This book’s two main characters were a mother and daughter with a fragile relationship, and as the mother’s mental condition became progressively worse, it causes the daughter to take a dive into her mother’s history to try and understand her better, and fix their complex relationship. This also presents an opportunity for Ruth, the daughter, to learn about her heritage and try to better understand herself; the result of this adventure, ‘The Bonesetters Daughter’. Or so it’s supposed to seem.
ReplyDeleteThe end of the book was my favorite part, and I belie the most important part too. The end is when Ruth leaves her mother’s story behind and does something about it. So many years Ruth has spent as a ghost writer, writing and rewording other people’s ideas and stories into masterpieces with hardly a thank you. Going through her mother’s childhood and journey to America changed her. It grounded Ruth, gave her purpose and connected her to a part of herself she never knew. And so she wrote, at last, not someone else’s words, not for someone else, but for herself. Her own words, and the story that she wanted to write. In the journey of her mother’s past Ruth found herself.
This story is about reconnecting, about understanding and about self enlightenment. As Ruth slowly loses her mother to dementia, she finds the mother she never knew, understanding each other as they never had before. And revisiting the past is just what Ruth needed to mend the problems in her present and move forward.
I read the book ' heart-shaped box' by joe hill. This book is about a 54 year old rockstar named Jude Coyne who has a strange fascination for the occult, he has an extensive collection of strange objects, including a cookbook for cannibals, between other objects, this collection is just part of his 'rockstar image' along with his wide ranged groupies he's had while on tour. His life was simple until he buys a suit that is believed to be 'haunted'. after receiving this suit, the real story begins, at first this 'ghost' is subtle only frightening the dogs, later these "hauntings" get stronger. As jude begins to believe that this 'ghost' is real, he later discovers that this spirit was sent by some family members of a groupie he had named florida (named after the state he met her in) whose real name was anna. Anna had committed suicide due to her horrifying depression & the heart break jude has caused her . Because anna's family had been part of the occult,they sent the ghost, purposely as revenge for anas death. According to them the ghost would avenge her death. As the hauntings gets stronger, hill creates strong imagery of these hauntings. For example the first time jude saw the ghost, hill was very specific to what he was wearing & how his face was structured , specifically pointing out the darkness in the eyes of the dead man. Hill creates scenes that describe people having paranormal encounters that are so descriptive, it creates a creepy environment for the reader . I may say as I read I was scared (specially reading it alone at 2am) . Hill goes from subtle scenes of ghost encounters to full blown, creepy ouija board scenes. Hill makes these scenes strong enough to frighten, but always keeping a realistic side to them. To those who believe in ghosts & the occult as myself, it is very interesting & believable.
ReplyDelete"Lolita" by Vladmir Nabokov, a story supposedly by Humbert Humbert an imprisoned man, writing in a journal that is to be published by Nabokov. On first glance, Humbert comes off as a common jailbird, but immediately plunges into a lengthy story, intended for us readers to view upon as though we were the "jury" about his life leading up to this point.
ReplyDeleteIn the spirit of keeping pace, I'll give you the "skinny" on his mindset up to this time. Mr. Humbert, has an affinity for nymphets (girls between 9 and 14) most likely caused by the death of his early childhood lover Annabel, as noted throughout the story by Humbert, the narrator. The entire story literally revolves around this single trait of Humbert's. After entering and leaving several hospitals for mental breakdowns, Humbert finds himself leaving for a friend's friends home, where he meets Dolores or "Lolita" as he calls her, a young girl whom he relates to Annabel and is immediately taken with. After the mother discover this, she hurries to report him, but is accidentally ran over, leaving Lolita in the care of Humbert, whom the family friends assume is her rightful father.
My absolute idea of the climax for this novel takes place shortly after these events. Much to Humbert's delight, they embark on a road trip where they end up at the "Enchanted Hunters Hotel." It is once they get a room is where Humbert informs us the he had drugged Lolita so that while he can fondle her in her sleep, he will also preserve her innocence. In this same hotel (but at a different time) Lolita finally gives in to Humbert's desires. Humbert stops the story here to ensure us that SHE in fact seduced him. Now that Humbert is finally satiated, that he has now gotten what he wants from Lolita, the story only descends from this, the climax but also leaves the reader wondering what Lolita will now do with Humbert. Is she going to leave him, turn him in, or worse.
Now, this book is filled with *ahem* vivid scenes of tomfoolery, but this scene in particular is that of which Humbert and Lolita consummate their new found relationship. This scene is where they are officially and secretly together, only to be followed by the rest of the book's mentions of hiding information from any outsiders they come across and Humbert's overprotective tendencies.
(Side note) This was a terrible decision of a book XDD I curse my indecisiveness and lack of a personal library card, for these are the bane of my existence! XDD
Like Miguel I also read "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker. The way the book is read is through a journal perspective. At first this girl Celie writes to God but as the story progresses she starts writing to her sister Nettie.In which later we find out that Albert has been hiding Nettie's letters. The reason Albert does this is because the day Nettie went to see Celie Albert tries to rape Nettie and she protects herself but Albert threatens her and tells her that she will never speak or see Celie again. Which leads to the climax. The climax in the story is the part where Shug announces that she Celie and so on are moving to Memphis. "Sofia so surprise to hear me speak up she ain't chewed for ten minutes". This quote was short but important to the story because all of Celie's life she hadn't spoke her mind and she was just quit the whole time. She wouldn't speak up about the situation with her step-dad and she didn't with Albert up until this point.Throughout her life in society she was felt as being the lower one not only for being African -American but also for being a women. She felt like her opinion did not matter and she finally had the courage to speak what was on her mind and was not afraid to do so. Seeing that Celie spoke out encourages Mary Agnes to announce that she is also moving to Memphis with them. It was important part of the book that Celie spoke out because if it weren't for the stunt she pulled Mary Agnes would have not had the courage to speak up as well as say that she was going with them.
ReplyDeleteThe book I read was, “How the Garcia Girls lost their Accent”, by Julia Alvarez. I found this book interesting, and quite disturbing at some points. The climax of the book was when the Garcia Family moved to the United States from the Dominican Republic. This is what gives the book a complete transition. Although it doesn’t start by talking about the reasons of why the family had to move. Most of the events of the story are because such change for the Family, affecting mostly the four girls. Two of the girl had the most traumatizing experiences of them all Yolanda and Sandra. Yolanda had to spend time in a mental hospital, she had trouble with men, for example Rudy, because of her different way of being raised into a more conservative life style, he saw her as a prude, or frigid. She later explained that Rudy didn’t appreciate her distinct ways, such as her Spanish and culture. Abusive, prejudice schoolboys harassed Sandra. Sofia was sent back to the Domican Republic because she smoked marijuana; later on her parents found out she had been doing worse there. Although Carla, one of the sisters had trouble learning English and adjusting, she didn’t face the difficulties her sister did. Each of the scenes in this book relate to the fact that the Garcia family moved to the U.S and had trouble adjusting, they had trouble adapting to a whole new culture, they also had trouble taking their best decisions. This adaptation lead to mental problems, breakdowns and bad decisions. They became rebellious, such as Sofia whom ran away from home and married a German man. The girls wanted to vivid the moments they had back in their hometown, such as Yolanda when going back to the Dominican Republic.
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ReplyDeleteI read the Life Of PI, by Yann Matel, this book was first published in 2002, and it is written in a first person whom the author explains how he came to hear the story of the book.
ReplyDeleteThe main theme of the book was power of lifes force and the desire of human friendship. The first climax that happpen in the book was when Tsimstum sinks and Pi's family leaving him alone in the boat with wild animals.For months Pi, along with a Royal Bengal tiger, he must fight for survival aboard of the boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Pi was rescued in Mexico when two Japanese officials interview him.
The scene of where the Tsimstum sinks and Pi looses his family and is left alone with wild animals. This is illuminates the meaning of the story because it is telling us that even if we are left alone in this wild world with no one around we could still survive.It is also giving us an example to really appreciate what we have gotten because like him we can loose eveything in a second. He had to live his life without havinig no one is his life. I know that their is people in their lifes like him that lost all of their families and were left alone.
Also throughout the story Pi he makes his belief of god really clear that he really loved god because he of the different religions he follow(Hindu, Muslim,and Christian). Pi talked about hsi interst to god before he got on the boat. People tryed to tell Pi that he could only belive in one god because if he didnt he was doubiting hsi beliefs. To be honest I am Catholic and we are kinda told that we should only stick to one. When Pi lost his family thats were he should of have gotten more closer to god because thats when he really needed someone to help him.
The book I read was Life of Pi, where a man named Piscine Molitor Patel also known as Pi, tells his story about how he came to truly believe in his faith. Pi and his family, along with some animals from their former zoo, set sail on a cargo ship to Canada. After a few days the ship sinks and Pi is stuck on a lifeboat in the Pacific with a zebra, hyena, orangutan, and Bengal tiger. Overall the significance of this story is in reference to faith, and how one doesn’t truly believe in their faith until it’s challenged and survives against all odds, just as Pi did as he survived 227 days in the Pacific Ocean with an adult male Bengal tiger. A story that Pi says will, “… make you believe in God.”.In the beginning of the story Pi decides to adopt three religions: Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. The way he explores and expresses himself about each religion, like when in Chapter 19 Pi talks about the deep connection he felt with his connection when his forehead touched the floor as he prayed in a Muslim Mosque. As Pi lost all of his family in the shipwreck and was stranded in the Pacific, all of his beliefs were challenged. As a Hindu, Pi lives a strict vegetarian life, but as he was stranded in the Pacific Ocean and all of his food supply ran out, he was forced to eat fish and any other type of meat he could lay his hands on. After always living such a strict vegetarian diet, an essential part of Hinduism, he decides that in order to survive he must eat meat. There are other events that signify how living creatures are willing to do anything in order to survive, and if necessary go against some of their own morals. The orangutan, Orange Juice, was usually peaceful and quiet until one day she ferociously fought against the hyena. Or how the injured zebra fought so willingly to stay alive, a vivid painful struggle as he clung to his life. The vivid descriptions of the day by day struggle that the zebra undergoes to stay alive, not only signify Pi’s daily struggle to stay alive but also show how faced against the hardest of all struggles one will verify if their faith is truly what they claim to be. Such vivid descriptions help point out the meaning of the book as they become memorable parts. Not only do you get a clear image of what’s going on but throughout the book you begin to realize that what is written is not just simply that, but the events go far beyond and create a more abstract meaning. Yet the most important parts where the ones in which Richard Parker, the Bengal tiger, played role in, because he wasn’t just the reason that Pi chose to survive but the strength that Richard Parker possessed was one that Pi identified himself with. Richard Parker’s strength, mystery and beauty were a constant reminder in what I believe was Pi’s faith towards God.
ReplyDeleteI read the book 'Life Of Pi', in the book the main character is Piscine (most commonly referred to as Pi) I believe the main point of this story was not Pi and his faith in god or all of his religions or even the struggle to survive, although those turning points in the story were the points that nudged him in the right direction, the destination being that Pi would find faith in himself, not just in god but in his own ingenuity and cleverness to survive. That is what I believe the author was trying to illuminate to the audience: Find the faith in yourself to survive and conquer every obstacle thrown at you, because no matter how faithful you are in any number of higher beings, the one who will save you here and now is yourself. There were many points in the story where Pi would cry out to his god asking for salvation or even an answer for why he was being put through this, and nothing was answered. Seeing from that perspective and taking all the religious thinking out of the book (since in my view it was more of a ruse for the deep meaning.) you see that Pi was, metaphorically, dealing with the wild tiger that was his soul. Untamed, unmanageable and jumpy at best, reflecting that of Pi's own actions as a child with religion never once picking one religion and following it to it's whole, unable to feel serenity in any one religion as most would. His life in the raft with Richard Parker was him first coming to terms with and dealing with the pain and anger he felt at losing his family, and as time progressed and they became something of companions Pi is starting to learn to be one with himself. As the book ends and Richard Parker and Pi have reached land and Richard Parker leaves Pi alone, it's almost ritualistic in a way, like Pi is setting his soul free.
ReplyDeleteThis is probably not exactly what you wanted... but this is what I got.
The book that I read was called “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker. In this story the protagonist is an African American woman named Celie. Im still not sure if the main climax is that she doesn’t know her worth as a woman that causes her to go through so much just to realize she’s an important woman. The book is written as a diary that belongs to Celie, but this diary is different, her letters are written to God. Celie explains all the struggles she has to go through since she was a teenager until she was an adult. One of the struggles she had to face with was that she was the oldest and had no education. Her sister Nettie had to teach her how to read and write. Celie wasn’t allowed to go to school because her step-father didn’t allow her. Another struggle was that Celie was first molested by her step-father and then raped by him when her mother was still alive. She later came out pregnant, twice but her step-father sold her babies. Celie’s step-father later on makes her get married with an abusive man named Mr. Albert. The first day of her marriage she gets slapped and gets a rock thrown at her head. All she’s wanted for is to keep the house clean and for sex, and she has to obey everything her husband says or else she will get hit. At the end of the story she finally realizes her worth and leaves her abusive husband Mr. Albert. All these struggles she had to go through helped her open her eyes, not only the struggles helped her but so did her husband and Shug Avery. Shug was a singer who was also Mr. Albert’s mistress; she was brought to Celie one afternoon. Mr. Albert made Celie take care of Shug because she became really sick. At first Shug disliked Celie but learned to love her and eventually became Celie’s lover. Shug also showed Celie how important a woman is.
ReplyDeleteSOLD by Patricia McCormick had very interesting scenes that kept me reading till the end of the book. There was three scenes in particular that caught my attention the most. The first one was when Lakshmi began to talk to her pet goat which is also her only friend. This very much caught my attention and had me realize just how innocent she is. She talks to her pet goat about her wishes and what she desires to do in her future and for her family. One of those things was getting married to a young fellow she liked. This scene also made me wonder what will she do next. My concern was answered with the fact that Lakshmi names the cucumbers she grows in her back yard. The second scene that caught my attention was when her own blood father sold her for 100 rupees. I was shocked. How can a father sell his own daughter to a stranger? My prediction for what her father would do with that money he received for her was that he would stupidly gamble it away. What a shame. I felt sympathy for Lakshmi because even though she thought to herself that she was happy she'd be able to work and send the earnings to her family, she did not admit how angry and hateful she felt towards her father. I believe her being sold was the climax of the story. Lastly, the scene that caught my attention the most out of all scenes was when she spoke about her experiences in the home with other girls. She realized she was not sold to be a maid but to prostitute herself. Poor Lakshmi was raped, drugged, and mistreated. Even though she was having a horrible life in there, she made the best of it by learning how to read. I was sad to read that there was some girls who took advantage of the nights and took in the most men they could to save up money and pay Mumtaz. Even Lakshmi came to the conclusion of having intimate relations with the most men she could to escape from the horrible place. I was glad she was freed by the American police officer at the end of the story. She did not deserve to go through that.
ReplyDeleteI read the book "The Rise and Fall of a Latin Queen" by Reymundo Sanchez and Sonia Rodriguez.This book was about Sonia, a puerto rican girl. she grows up with her mom, 2 sisters and step-father. She is sexually abused by 2 members of her family when she was an innocent child. Sonia was mistreated in her family. Juan, her step-father, beat her and her 2 other sisters. their mom, Marta, wouldn't care. The climax of this book is when she joins the Latin Kings gang. She becomes a Latin Queen and due to her strength she gets the name, Lady Q. By being a member of the gang she went through a lot, really bad fights, she became bad influenced by guys and had several intimate partners. After taking a big role in the gang she moves to Puerto Rico and after a while she goes back. She finds out about the "boss". By then she was pregnant. She's the hard-core Latin Queen so she didn't care who he was. After having her baby, her life is based on drugs, alcohol and sex. Tino, the "boss" and Lady Q become a couple he takes care of her and her baby. Lady Q rose and fell as a Latin Queen. After her bad experiences she tells her story to young teenagers. She helps young people to stay in school and the consequences of joining a gang. At the end she endede up not being the "hard-core" Latin Queen everybody knew.
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