A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

In A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, a young girl living in Brooklyn in the early to mid-1900s tells the reader about her daily life. She lives somewhat in poverty; gathering garbage for money and finding ways just to earn a little more. Francie lives with her mom and brother in a little apartment building in Williamsburg. Her dad works as a waiter and is never quite sure when he will be home. There are a few moments in the book that I thought were obvious foreshadows. I really like foreshadows because they are mysterious and often hidden in the text. What I think is really nice about the foreshadowing in this book is that the reader can easily point them out, though their meaning is often unpredictable. Even though I can see these clues as to what might happen later in the storyline, I could never guess even the slightest details of what might actually happen later in the story.

For the poor in Williamsburg, there are many ways to survive. In the story, Francie goes out to buy the bread from the bakery that is only sold to the poor because it has gone bad. It is sold cheaper than fresh bread and many folk sent their children to retrieve this bread. Francie enters that store and there is a huge crowd so the waits in the back. This scene contains an important, overarching foreshadow when Francie feels afraid to become old when she sees a man and imagines how he must feel and how useless he must be. She hopes she will never have to be like that. When I read this I knew immediately that the story was foreshadowing. It was a brief excerpt of the story, and I could almost taste all of the meaning in the scene. My theory was proven when later in the story, Francie mentions her experience to her mother. She explains how she does not want to be as useless as the old man at the bakery. I think that this may end up being a major theme in the book: becoming older.

Later in the story, Francie goes to Flossie Gaddis’s house. Flossie is a neighbor known for her elaborate costumes, which is why Francie gives her a visit. Flossie has a brother, Henny who is supposedly dying. He is very angry when Francie says hello. The foreshadow in this part of the story is a little more clear that the last one. It says in the story, “she had a feeling that something was stealthily concealed behind those costumes…And it was hiding behind these brilliant colors waiting for Henny.” In the middle, she adds a short description of the figure of force behind those costumes. This foreshadow is obviously directed towards the safety of Henny. I knew then that Henny would be an important part of the story and that there is some danger, and that danger could even be his death. I am more sure of the outcome of this foreshadow, but I still don’t have a perfect picture of what might happen in response to this foreshadow.

The foreshadows in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn reveal a comfertable amount of information about what is to come in later pages. They reveal who might be important characters and what might be a major theme in the story. They do not show what will happen plot-wise in the story and that is what appeals to me as a reader and that is what makes me interested in the rest of the story, without knowing what will actually happen. Foreshadowing adds quite a lot to a story and makes it much more interesting and suspenseful to read.

The Two Towers

In  The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien, the hobbits, elf, dwarf, and other various travelers continue their journey to Mordor to destroy the powerful ring that their leader, Frodo has possession of.  They are being pursued by many enemies, such as Sauron, Saruman, and orcs. I suppose that a complicated book such as the likes of this, contain many themes within. One that became clear to me was the importance of taking one’s time. I found this often throughout the book which supported my simple theory and created it more complex as the book evolved in my mind.

In the book, Merry and Pippin meet large tree-like creatures called Ents. These Ents mentioned my theme quite a bit. They repeatedly enforced how they are never “hasty”.  They take their time and never rush their conversations. Talking with them seems like talking in legal writing, all the time. This brought them to the decision to help with this battle against the Lord of the rings. In fact it helped out our little friends in the book because before, it was them against the great force of Sauron and his creatures. The Ents are very strong and can reinforce the hobbits and friends. So without the un-hastiness, the travelers would be fighting Sauron all on their own, and that would most likely change the destination of the story.

This theme of taking your time has been a theme in many stories and some of the most famous fables. I don’t want to sound too repetitive. Slow and steady does not always win the race, but making sure you do things right does. Taking your time is one thing, but taking time to make sure you are on the right track in another. I think that this is the main theme in the story. Aragorn may never have found the trail of the hobbits is he hadn’t taken his time to inspect every clue he saw. As my tennis coach always tells me, “NO RUSHING! Stay with the ball.” Keeping your eye on the main goal of what you are doing applies to life, not just tennis.

The characters in The Two Towers face very different problems than a New Yorker does, but they face similar issues and must remember similar lessons in order to meet their goals, thought they are very different. For instance, my goal at the moment is to get into a good high school, while theirs is to safe the Middle earth from the dark lord’s power. Any similarities?

The Two Towers

I am in the middle of reading The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien, the second book in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The book follows each little group of travelers through their journey after they split apart in the first book. One group is off to destroy the ring in Mordor, one group is chasing the orcs to find the last group, and the last group finds a way to break away from their capturers. I think that the most significant part of the book so far is when Gimli, Legolas, and Aragorn find Gandalf after they perceived him dead and lost in the mines of Moria. I thought that this is an important part of the book because it takes a lot of the pressure off of the team. But I think that the story would have been more original if Gandalf was, in fact, gone forever.

The architecture of the story suggests that Gandalf will return again before he actually does. I could predict that he would reappear because of his name repeating many times in the beginning of the book and in the end of the last one. The groups always depended on him and he brought them to where they are now. He was bound to return and help them or they would never have found their way to wherever they are going (I am not quite sure where they are going specifically yet from the information given to me in the story). Gandalf is a major part of the story and it would be drastically different without him as a character. He is very important in the story but I think that it helped the story quite a bit to lose him for a while. Do you ever get sick of a character? I know that I do and I definitely was a little tired of Gandalf. When he fell, I knew that this would be hard for the characters, but I know that it will help the reader.

The return of Gandalf after he is presumed to be dead, in my opinion, worsened the story. This is because I thought that it was unoriginal. I have read countless stories where a character of force is gone and then returns. On example is The throne of Fire by Rick Riordan. The two main characters, Carter and Sadie must preclude the rising of Apophis which could result in destroying the world. In the story Apophis reverts from being dormant for many years. This is somewhat the same context as in The Two Towers, where Gandalf comes back from “the dead”. This sequence occurs in many other stories so in this book, I think it made the story less original by using this format.

I think that so far the book is really well written and the story line is incredible. I am excited to continue reading it. There are, like most other books, a few tweaks I might make to it to make the story more unique and interesting. In this case it is the return of Gandalf. I think that there are two ways Tolkien could have done this. The first way is to not make Gandalf fall in the first place. The second is to not make him come back. I am pretty sure that Gandalf will be helpful later in the story so my second idea would more than just tweak it. I do now think that the fall of Gandalf had much effect on the book so I suppose that Gandalf could never fall. Maybe instead, he could just get injured terribly and not function correctly for a while. I think that a man with as much imagination as J. R. R. Tolkien could come up with a more original way to bring Gandalf back to life.





*If this made it sound like I do not like The Two Towers, it is not true. It is just this one aspect of the story that I think could have been changed.

The Fellowship of the Ring

I recently finished reading The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien. It is an adventure story about a hobbit named Frodo who ends up with a great and powerful ring that he must dispose of. He goes on adventure with a few friends to destroy the ring. I think that the book is very well written and the setting changes from page to page through their travels. I think that it is important to the book that the setting is always changing and it could help the reader feel of the mood of the story and how Frodo must adapt to such a new environment.

The setting begins in the Shire, a cozy little place for all of the hobbits to live in. None of the hobbits know about any of the dangers of the world around them because they have always lived in the Shire. They are too busy planning parties and bustling about in the spring breeze. There is rarely a care in the world. Imagine being Frodo and having to go from this setting to a place where you must always be on the lookout for spys and black riders who chase you throughout the whole book. On top of that, you are in charge of keeping a prized possession safe that could hurt the whole earth if put in the wrong hands and draws so much danger towards you. This is such a dramatic change for Frodo that he will never be able to enjoy the calm feeling of the Shire ever again.

In spite of this difficult transition, Frodo manages to absorb himself in the actual task that he has set out to do, rather than just being a laggard because he is unhappy. Towards the middle of the book, he remembers the comfortable environment of the Shire as he relaxes in the house of Elrond where he does not want to leave. This was a setback because he lost the feeling of adventure inside of him and must re-adapt to the dangers of the world. He does this at least one other time in the book and I think that it is good because he can have a fresh start with breaks in between, but also it is getting him out his adventure zone and back into his relaxed Shire zone. I think that Frodo struggles with this throughout the book especially in the middle of the book when they loose Gandalf. It is especially hard for him then.

The frequent change of setting in the book effects Frodo quite a bit. He gains knowledge about the real world but he also struggles with the new environment. This helps me better understand our world and how it is changing through ups and downs.

Am I Blue?

Most adults tell me over and over again that “It’s okay to be wrong,” or “you learn from your mistakes”.  It usually drives me crazy but this story helped me realize how important they are in everyday life. 

In the story Am I Blue? By Bruce Coville, these statements are both true and untrue for different characters. It is a short story about Vince who is picked on because he is thought to be gay. But when his fairy godfather shows up, he helps Vince realize just how many people are like him in the world. He learns from his mistake. But Butch, his  main predator, is only assuming that he is gay and even though he learns from this mistake in the end, it is not understandable. He is wrong but he has no excuse.

Vince did not know how many people were gay at the beginning of the book. He made the error of thinking that there are only a miniscule amount of people who are gay. This is an understandable mistake because many people hide it, and he only knows what he can see. Vince says in the passage, “are you telling me all those people are gay?” This quote is when he has just received blue vision from Melvin, his fairy godfather. Blue vision shows Vince which people are gay that he sees because they turn blue. He is surprised by the fact that so many people are gay, saying that he never knew that so many people are like that. This is an honest mistake because in his community, a lot of people keep the fact that they are gay hidden and feel embarrassed about themselves. With blue vision, he learned from his wrongdoing, and as he says in the passage, “things are never going to be the same now that it happened.” 

Butch Carrigan opens up the story by bullying Vince. He bullies Vince a lot as described in the story. The only reason why he gives Vince a beating is because he THINKS that Vince is gay. Melvin says in the story, “you’re getting picked on because people think you are.” This is a mistake, but to me it is inexcusable. It was disrespectful of Butch to assume what he did not know. The first reason being that people should not judge each other no matter what, even if their assumption is true. It is not fair to the other person. The other reason is that even if someone is doing something wrong, and in the story Vince did nothing of the sort, it is never a cause to bully or hurt someone else. It is mean and it often backfires. Butch made a terrible mistake that he learned from, but it was no excuse to hurt Vince in any way.

In the story Am I Blue?, many people were wrong. In some cases it was good and they can now do better in the future. But in other cases, the person had no right to hurt anybody. As a teacher might say, “it is unacceptable!” I think that it takes a really good person to be able to tell the difference of what makes it okay to be wrong. But you can change a person's life forever when you are wrong. The bad way.