Paper Moon

I am now reading a book called “Paper Moon”. It is about Addie Pray, an orphan who rides around with her “daddy”, also known as Long Boy and “does business”.  They cheat people out of their money for a living. But at one stop, Long Boy winds up in suspicion for the illegal transporting of alcohol. Addie does not realize how she has been changed by this business of hers and how it could change how successful she will become.

Addie and Long Boy do awfully well with their business. They can pick up 600 dollars at a time! But did Long Boy ever consider the future of Addie?  She is so used to business by age 11, once she is off on her own, it will be the only thing she knows. But this could hurt poor Addie. She needs to know that there is more to do in life than steal people’s money without them knowing. She is living on risk, and that is not healthy for a person, let alone a child of only 11. I hope that Long Boy will change his ways, as he seems like a good role model, but he is teaching little Addie to lie and cheat for money. I do not think this is right.

When Long Boy gets caught trying to exchange whiskey during the alcohol ban, he is charged for transporting illegal goods.  This could make not only him, but also Addie realize that this is a risky business, and as Addie grows up, she is liable to be caught in deep trouble. Because of this possibility, it is not healthy for her to keep living like this. This business is Long Boy’s only job that he must continue with. But Addie, she has potential. She is uneducated, but it is not too late for school, and she is very smart. But once she is alone in the world with no skills except robbing people of their money, this business is what she may naturally do. Addie may be benefited by this experience of being in trouble for doing business. Many people today are in this difficult situation as well. People with not a lot of money do not often get a good education because of the state of their neighborhood schools. Not getting a good education can lead to getting a low-paying job and that person’s kids will be stuck with the same ill-fortune. They are stuck in a poverty loop just because they were raised as so.

Without realizing it, Long Boy has been halting Addie’s chance of success as an adult by allowing her to help him do business. If he had or began to expose her to the life of a more fair businessperson or put her in school, she would be more likely to become successful and be in much less risk of going to prison.  She could have most certainly benefited from an education, but by getting caught, she and Long Boy are both learning how different their lives should be.

My Antonia

I am currently reading “My Antonia” by Willa Cather. The book is about a boy visiting his grandparents at their house on the Nebraska Prairie, where he meets a Bohemian immigrant named Antonia. The book describes in depth both life on the Prairie as well as the two children’s relationship to one another. I find that the boy’s reaction when meeting Antonia is a smidge surprising, and unnatural to a person like me, and I also think that the setting could be the cause of this.

The boy, Jimmy, does not seem frightened or nervous at all when meeting the Bohemian family. He seems confident and willing to listen to the family. Coming from New York, I would be a smidge shy, as many kids my age would, and I would also not run off holding hands with one of the people I had just met and “snuggle” with him/her at the edge of a cliff. Honestly, I find this a little straightforward and imposing. I find myself quite quiet (if you can believe it) around strangers, but especially foreigners. Once, my friend rented her house out to a Scottish family, who my parents then decided to invite for brunch. The aspect I found most threatening was how polite they were. People from not only Scotland, but England as well are generally more polite than New Yorkers. One example of their polite manner was when my mom asked the 5-year-old boy, Bruce, whether he wanted some more orange juice. He replied in his adorable Scottish accent, “I wouldn’t mind.” The way he said it was so polite, like someone would say at the inaugural ball. Anyway, Jimmy was not shy at all, and I believe that he is a very communicative person because he did not feel this way when meeting the Bohemian family.

I think that the setting is partly the cause of Jimmy’s straightforward manner. On the lone, open prairie, a person could walk for miles without seeing another person or house. Jimmy’s loneliness may have led to a desire to talk to someone other than his grandparents. The same goes for Antonia. She is Bohemian, and most likely is not used to prairie life. Both she and Jimmy probably got fed up with their family and wanted a change. I feel this way with my room. Do you ever get tired of the way your room looks and randomly move furniture around? It may sound a little strange, but I do this every few months, depending on how neat the change allows me to be. The point is that Jimmy and Antonia were bored with seeing the same people each day because it is rare to see people out on the prairie, so they did not feel shy at all when meeting each other. Because of my experience with this, I understand how frustrating it is to see the same people and the same furniture each day.

Antonia, in “My Antonia” causes the main character, Jimmy, to respond to her in an overly-confident manner. He, in my opinion, seems almost rude in the way he acts. This is why people are shy: because they don’t want to seem to imposing or act as if they have already met. There is a difference (obviously) between rude and friendly, but in this case, it is almost hard to tell them apart.

Dreams from my Father

I am now reading “Dreams from my Father” by Barack Obama. He begins with a short biography about his grandparents intertwined with the story of his own life. His father’s death begins the story. He talks about his life in Indonesia, and Hawaii and all the while, he talks about race. He enters a school where he and one girl are the only African Americans. That is the obvious theme in this book: race. But there is also a theme of afterlife: the way people treat family members after their death.

The book opens up with Obama living in the city where he talks about his father. He gets a call saying that he is dead and then thinks about all of the stories that his grandparents and mother have told about him. Because of this, he says that he thinks of his father as “more of a myth than a man.” This is a very good example of the portrayal of the dead. His father left him when he was young, so, at least to me, it hardly made a difference to Obama whether his father was alive or not. His mother and Grandparents are portraying him better than he actually was, and I think that this happens a lot. Many people are upset and don’t want to hurt the dead’s feelings, so they portray them better than they were. I do not approve of this because it gives the incorrect characteristics to children who may never have met the person.

The whole idea of the book is actually kind of creepy in the way that I know so much about the personal life of our president. I know everything that he was thinking when he was younger, and I know what his life was like as a child and in college. Why do some presidents write books about themselves, about their private lives? Well, I think that some of it has to do with their legacy. Obama hopes that America will remember him not only as a good leader, but also as a good person and role model. I definitely respect him more from the knowledge of his life that I have gathered from the book. I think that he wants his book to have this effect on people. He wants to increase his publicity so that after he has ceased to exist, he will be well remembered as an important part of American history.

The biography of Barack Obama, “Dreams from my Father”, is a well told story that is about race, but also leads to issues about death. The legacy of his father is not that great, at least to Obama, and the purpose of the book, in some ways, is to create lasting memories of Obama.

The Red Badge of Courage

Henry Flemming enlists in the Union army during the Civil War in “The Red Badge of Courage”. His mother is unhappy about him going but helps him get ready. He marches off to war exited, but slowly begins to worry about himself. He wonders about how he will survive physically and mentally. The army marches around aimlessly it seems, giving Henry more time to think. He thinks about himself differently than I do myself, and differently than any of the other soldiers think of themselves.

What Henry is most concerned about in himself is whether or not he will run away from battle. He tells himself over and over again that he will just have to wait and see. He says that it annoys him that he does not know this about himself. I find that really unique: what angers Henry most is that he does not completely know himself. I know that I do not know myself at all. I can hardly ever predict what I will do in a situation or how I will act towards a specific person. It seems like Henry spends a lot of time getting to know himself because of how much confusion it brings him that he does not know if he would run from danger. Even though I am completely different, I understand why it is important whether or not a person runs from battle. It tests character in the most dangerous way. Henry’s thoughts remind me of the game “would you rather…” because I usually say what I would want myself to do rather than what I would actually do. I will never know if I would rather get eaten by a shark or jump off of the empire state building if I actually had to make the choice. This is how Henry Flemming is feeling. He knows what he hopes he will do, but he is unsure about what his reaction will be when he is actually in battle.

What somewhat satisfies Henry about his character dilemma is when he overhears another, very experienced soldier saying that if other people are fleeing the battle scene, he will as well, but if no one is, he will stay and fight. It reassures Henry to know that even the experienced soldiers might run away. But not only that, he is also happy to know that other soldiers are not sure what they will actually do when the time comes to fight. I am sure that most of the soldiers had this problem in their heads, but Henry turned it into a debate. It upset him more than others, and he was happy to know that other people felt the same way.

Henry Flemming is a unique character because of the way that he thinks of himself. He is frustrated when he does not know the way he will react to battle. I like this about him because it makes him stand out from the other soldiers. His character improves because of his dilemma.

Praise on Winston

This week, I read Winston’s blog post, “The Last Thing I Remember.” The post is very well written in style, and has a unique focus. I really like how Winston connects the story to himself and then relates the theme to what he already discusses. He also describes how even though the story is not that realistic, parts of it are.

One of the things that I love most about Winston’s blog post is the way that he summarizes it. The summary is explained in such a way that does not reveal anything, but adds suspense. He does this by creating short, dramatic sentences to make it mysterious. For example, he says, “He has no idea what is going on, but nobody will believe him. He wants to discover the truth. He’s on the run.” That is the very end of the summary. Doesn’t it make you want to find out what happens? The way he writes the summary is much like the back cover of a book in that it is secretive but very intriguing. I love this way of writing, and I think that it makes his blog post unique and all the better.

The content of his piece is also very interesting because he connects the story to himself. The way he does this is by saying that the book is not realistic, but the characters feelings are. I liked how he admitted that the book is not very realistic, which is exactly what I was thinking when I read the summary. But he acknowledges this and I think that shows that he is passionate about the book and is open minded to what it is really about. He further uses what he says about the character’s emotions being realistic by comparing them to his own life. But what I especially liked about this is that I could connect with what he says about his own life. “There are times when people don’t believe what I say, even though I’m telling the truth. This frustrates me.” Who can’t relate themselves to this? I know it is especially frustrating when someone doesn’t believe me and then I am so annoyed that I smile or laugh, which nudges that person even farther away from believing me. And then what I like even more, is how Winston uses his knowledge of what the character feels from his own experience to describe how he better understands the character.

Winston’s blog, “The Last Thing I Remember”, is well written and has great, thoughtful content. He uses what he says about feelings and relating the character’s emotions to his own to relate to the theme of the book. The way he makes the summary mysterious makes me want to read the book. It sounds unrealistic, but it also seems like an interesting story. Winston does not say the usual “I like this book because…”. Instead, he describes to the reader what makes the book stand out to him. But, we can see that he likes the book because even though it is not realistic, he can relate to it in a way that many other people can.

This is a link to this blog:  http://readingbooks2479.blogspot.com/

The Help 3

In “The Help”, the most important character changes often. First, it was Aibileen because she told much of the story which revolved around her. Then it was Skeeter because she had to write a book and find enough people to help her. Her book tells the story of how blacks feel working for whites. People disagree with it because no one has ever done this view before. After Skeeter’s time to shine comes Miss Celia Foote. She is probably my favorite character because she is so unique and outgoing. Miss Celia adds to the story by making it more complicated and adds suspense.

Celia is not friends with many people because she is new to the town. Her maid is Minny Jackson, who did something very bad (but hasn’t told the reader what yet) while working for Hilly. Hilly is a leader and has a lot of power and knows many people, so after this something happened, she tells everyone. This makes it very difficult for Minny to get hired. But Celia had just moved, so Minny gets the job from her. Celia has no idea what Minny did, so I think that she is the one who I can most relate to because she has the same amount of knowledge as the reader does. But no one (until Celia accidentally tells Hilly) knows that Minny works for her. Now Hilly is upset that Minny found work and she is mad at Celia for hiring her. Celia adds complications because now Hilly might tell her what Minny did that was so bad and Minny would have no work. No one else in the town will have her as a maid because of this one thing that she did. But Minny cannot ask Celia because that would give it away if Hilly actually hadn’t told her. Minny doesn’t know if Celia knows about what she did. This makes things very difficult for Minny, and it makes my head spin. This is sometimes what it feels like for me during group projects at school because I am not sure who is doing what or if they will actually do it and well. This makes me better know and understand the confusion in the story, and how each character’s lives get more and more complicated every chapter (or day).

The plot of “The Help” is very intricate with many details that bring the story to life. I think that most of the clutter and confusion is caused by Celia Foote. She adds to the story in so many ways, which is what makes it so complex. But it is also what makes the story so interesting and fun to read. It is probably one of my favorite books, and all because of one character: Celia Foote.

The Help

I recently began reading “The Help”. From the amount that I read, I know that the book is about the relationships of whites and blacks in Mississippi during the time of the civil rights movement. It is told through the perspective of an African American woman who is a nanny and maid to Miss. Leefolt’s family. One of the things I find most interesting about the book is that it is told through the eyes of not only an African American, but also a woman. It is a perspective that while learning about this time never really saw. It makes the time seem different because now the reader knows how people felt being treated the way that they were, rather than just stating the facts.

In the first couple pages of the book, Miss Leefolt, the woman that Aibeleen works for, has a bridge game with many of her friends. They talk about gossip, but they also talk about how blacks are lazy and they cannot do much work. Miss Leefolt makes sure that Aibeleen is not in sight. She never describes how she feels about this commenting, but I know that the reason for this is most likely because she is used to it. What does that say about the community? For one thing, it means that they don’t think that blacks have feelings because they don’t make any move to be quiet around her. She is probably angry about these remarks, but making these rude comments with her in the room and right next door makes me think that they have no thought for blacks whatsoever. Another thing that this says about the community is that the African Americans no longer care strongly what the people say. Their rights are being completely ignored, as citizens and as people, and they make no arguments about the horrible things people say. I think that it takes courage to fight against it, but it is just as dangerous to say nothing.

I know that from what I know of myself, I would be afraid to stand up for my rights alone. This may be part of the problem. No one feels like they can say anything because nobody else is. But if it had kept going on like that, the civil rights movement might still be going on. I suppose something must have happened even in Mississippi to have this change. This may also change in the book as it goes along. I can’t believe that anyone could get used to living a life under that kind of hatred without saying anything. It must take a lot of courage to be quiet and risk you and your family’s future as well as risk your life to be free of it. No matter how many books I read or movies I watch, I will never completely understand what Blacks were going through in that time period.

The Diary of Anne Frank non-fiction

Anne Frank, in her diary, wants the reader to understand how hard the Holocaust was for her and for every other Jew living in Europe around that time, although this last part is only sparsely mentioned in her diary. Her main goal is to share her feelings about the other people she is in hiding with, feelings that she would never share with them. She also wants us to understand exactly what her life is like in the “Secret Annexe” and how different it is from her usual routine. It says in the story, “we simply don’t get on together these days”. This is an important line because it just shows how difficult their life it. From Anne’s diary, the reader somewhat gets a fix on how many issues there are within this small community and that is really no easy feat to live the way she does. It is amazing they get along as much as they do, and Anne spends much of the book talking about her fights. The arguments are such a major part of the story and so they symbolize the actual fighting going on in the war. The grownups (Nazis) completely exaggerate how bad Anne is (the Jews). She says in the story that “I have my faults, just like everyone else, I know that, but they thoroughly exaggerate everything.” When she says this, she is connecting to the war around her with the fighting in her household, and it only proves how difficult her life is. Later in the book, she stops describing all of the “quarrels” and talks about Peter. Peter is an important character because, once Anne feels comfortable with him, she can tell her feelings with him. The amount of time that they spend talking together only shows how much she has to say, and therefore further explaining her point that they lead a difficult life.

Anne Frank hopes that the reader will empathize with everything that she feels. Being about her age myself, I have an easier time of doing this than a young child or an adult would who was not in the holocaust. At one point in the middle of the book she explains to the diary that she would not have been able to go this far without it. This helps the reader empathize with her because everyone has something that they need, and I know that I felt bad that hers was a diary. She didn’t even feel like she needed her family. Another thing that helps me empathize with her is all of the fighting. I don’t argue that much with my parents, but some of the feelings she has about them is very similar to my own thoughts. Her pattern of thinking is also similar to many other people.  The first third of the book is all about the arguments in the “Secret Annexe”; the second is about how much she likes Peter. I haven’t read passed this part yet so I do not know what the third third is. But this is like obsession. Many teenagers have certain phases or obsessions with certain bands, singers, movies, or TV shows. These last for about the same amount of time as they do for Anne. Countless times Anne apologizes to Kitty (her diary) about talking so much about one subject. For me, this just helps me empathize with her.

I am taking quite a bit away from this book. I realize more that there is a lot more to the Holocaust to the camps, but the people in hiding also had a very difficult life. I never, before this book, really thought about how the people in hiding felt, and if I did, I thought that it was an easy life because I was just focusing on the camps during World War 2. One thing I thought interesting in the book is how Anne Frank hardly mentions how lucky she is. She spends much of the time complaining about her life when really she is lucky to be alive. I know that I do this along with everybody else I know, but somehow, it seems worse when she is in the middle of the Holocaust. I would like to know more about what other people are feeling. She talks about so many people, and I only know her view. It might be interesting to hear the other people living with her and what they are thinking about her.

The Diary of Anne Frank

The book I have recently started, “The Diary of Anne Frank” by Anne Frank is the actual diary of a thirteen year old girl hiding in an attic from the Nazis during world war two. She describes the living conditions and everything that she hears about what is happening to her friends and family who are not hidden. One of the most common things she talks about while hiding in the “secret annex” is the fights the families have. There is Ms. Van Daan who always is picking a fight with someone or other. And then she talks about herself and how nobody seems to think that she can do anything right. But it is really nobody’s fault for the fights. It can be because of the setting or because of the anxiety of what is happening.

The setting is a major part of the reason why there is so much tension. Because the two families are living in a cramped living environment, a lot of their quarrels have to do with the setting itself. One fight that lasted a few days was over a small work desk that everyone needed to do their work. The setting made it difficult to share a working space with all dwellers. Many of the arguments have happened because of some problem with the setting. For example, the families had to store beans but could not keep them on the main floor so they had an argument about who should take them upstairs. The end result was a million beans on the floor. The setting has a large impact on the characters relationships because it makes them quarrel more often for simple things like beans or a work desk. I know that if I was stuck with the same eight people in an attic I would be angered easily. This makes me realize how hard it must be for them to be nice to each other in this environment. It must be difficult for the families to get along as much as they do which is hardly at all.

In the book, the newcomer who moves in with Anne and her family into the “secret annex” knows a lot about what is going on outside because he has been out there longer. He tells the family all of the horrors of what has been happening at concentration camps and how unfairly people are treated. I think that it is stories like these that add to the fighting between people. The anxiety of knowing that something might happen to them and what is happening to their friends is harsh and it certainly adds to the tension. This makes the families spark their anger at every little thing. I know that I would be very scared knowing that I could be caught and shot at any moment for hiding, I would be very scared and easily frightened. This is what causes some of the fight. Also, because there is hardly anything to do, there is more time for them to think about these things giving more fighting time as well as more time to build up fears. Anxiety and boredom are definitely contributing to the arguments between people in the “secret annex”.

It is obvious by the way that Anne Frank talks about the arguments that they are not what usually happen between her and her family. So, something must be different. I think that the setting itself is a contributing factor because there is hardly room and has caused many specific arguments. Boredom leads to anxiety which leaves residents more vulnerable to becoming angry at one another. There are definitely many more things, though, that cause these fights. But arguments are most often sparked in my life because of these things, so these must be the major causes of arguments in general.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks 3

This week I had a hard time finding a book I would like, so I have to write about “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” for one more week. The book is a true story about Henrietta Lacks whose cells were taken from her when she was diagnosed with cancer. The only thing wrong was that the doctors never told her or her family that they were using her cells. The articles in the newspapers used false names, anything to prevent her from knowing about it. But these cells cured many diseases including polio. But the book also tells the story of her family’s life after she is in the hospital. But not only does it follow them, and the author gathering the information, the book also tells the scientific story of her cell. In science class, the other week, we had a class debate about whether it was fair to test on animals for research. This relates to the story in the way that Henrietta was used for research and had no opinion as well as many other people including her family. I think that it is wrong not to tell them, but it is right to use them as long as it causes no harm.

The book shows a scene where the author, Rebecca Skloot, is at the house of Henrietta’s direct family to gather information for the book. She describes in detail everything she had heard and seen, which gives the reader a really good understanding of what the family is like. They get into this whole argument about how hospitals liked to use African Americans for testing because in those days, segregation was just beginning to wear off. They talk about how Johns Hopkins, the medical school and hospital where Henrietta was kept, liked to take African Americans off of the street to test on them and often killed them. One striking thing that was said was that sometimes they would perform dissections on these people when they were alive so they could study the body in the action. They would not use anesthesia.

I completely agree with Henrietta’s family in that the way that the hospitals used African Americans for research was unfair. I feel like that if they had gotten informed consent on the investigations from the people than it would be alright. But the scientist would inject the live cancer cells from Henrietta into people without them knowing to test whether they affected them. This made people have cancer. First of all, they had no idea what they were being injected with. It’s not like the doctors didn’t tell them, they lied about what they were doing which makes me even more mad. Second of all, it severly harmed many of them and sometimes killed them. I just cannot believe that people would do something like this. And, to go on top of that, the doctors were making sure the cells were not harmful so they could protect themselves while studying the cells. That is really selfish.

I love the book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” a lot, but some things that have nothing to do with the story make me very unhappy. I think that, although there are laws about this nowadays, I think it is important now to protect the rights of animals. If they could talk, and you asked them if they want to put cream in their eyes that would make them blind but make people have shiny skin, they would say “no”. But they cannot talk so they cannot tell you that they don’t want this. But is that a good reason to test on them?

A Long Way Gone

Over the Summer I read A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. It is about a boy (Ishmael Beah) in Africa who is trapped in a war and forced to become a soldier. The story was unlike any other I have ever read because Ishmael Beah is writing about himself. The whole, sad story is true and I think that that makes a difference in a story. In a piece of fiction, the reader can have feelings for the character, but when it gets too sad or upsetting, the reader will just think to themself, this is just a story so it is all ok. But in this story, I knew it was true and that made it even sadder to think that Ishmael Beah had to live with this over his shoulder for his whole life. 

I really liked the story and the way it was written. One thing I really liked was how the author skimmed some of the parts of the story that were a blur to him when this was actually happening. It made me feel like it was all a blur and made me realize what he was going through. One example of when this happens is when he becomes a soldier. He doesn't know what is happening and he describes the details he remembers of his first time fighting in the war. But he dimly mentions the two years of being a soldier after that. I think it made him seem somewhat like a robot, the same routines and fights and bloody scenes each day. This “blur technique” is something that made the book seem more realistic.

One thing in the book that made me question my own life was how no one trusts Ishmael and his friends even though they are just twelve year old boys’. This made me think about how many people I trust without a doubt. In the story, there are many twelve year old boys fighting with the Rebels, so people can’t be sure whether Ishmael Beah and his friends are safe to be around. This creates a tension in the book and more lying. Trusting the wrong person could have led to Ishmael’s death.

I really liked A Long Way Gone because it is written well, it is an interesting story, and because the characters’ and the story are true. I feel like after I read this book, I have actually experienced a war.