Paper Moon and Animal Farm

In “Paper Moon”, Long Boy and Addie go on the road and do business, which is cheating people for money. At one point, Long Boy makes a horrific mistake and the two must rapidly escape. “Animal Farm” is about a farm where the animals take over in a large and ever growing rebellion. In each book, the main characters cause the losses for other people for a cause they believe to be right.

Addie and Long Boy believe that they are doing what is right for them. They make a fortune using people to get money. They are not doing what is fair to most people, because they are not treating those people fairly. However, it is fair to them because they are the ones making the profit. The people that Long Boy and Addie cheat lose much money and/or goods such as cotton because of them. Sometimes they sell them faulty items or items that they have unknowingly already bought. Most people in the story, as well as those who read it, do not think that what they are doing is right, that they are stealing. However, they make a large profit out of this business, as it is their full-time job. They would surely have doubts about what they were doing if they believed it to be wrong.

Similarly, the animals in “Animal Farm” also hurt others for a cause they think is right. Most people believe and are taught that war is wrong. However, the animals believed it right enough to feel the need to fight in order to take over the farm. The humans obviously did not think that the rebellion was the correct thing to do, but those animals did. They caused the loss of land, and a job loss for many farm staff to help a rebellion that they thought would improve the world. In my opinion, I think they are correct. Those people who lost their farm may not see the long term consequences. With animals taking over, people would die out. In the story, the animals seem to know how to do everything that the humans did to take over the farm, but realistically, the humans would no longer create such an impact, and therefore the earth would be used less harshly. Would a tiger use fossil fuels? Would insects destroy entire forests within minutes? I thought not.

The main idea of “Paper Moon” and “Animal Farm” is that the main characters or group of characters use other people for a cause they think is right. But does this make it right? I think that this makes it right to those people. Right and wrong cannot be proven, so something can only be right or wrong when people (or animals) believe it is. These books use their plots to explain why a few criminals wreak havoc: to pursue what they think is right.

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 Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks 2

I am still reading “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot. It is a true story about Henrietta Lacks whose cells were taken from her when she developed cancer. These cells, unlike any others, could grow nonstop and therefore are used in numerous experiments, one of which cured polio. The book follows Henrietta’s family and Rebecca Skloot as she tries to gather information from the family. Throughout the story, there are many perspectives. The most common ones are Rebecca Skloot, Henrietta’s family, and the doctors and scientists. But one of the most important perspectives is missing: the people.

They story explains the press and how many articles were published about the HeLa cells(Henrietta’s cells), and that these are all over the world, but the book never explains what the ordinary day people thought about what was happening. Were the people upset, or did they just not care? The story excludes these people because since the Lacks family didn’t know it was Henrietta, the people most likely would have thought nothing of it, except for the fact that her cells were curing many diseases. In this large area, I also think that the people who were tested with the cells have no perspective in the book. They got cancer in their body without knowing as a test. This is what happened to Henrietta and I’m sure they were not happy, but how should I know if the book leaves them out?

I also noticed that in the book there is a lot of racism, and this somewhat corresponds to perspective. Within just the Lacks family, there are light skinned people and African Americans, and these people rarely mix. The perspective of the African Americans is actually shown much more in the story because they are Henrietta’s direct family. I think that even though this is exactly opposite of what someone might expect given the time period, it show the segregation that there is, but without giving any color an advantage. It still shows the separation but it is kindly written to not exclude African Americans. The family cared a lot about the whole cell thing, but how did whites feel? Were they upset or did they just not care because of skin color?

In “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, I realized that racism does not have to be shown by excluding the victims, African Americans. It can be shown in many ways, and the less obvious it is, the more realistic it is; because the obvious is not what happens every single time. The perspective that is missing explains a lot about what the author is trying to tell the reader.