Blog Post #24: Just Another Hero

        I am currently reading Just Another Hero by Sharon M. Draper. I am up to page 40, and so far it's just talking about the lives of a few senior students. The author puts only Arielle Gresham and Kofi Freeman's point of view in the chapters that I've read so far, but we also know some other characters too: November, Jericho, Osrick, and etc.

          Firstly, we meet Arielle. She talks about how she used to be popular and used to be with her usual group of friends. On page 5, she said she had "treated her friends like dirt". She says that in the beginning of the school year, she had a boyfriend to flaunt and lots of girlfriends to hang out with. The ultimate "popular girl". She tells that because she treated them like dirt, she lost all her friends in a few months. For example, she reminisced about her past, about how she laughed at her "friend" November, who got pregnant last year. Arielle would laugh and say that she was fat and stupid to get pregnant. She says "she's never even told November how sorry she was about Josh's death", Josh being November's boyfriend. I found that funny because Arielle had called November her friend. Even if they're not friends now, how were they friends before that, with Arielle treating November like that? She also thought about another girl she made fun of, and thinks to herself, "how could I have done that?" I think right from the start we are taught an important lesson. When you treat someone like dirt, you will get the same treatment after along with regret. To make it more generalized, it's like the saying "that's what you get".

         Josh Prescott was November's boyfriend. He died a tragic death. A group of boys had to jump from a second-story window as part of pledging a club called the Warriors of Distinction. From this event, I could tell that some people in their high school are immature. Not only that, but I think that their school is the kind of school with people in it who have expectations. High ones. They expect you and want you to be something. In the very beginning of the book Osrick Wardley got bullied by two big guys. Arielle heard the noise and went to see what was wrong. One of the guys was filming and the other was tormenting Osrick. They even took off his pants and threw them in the pool. Arielle had described him as "a magnet for guys who liked to act tough" it's obvious Osrick gets bullied a lot of times. This shows the way some people in her school think: if you don't fit in the group, you don't belong and you should be ashamed. It's sad how this really happens. I think it's the high expectations that cause situations like these in schools.

        Something else that doesn't really relate to the previous two paragraphs is Arielle's step father, Chadwick Kensington O'Neil. Chad gives Arielle and her mother money, but at the end of the week, every single little penny has to be counted up. All receipts must be kept to keep track of what/ how the money is being used. When he tallies up the total amount, he sees how much money has to be left over and he must get back the exact amount of money that is left over. After Arielle's mother's expenses, were tallied up, Chad asked for Arielle to go into his office. I found something wrong with that because it seems like Chad is the master. The way he orders them around, the way he gives them money but has to have everything tallied up. When Chad discovered a Coke stain on his expensive carpet, he punished Arielle by saying she has to pay for it, but it's basically her getting no allowance (because she has no other money than her allowance, which is given to her by Chad). I can definitely see that Arielle Hates Chad. When she finished speaking with him, she tells her mother how she feels, how Chad is a control freak, how she's disgusted that her mother gives Chad all her money, etc. But her mother says that it's just a "minor inconvenience" and then says that she will buy Arielle a new outfit after that. There is clearly something wrong with bother Arielle's mother and step-father. Her mother wants the money, period. She likes that Chad gives her money, even if it means giving her own salary into his bank account. We can see that she wants to please Chad any way possible and she never wants to upset her. She seems like she's hypnotized by Chad. She thinks it's fine what Chad does, even when her own daughter doesn't approve of him and confronts her about it. She kind of reminds me of women who get physically abused, yet are still staying with who ever is abusing them.

          I'm only in the beginning of the book and I can already see themes/ issues of the characters in the book. I actually didn't look forward to reading this book because it looked like just another one of those books about bullied. But I like this book especially, because the emotional feelings are described well. I think Sharon M. Draper did a good job on the character's traits, emotional-wise.

Blog Post #23: Matched

          I am continuing to read Matched by Ally Condie. In this blog post, I'd like to touch upon the setting of the book, connections to another book, and lastly connections to life and humanity.

          As I stressed in my last two blog post about Matched, the world Cassia lives in is very different from ours. In Cassia's world, everything is controlled and set to "perfection". I was thinking for a while about why that is so significant and what it may symbolize and I realized that the setting can really symbolize a whole bunch of other things in our real world. Which leads me to connect to life and humanity. Melissa's comment on my previous blog post also made me want to connect my ideas to the real world. One thing that pops right into my head, when I think about the setting and people in the book are the adults in our world. The Officials in the book represent the adults in our world, while everyone else below the Officials are the kids, teens, etc. Our parents are controlling most of the time and they always want us to do everything perfectly, and sometimes if we don't there might be consequences. What does this teach you about living in the world? I think it teaches me the opposite of wanting perfection. It teaches me that things can't be completely perfect. A few examples are when Cassia saw Ky's face on her micro card (it was supposed to be Xander), Cassia's father purposefully losing their grandfather's tissue sample, and Cassia remembering the words to the poem her grandfather gave her (she's not allowed to do that). These things show that no matter how much the Officials enforce perfection, things can't possibly be completely perfect. 

         Lastly, I want to connect this book to another text. Instead of another book, it was actually the movie The Hunger Games. I actually never read the book, but when I watched it some little things reminded me of some details in Matched. So for example, Cassia said that the Officials wore white and in the movie the higher authority (Effie, etc.) wore white as well, and it kind of made me start connecting the two texts. Another thing that made me connect these two is the general setting. in The Hunger Games, they are forced to do something no one wanted to do, while in Matched, everything is in control almost like how things are in The Hunger Games (they are almost controlled because they have to do something they don't want to). It's a little hard to explain, but I saw a slight connection between the two.

Blog Post #22: Matched

          I am continuing to read Matched by Ally Condie. I want to continue my thoughts on the rules I see in the book. In my most recent blog post, I talked about how there seems to always be certain things to do, and certain ways to do those things.

         On page 69, the main character Cassia was talking about how her grandfather had to go soon. She said, "We know which day will be the end of light and which night will be the long, last one...a triumph of planning, of the Society, of human life and the quality of it." This makes me think about, again, how the Society seems to always want think to be perfect, planned out, and have things a certain way. It makes me wonder why, what's the whole reason behind wanting this "perfect" world. Cassia also said "human life" and it makes me wonder, "is it really 'human life' when they want everything to be so perfect?"

          In the next paragraph on the same page, I think Cassia told a lot more about eh background of this world of theirs. The last few sentences I found most interesting because it was kind of saying that the Society can be not perfect sometimes too. On the next page Cassia also said how her grandfather's death will be "expected...fair". I also found this interesting because again, the Society wants things a certain way so they would want people to die at a really specific time. But what I found weird was how Cassia said it was "fair". It makes me wonder how it is fair for someone to time your death. Yes, at the age of 80, you will have lived a long life, but not too long so that you will feel useless, as Cassia said. But at the same time, it just doesn't seem morally right to have someone die at that age no matter what. It almost seems forced.

          On pages 113-114, I noticed again another rule. Cassia was running on what I suppose it a treadmill, but it is called a "tracker". It's supposed to "track information about the person running on it". Cassia said that if you run to far, you might be a masochist, an anorexic, or another type, and you will have to see an 'Official of Psychology'. But then if it's determined that you are running hard because you genuinely like it, then you can have a athletic permit, which Cassia does. This helps support my idea on how the Society is keeping everyone healthy and "perfect". I find it really harsh though because if you ran too hard without a permit, you will have to see an Official. I find that very judgmental and just strict. On page 114, Cassia says "I have to be healthy. It's part of what makes us great, what keeps our life span so long. All of the things that were shown in early studies to be good for longevity- happy marriages, healthy bodies- are ours to have. We live long, good lives....cancer, heart disease, and most debilitating illnesses are almost entirely eradicated. This is as close to perfect as any society has ever managed to get." Again, this shows how the Society likes everything to be healthy and perfect, and just the way they want it. Of course, everyone wants perfectly healthy lives, but in this case it almost seems to go overboard, too perfect. What I found different in this example though, is that Cassia even said herself how societies also try to get as close to perfect as they possibly can. So I wonder if Cassia, or anybody living in this world, enjoys where they are living and realizes what the Societies want: perfection 

Blog Post #21: Matched

          I am currently reading the book Matched by Ally Condie. I am up to page 58, and so far it's apparently about how you get "matched" to someone when you turn 17. We are first introduced to a girl named Cassia and her best friend Xander and they are taking the air train to the Match Banquet.
        
          I find this story a little weird and off. First off, I noticed that there are a lot of rules. Right from the beginning on page 1, Cassia mentions "the Society". I noticed that 'society' was capitalized, meaning it's something that's official. I though about how weird that was because the Society sounds like a higher authority, but the actual name itself means everyone, a group of people, a community, etc. So i thought that was kind of contradicting. Then the author mentions emergency tablets that everyone carries on page 6: one green, one blue, one red. For a while the author didn't talk about it anymore, leaving a little tension/ suspense. I think this also shows that there are a lot of rules where Cassia lives because it said specifically that everyone carries it. I remember a little later on in the book (after Cassia got matched with Xander), when they went to the game center for a party, an Official announced over a loudspeaker that "someone has dropped their tablet container, please stand completely still and do not speak until we locate it" (page 50). This kind of scares me because the author still never said what the tablets are for, and everyone is making a big deal out of it. So therefore, the tablets are obviously extremely important. In that scene, it seems like everyone is also scared.

          Another big rule that stands out to me is the thing with being "matched". When people turn seventeen, they go to the Match Banquet with their parents and they eat and stuff. But then toward the end, they get called up and Officials announce who they have been matched with, and give them a silver box that has all the information about their match. I see a big flaw in this kind of routine. I think I should call this a routine because it seems like everyone is used to it. They know it's going to happen when they turn seventeen, everyone does it. It's like getting your driver license kind of thing. The flaw I see in this is that they don't even know the person they are being matched with. Never seen them, never talked to them because they are from different provinces. Only rarely will you get matched to someone you know, and that happened with Cassia. This is kind of like a arranged marriage, except it's not even arranged by your parents. It's arranged by the Officials. Yet everyone seems fine with it. Are they clueless? Do they not see this flaw?

          I noticed a few times the author mentioned something about making healthy offspring. I think that's one of the reasons for matching people. But the problem I see in this is that the Officials/ the Society almost want a perfect world. They want things to be a certain way: they want a specific person to be matched with another because they want a certain type of offspring. They want perfection. And another thing that bugs me is that none of the characters see these problems. It bugs me that this is their reality, their world, their everyday lives, and they don't see it.

          I am really enjoying this book because there's still a lot more to find out about the world they live in. It's interesting to see how different their world is different from mine. It also made me realize that sometimes, this actually does happen in our reality. Sometimes, people want perfection so they do something unfair to get the perfection. 

Blog Post #20: Nineteen Minutes

          I am still reading Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. I'm becoming impatient with the book because there is nothing really happening in the book even though I'm up to around page 120. But on the other hand, I like that the story is being set up slow so that it makes you read on.
         
          Even though I still don't know much about Peter Houghton (the school shooter) because he's not talked a lot about yet, I still want to talk about him and maybe what's going through his head right now. Right now, he is still in custody and haven't has his trial yet. There are very subtle hints relating to Peter and the school shooting (like if he did it or not). I have two opinions: either Peter didn't do it (and was forced to or something like that) or he did do it, but didn't mean to (like he regrets it now, etc.). These are my two opinions because firstly, on page 98, Peter's lawyer, Jordan McAfee came to talk to Peter. I think one of the first hints is when Jordan was quickly observing him: "...he was stunned to find that Peter Houghton had the ability to surprise him. Given the magnitude of the shooting and the damage wrought, the terror on the faces Jordan had seen on the television screen- well, this skinny, freckled, four-eyed kid hardly seemed capable of such an act." People always say, don't judge a book by it's cover. But sometimes, you can seriously just tell what kind of person that person is by just looking at him/ her. And I think this is kind of how Jordan felt. He wasn't completely convinced that Peter had done such a terrible thing. Also, speaking of judging a book by it's cover, it made me realize how the "nerds" in books, television shows, etc. are always described as skinny, freckled, and having glasses, just like how Jordan described Peter. In class, we were just talking about foreshadowing, and don't think it's exactly foreshadowing what kind of a person Peter really is, but it's kind of like giving a subtle hint, as said before.

          Another example to show why those were my two opinions on Peter is also on the same page (98). Near the bottom of the page, Jordan explained who he was and said that he was the lawyer that was going to represent Peter. Then Jordan said, "From here on in, you're not going through this alone. You've got me." Firstly, it shows the kind of person Jordan is. It makes me think that he is a sincere person and that he truly does care about his clients. But, the point was that after Jordan said that, Jordan though he had seen "something flash in Peter's eyes when he'd said those words". This small little event makes the reader think about Peter, not just Peter the shooter. I think this was something that would be important for a reader to catch. Again, I think this might also be a little foreshadowing (into the past). When Jordan told Peter that he wasn't alone, and Peter eyes had said something, maybe the author was trying to hint that something bad had caused Peter to do this horrible act, like maybe Peter is alone/ scared of being alone. The "flash" in Peter's eyes also represented hope for Peter, in my opinion.

          One last thing, on page 99, something weird happened. The whole time when Jordan was talking to him, Peter never said a thing. But as Jordan was getting ready to leave, Peter asked "how many did I get?". Jordan had hesitated, didn't turn to look at Peter and just said "I'll see you tomorrow". The author never described how Peter said it, or what his facial expression was when he said it, therefore it makes me feel like he said it in a I guess sincere, or caring way? I'm not sure how to describe it but it makes me feel like Peter cares. Not in any bad or evil way, though. But I do realize that that's all Peter said, it wasn't specified what he meant by that. I realized that he couldn't have necessarily meant how many people he shot, like maybe he was trying to refer to something else.

          I still want to read further, even though the book is being set up at a very slow pace. I want to find out what happens later on, specifically with the character's emotional journey.

Blog Post #19: Nineteen Minutes

          I am currently reading Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. I'm only up to around page 45, so I don't know much about the conflict or themes in the book yet. The author did give little hints on what they might be, and a big event already happened, but mainly Picoult is just introducing a lot of characters. In this blog post, I'd like to talk about a little about two characters we meet in the beginning.

          The first character we meet is Alexandra Cormier. She is a lawyer but from how the author describes her setting and other events happening around Alex, it seems as if Alex isn't the typical lawyer. The author starts off the book by saying that Alex was running late to work. When I picture someone running late, I picture their hair all messy, their shirt half on, having one shoe on, being unorganized, etc. I wold think that if she was a lawyer, that there wouldn't be this kind of situation. So, I think the reason Picoult started off saying that Alex was running late was to show that she's not the typical kind of lawyer. I wouldn't exactly say that it's in a bad way, but I'm not really sure how to explain it. I think the best way to describe her would be that she kind of reminds me of a teen who's pregnant. Inexperienced I guess? Again, I'm not really sure how to explain it, but I don't think Alex would be a bad kind of character later on in the book.  

          The next character we meet is Josie Cormier, Alex's daughter. From what I read, at first I didn't really like Josie's character. But when I was reading the blurb, it said that Josie was going to be the "state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened before her very own eyes - or can she?", so I'm predicting that Josie will be going to go through a hard time later on in the book. So basically, I think that Josie's character will change and become more grown up. But the reason why I didn't like Josie's character at first is because she was the kind of girl who tried to hard and cared too much about impressing people around her. On page 6, it said that "Josie thought of her life as a room with no doors and no windows... a room half the kids in Sterling High would have given their right arm to enter...there wasn't really an escape." It also said that Josie was "either someone she didn't want to be, or someone who no body wanted. These lines show that Josie tries to be someone she's not, and I think the author was trying to say that the kids at Sterling High wanted really badly to see how Josie would "suffer" I guess. They kind of want to look at Josie's really self and wanted to see how she really acted. I'm not sure if this is what the author really meant though. Another line also stood out to me: "The problem was, when Josie looked in the mirror, she noticed what was underneath that raw skin, instead of what had been painted upon it". This line says that Josie can only see her real self and not what others though of her. I really liked that about her. But then what made me dislike her as a character again were these lines: "she understood what she was supposed to look and supposed to act". The author then said what she wore, how she looked like, how she "liked feeling the eyes of other girls in the school" on her, how she "liked having guys stare at her when she walked down the hall with Matt's arm around her", etc. These lines, again, showed that she looks and acts how she thinks she's supposed to an shows that she likes the attention. I admit that we all do like attentions sometimes, but I feel like Josie works too hard for it and is somewhat desperate.

Blog Post # 18: The Maze Runner

          I still have a few more chapters in The Maze Runner. In this blog post, I'd like to talk about the themes in the book, what the author wants the reader to think, feel, and know. In my most recent blog post (# 17), I talked about how my ideas connected to life and what the events taught us about living in the world. To briefly recall, I talked about how Ben's banishment showed the need for self-control and how there are no second chances in life. As said in that post, we need to control what we say and what we do to have order. And if we don't have order we make mistakes, and there are no second chances. Like in the book itself, the Keepers always stressed about having "order". Always doing what was told, following the rules. Therefore, I think the theme based on these ideas would have to be to be orderly and systematic in life. One point I'd like to make though is that the book doesn't necessarily "revolve" around this theme, like it may would around other themes. I feel that this theme is a very small one, but I still think it's important to the book, and still applies to the book. I think I remember once in the book where one of the Keepers said that if there was no order, then they wouldn't have survived for two years in the Glade. I think it also goes for the real world. If we didn't plan things out, have laws, ways of doing things, etc., the world would be chaotic. I believe that order is key to the world.

          Throughout the whole book, everyone in the Glade was brave. For the two years that they've been stuck there, they never got scared and panicked. Towards the end, when the Grievers would come at night, they would stand their ground. When they needed to physically fight off the Grievers, they were brave and did what they had to do. I think this is another small yet important theme because again, without the bravery they wouldn't have survived for so long. Bravery also kind of makes me think about the Gladers working together. They helped each other get through things, helped comfort each other when needed to, and just basically lived and worked together. I think that yet again, without that team work they wouldn't have been able to live through the next day and the next.

          One big theme I realized was present in the book was trust. When Thomas first entered the Glade, he didn't know who to trust, he didn't know anybody and his memory had been wiped out. But it actually turned out that he was able to trust the others pretty quickly and that made me realize why. He was able to trust others quickly because that was the only way. There was no one else he could really count on and they had been there longer than he has. He had no one else to turn to, and even though some turned out to seem really mean at first, like Gally and Alby, he didn't exactly make enemies with any of them because again, they were all in fact on the same side, the same boat, no where else to go. In the middle, the Keepers had lost a little of their trust on Thomas because weird things were happening after he arrived.Thomas had to gain it back quickly because without it, he wouldn't been able to go anywhere, and probably the rest of the Gladers couldn't have gone anywhere either.  The author writes this to show that trust is important. We need that trust to help us communicate with people to move forward in life. And sometimes, not having the trust is also important, will also help us move forward in life. I was watching the show Criminal Minds the other day, and in every episode, they have a quote said in the beginning of the episode and at the end of it. When I was watching it, the quote at the end was "you may be deceived if you trust to much, but you will leave in torment if you don't trust enough". So basically it means you have to have the right about of trust: can't trust too much and can't trust too little because either way, you'll "suffer". I think trust is a very important and good theme to make in this book.