I just started, Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult. This book so far has had a women give birth and lie to the police and won't admit it was her baby when they find the murdered baby. Very complicated and challenging plot. In this line one of the wiser women, a bathroom attendent says, "some stains ain't never gonna come clean". In this moment she is obviously talking about the towel that she is trying to clean, but that line stuck out to me in a different way. I think Picoult was using a metaphor and wasn't directly talking about the towel. I think she was talking about mistakes and life in general, and this could connect back to the baby.
Katie is the mother of the baby, but she never admitted it. I think she wasn't ready to admit the fact to herself and she wanted to hide it away and never let anyone find the key to that lock. She wanted the whole night to disappear like it never happened. Obviously that isn't the case. You can't be scared to face what has happened. She is unmarried and it is wrong in her society and she would be judged and lying about the baby seems better than facing the consequences. But really, reality will catch up to her in the end. This connects to the quote in a way that, Katie can't erase that night. No matter how many lies she will tell, or how many people she will convince, beneath that there is still the truth and lies won't change that.
This quote also connects to life in general, and I personally can connect to this quote. I'm one to make mistakes a lot. I used to be the girl who covered them up. I was scared to face my mistake and wanted to be that perfect girl who never had to face her mistakes because she didn't have any. I guess that was because I didn't want to admit to myself how many flaws I had. The last year and 1/2 I've changed. I think I've become more of myself and learned that I have flaws but that doesn't make me a bad person. People always talk about how society will judge if you're a bad person or not, but what happens if you think you're a bad person because you have flaws? I thought that about myself, but now I've learned. I've learned that in the end, coming to truce and putting out the truth is a lot easier than hiding it up with lies.
Covering up mistakes may help the pain and challenges in the short run, but it will catch up with you. The simplest way to put it is lies dont have to be there, and you can avoid them, but the truth will never be washed away. Just because Katie lied about the baby doesn't mean that the baby never happened. The truth is the stain that will never be washed away.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
After Abandoning Book...
So i finished, Breathless FINALLY yesterday. I had previously abandoned this book and then decided i should just finish it. It isn't very long, but it seemed to drag on forever. Finishing it didn't make me like it anymore, especially because i didn't like the ending. When i finish books, usually i can find a message and in this book i found some messages, but i feel like the ending didn't resolve or out closure to any of them and that's what I decided to write my blogpost on.
One message I found was that you shouldn't assume that your parent doesn't love you because parents have different ways of loving people and showing that. katie, the protagonist, and her brother, Will live with their parents and they call their dad, the ghost, because he never is around. He always is working and only seems to show up when someone is in trouble and needs scolding. Katie and Will took this in the way of, he doesn't love us. But when Will is gone and Katie comes home, she realizes the ghost does care. So I think i do agree with this message, but not exactly how the author portrays it. I think part of the lesson learned here is in the ghosts hands, and the author should show that the ghost wasn't exactly the best parent. I think a lot of times parents aren't sure how to deal with everything and can't take the role of a parent. I can definitely connect to this being a teenager myself. But as sassy as we can be, I think the parent also needs to understand what a tough place we are in and how it's hard for us as well. I think that Katie and Will had their flaws, but they're growing up and they are going to make mistakes, but they won't exactly learn from them if they are scolded, but then put behind them with nothing left for them to deal with. I think the ghost tries to fix everything himself so everything can be perfect, but really it's in the child's hand to take responsibility as well. But the thing that really bugged me was in the end, Will didn't come to a closure or realization of this message, and the end was totally off topic and didn't mention this at all. How is a reader supposed to learn from this message if the characters in the book can't even recognized the resolution?
I think this book also carried on the ordinary plot of girl meets boy, they fall in love, fight, they break up, they are friends. And i think this book is a perfect example of one of those books that just rides along the surface and doesn't dive in deeper why relationships go like that, and also if they even do? It really bugs me when books send a message that everyone would like to believe because that would be in a perfect world, but there is no such thing! Why can't books send a message that we can learn in our imperfect world? I think that this was such a stereo typical book of that perfect boarding school, but oh wait, everyone's nice to each other and there's no monarchy. I think for this book, there needed to be that place where the imperfections could shine through. I think that is what makes the most interesting messages and the most relatable.
I think the Characters in this book were interesting, but there could be a better plot line and a better message portrayal throughout the book to make it better. I think the lesson that i learned as a writer reading this book was you should never make it a happy ending that everyone knows only happens in fairytales because your reader will be lied to and/ or your message won't be received.
One message I found was that you shouldn't assume that your parent doesn't love you because parents have different ways of loving people and showing that. katie, the protagonist, and her brother, Will live with their parents and they call their dad, the ghost, because he never is around. He always is working and only seems to show up when someone is in trouble and needs scolding. Katie and Will took this in the way of, he doesn't love us. But when Will is gone and Katie comes home, she realizes the ghost does care. So I think i do agree with this message, but not exactly how the author portrays it. I think part of the lesson learned here is in the ghosts hands, and the author should show that the ghost wasn't exactly the best parent. I think a lot of times parents aren't sure how to deal with everything and can't take the role of a parent. I can definitely connect to this being a teenager myself. But as sassy as we can be, I think the parent also needs to understand what a tough place we are in and how it's hard for us as well. I think that Katie and Will had their flaws, but they're growing up and they are going to make mistakes, but they won't exactly learn from them if they are scolded, but then put behind them with nothing left for them to deal with. I think the ghost tries to fix everything himself so everything can be perfect, but really it's in the child's hand to take responsibility as well. But the thing that really bugged me was in the end, Will didn't come to a closure or realization of this message, and the end was totally off topic and didn't mention this at all. How is a reader supposed to learn from this message if the characters in the book can't even recognized the resolution?
I think this book also carried on the ordinary plot of girl meets boy, they fall in love, fight, they break up, they are friends. And i think this book is a perfect example of one of those books that just rides along the surface and doesn't dive in deeper why relationships go like that, and also if they even do? It really bugs me when books send a message that everyone would like to believe because that would be in a perfect world, but there is no such thing! Why can't books send a message that we can learn in our imperfect world? I think that this was such a stereo typical book of that perfect boarding school, but oh wait, everyone's nice to each other and there's no monarchy. I think for this book, there needed to be that place where the imperfections could shine through. I think that is what makes the most interesting messages and the most relatable.
I think the Characters in this book were interesting, but there could be a better plot line and a better message portrayal throughout the book to make it better. I think the lesson that i learned as a writer reading this book was you should never make it a happy ending that everyone knows only happens in fairytales because your reader will be lied to and/ or your message won't be received.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Betrayal of Friendship for Fantasies
Reading the story, Fox, by M. wild and R. Brooks, it has lead me to a deeper meaning of friendship and betrayal. I think this book sends an important message to children and i think it's conveyed in such a well way that makes the children excited to learn and understand the meaning of a true friendship.
A theme that I came up with that i think really expresses the book is the message of be grateful for what you have and don't be greedy for more because when you do, you'll end up with less than what you started with. Magpie and Dog become good friends and they help each other and support eachother. they find what each of them needs, and helps them through it. Dog gives Magpie "her wing" and Magpie gives dog "his eye". Just this alone i think really stands out. I think this stands for a person with something missing inside of them. I think what the author does here is really clever and shows that the weakest people can join to be a strong person.
But then, there's Fox. Fox bribes Magpie into betraying her friend, Dog, because Fox promises her he is stronger than Dog. When magpie accepts i think this is where the theme comes in. I think that the author is showing how convincing people can be. But at the same time, the author is showing how people betray because they think they are going to end up with something better. The offer Fox gives Magpie seems so perfect to Magpie that she thinks about herself and Dog doesn't even cross her mind because she is only fantasizing about the wonderful encounters she will experience with fox. Magpie doesn't stop to think about Dog and how he'll be hurt and how she is making a wrong choice. I think this is an important message to send to children. It shows how brainwashed you become when you want more. When something isn't good enough and you think you can get better, that's all you focus on doing when really you should be taking for granted what you already have.
Magpie goes along with Fox, and leaves her friend, Dog, behind. It all seems so perfect to Magpie, until Fox betrays her. I think in this moment, Magpie feels what it's like to be betrayed and all the fantasies of having a better life leaves and she is just left with guilt that she left dog. I think the author did a really great job showing the consequences of betrayal and how wrong it is.
That leads me to my next part, about the resolution. This is probably my favorite picture book that we read because of the resolution. I think the author made a really strong choice of not making it an all "happy ending, lets all be friends again". I think that the choice of making Magpie realize how much that friendship with her and dog meant, and having her go find dog really showed the resolution to herself and how she decided to do the right thing, but the ending doesn't say if Dog forgives her, or if she ever even finds dog. I think this is such an empowering ending because it shows that there is no right answer in this. The author really wants the child to understand that, no matter if Dog forgives Magpie or not, she still betrayed her friends and that is wrong, but she faced herself and went to find him.
A theme that I came up with that i think really expresses the book is the message of be grateful for what you have and don't be greedy for more because when you do, you'll end up with less than what you started with. Magpie and Dog become good friends and they help each other and support eachother. they find what each of them needs, and helps them through it. Dog gives Magpie "her wing" and Magpie gives dog "his eye". Just this alone i think really stands out. I think this stands for a person with something missing inside of them. I think what the author does here is really clever and shows that the weakest people can join to be a strong person.
But then, there's Fox. Fox bribes Magpie into betraying her friend, Dog, because Fox promises her he is stronger than Dog. When magpie accepts i think this is where the theme comes in. I think that the author is showing how convincing people can be. But at the same time, the author is showing how people betray because they think they are going to end up with something better. The offer Fox gives Magpie seems so perfect to Magpie that she thinks about herself and Dog doesn't even cross her mind because she is only fantasizing about the wonderful encounters she will experience with fox. Magpie doesn't stop to think about Dog and how he'll be hurt and how she is making a wrong choice. I think this is an important message to send to children. It shows how brainwashed you become when you want more. When something isn't good enough and you think you can get better, that's all you focus on doing when really you should be taking for granted what you already have.
Magpie goes along with Fox, and leaves her friend, Dog, behind. It all seems so perfect to Magpie, until Fox betrays her. I think in this moment, Magpie feels what it's like to be betrayed and all the fantasies of having a better life leaves and she is just left with guilt that she left dog. I think the author did a really great job showing the consequences of betrayal and how wrong it is.
That leads me to my next part, about the resolution. This is probably my favorite picture book that we read because of the resolution. I think the author made a really strong choice of not making it an all "happy ending, lets all be friends again". I think that the choice of making Magpie realize how much that friendship with her and dog meant, and having her go find dog really showed the resolution to herself and how she decided to do the right thing, but the ending doesn't say if Dog forgives her, or if she ever even finds dog. I think this is such an empowering ending because it shows that there is no right answer in this. The author really wants the child to understand that, no matter if Dog forgives Magpie or not, she still betrayed her friends and that is wrong, but she faced herself and went to find him.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)