On The Rez

         The Indian Reservation that Arnold "Junior" Spirit calls home in the book is a breeding ground for alcoholism, drug use, poverty and depression. On a daily basis he wakes up in a place where the only goal people have is to forget where they are in life, whether it be through substance abuse or physical abuse onto Arnold. Broken, angry and depressed people emerge from their trashy trailers and rundown homes to go about the day in a place where no one cares what happens to them. And this setting is not fiction, I've been to a place like it.
          Last June my family was visiting other relatives in the Tennessee/North Carolina area of the country. We took a rode trip through Appalachia. It was the most depressing trip I have ever been on. We passed through towns that were crazy tourist attractions, theaters and show rooms and restaurants that seemed very... glamorous. Eventually we would drive past the bustling town to see the real town of just old houses or trailers held up by sheet metal and decaying wood. Everyone lived in some small cage that looked nearly abandoned. They worked in the "booming" town for the tourists, but actually lived ten miles away in trailer parks and hovels, the yards littered with bottles and random, rusting farm tools. We passed dozens of liquor stores and fast food places, and they got a lot of business. Everyone was overweight, everyone looked like a seasoned drinker, and everyone was poor. There was just nothing out there for anyone but the tourists. The locals just scraped by. I never knew what white trash looked like until then. Just like on the reservation, which is all poor Indians, that area of Appalachia is all poor white people. Both groups cater to tourists and both groups suffer from the same problems.

Native Sons

  Bigger Thomas is a very complex character. His race and the society that he lives in molds who he is, and it did a terrible job. He is a hateful, paranoid and stupid person. Bigger himself does not fully understand his motivations and will to live, and I dislike him for it.
  Bigger is an idiot. His insecurities, selfishness and ego put him and those that care for him in danger. His emotional temper tantrums take his anger out on his friends. Attacking a person that you call your friend just to convince yourself and the others in the group that you are not scared is not only being a jerk, but it shows Bigger's complete lack of coping skills that make a sane person. He is also just plain old crazy. He managed to convince himself that by accidentally killing a white girl, he is special, powerful even. His twisted mind turned an unfortunate death caused by alcohol and bad decisions into some mystical experience that made Bigger able to "see" people for what they are. Instead of remembering Mary's murder as a night of mess-ups and regret, he turns into something fated and good. Bigger is so messed up that he even hates his mother for wanting him to work to improve the family's living conditions.  My only opinion on Bigger is that he is just a power hungry, angry, insane, miserable person.

A Principle To Keep

One principle that I believe every person should hold themselves to is to respect your parents. Parents teach their kids how to be human. They show them what is allowed and what is considered unorthodox. Parents teach humanity. After they teach you to walk, talk and be safe, they teach you what makes a person human. Parents are the ones that teach compassion, sympathy and empathy. If people were to stop respecting those that make them human, then humanity is lost. If parents are ignored then all the emotions that make a person human would go extinct.
  In The Road, the son is the most compassionate character. He was born in an unforgiving, desolate world. If anyone were to be cold and heartless, I would expect the son to be. The only reason that he is compassionate and empathetic is because of his dad. He has no one else at all in his life, and the environment he lives stripes away the humanity of people. His dad is the one that has made him caring, and if it were not for the boy's deep respect for him, the boy would be a heartless survivor.

Janie

     Janie is the focal point of the story, without her there is no conflict. Without her there is no conflict. She has spent half her life married, to men she has no emotion for. Every time she has to actually work for a living she acts like she is being forced to move a mountain. She blames the husband for being in a position where she must work. Now while a normal person would either divorce or die, she does neither. She up and left her first husband for her second husband. She did this after speaking with the new man for a day or two. Eventually she celebrated her second husbands death. 

     Her consistent lack of judgement with men is irritating. Running off with a stranger is a foolish way to solve marital problems that have not even been confronted. Running off with a stranger and marrying him instead is even more stupid. Never confronting the marital problems with her second husband is redundantly stupid. On top of that she left her first husband because with him she would have to work to live, so obviously a man dead set on building a new town is a better choice. She is lazy. How can she expect to have a happy marriage when the only time she really talks to her husbands is when she is leaving them or dying. She brought her unhappiness on herself. There is plenty of blame on the two men she has been with (so far in the story), both were unfair and overbearing, but no one forced her to stay with either of them. 

Thankful

 The person I am most thankful for in my sixth period English two class is my teacher, Mr. McCarthy. I've never really liked my English classes, they are boring and either drown you in essays or make you try to pick out meaning from a text that does not exist. Mr. McCarthy makes English fun though, he constantly calls on us in class and forces us to prove not only that we read the material, but that we also somewhat understand it. If the unfortunate student is completely oblivious to what is going on he light heartingly humiliates him. It makes English enjoyable and inspires us to pay attention.
 Mr. McCarthy's tangents also relate to what we are reading and do not make me question all of my life choices as I wait for the painfully long story to end. I personally find the tangents interesting and I have learned a couple new things from them, for example I did not know expecting fathers handed out cigars.
 Mr. McCarthy has made English an enjoyable class, for this year at least. It is nice to enjoy to be able to enjoy a class most dread. I'm happy to say that I not only enjoy English but that I am also learning it at the same time. Never have I liked a class and actually gotten work down in that class, and I am thankful for that.

Hemmingway

Earnest Hemmingway was a very famous fisherman, boxer, hunter and writer.  He invented a style of writing  He ran with the bulls in Pampalona.  he lived in Cuba, Paris, and Oak Park. He was on the front of World War I and II.  He was married four times and had numerous affairs.  He was an alcoholic.  His writings are interesting, exciting, and well written, but I dislike Hemmingway as person.  If i had not seen the documentary and gotten a glimpse of what he was really like, I would believed the masculine facade and never have guessed that he was a whiney, attention seeking, brat.

Not only did he pretend to be a war hero after World War I, in order to seem manly, his lack of loyalty with his numerous wives and friends caused me to lose all respect for him as a man.  Sure he did a bunch of cool "manly" things, but when it came down to the grit and substance that real men have, Hemmingway came up short.  I mean, anyone can shoot a lion, but it takes a real "man" to want fight your friend over a woman you want to sleep with, that is not the woman your married to.    

6 Word Stories

The plane is silent 30,000ft up.

His watch would never be rewound.
The wind shelter doors blew open.
Their last kiss tasted like blood.
Required summer reading list: "Mein Kampf"
Died; old age, on death row .