The Road (Section 3)

While reading this section of The Road, I came to realize that a huge part of the adversity faced by the Man and the Boy lies in the fact that they know that any good things that may happen to them will not last. So essentially, they must face the fact that the rest of their lives will be, for the most part, struggle and horror. This is shown in a number of situations. For example, when they find the bunker (which happens to be relatively well-stocked with food, a scarce commodity in this post-apocalyptic world), they eventually leave it, knowing that staying in one place would make them sitting ducks, regardless of the amount of protection and security the bunker seemed to be able to provide. They've had to accept the bleakness of their lives and of the world they live in, and this has clear psychological consequences for both of them. Their situation is kind of horrifying to me in that an underlying concept-- that the Man and the mother brought the Boy into such a trrrible world, and must deal with the guilt/stress/other consequences of this (if that makes sense?)-- is not too far from what I think some people do/will experience. Of course, this similarity in real life doesn't reach quite the degree that it does for the Man, but it's hard for me to avoid that connection while I read.

The Road (Part 3)

When reading this third section of the book I was confused on why the man and boy left the bunker which was filled with goods and could have possibly been a safe place to live in. At the beginning of this book the man and boy's goal was to go to the other side of town because they thought it was a better place to be able to survive in. If survival is their priority the bunker could have been their sanctuary. A thing I found very instersting in this part of the book was when he man and boy bumped into a old man who called himself "Ely." The old man said that name wasnt really his and that he doesn't tell people his real name because he doesn't trust them. I understand the old man's point on this but the man and boy had helped him by giving him food. Living in a world where most people are against each other and everyones priority is survival, I believe this was something worth giving ones name to.

The Road Part 3

The boy continues to show innocence and compassion towards others despite living in a world where outsiders can't be trusted. He persistently begs his father to help others, absent thought of the danger that may come with it.  And it strikes that he still has faith that there are "good people". The father convinces his son that "good people" still exist, but I'm beginning to question whether their morals and principles of survival make them "good" or weak.

The Road - Section 3

While reading this section of The Road, I couldn't stop thinking about that bunker they had found, the solution to all their problems. In that bunker, they had a warm place to sleep, bathe, eat, and a large supply of food that could have lasted them quite some time. And yet, they chose to leave and walk along the road in the freezing cold, sleeping out in the woods, just wondering when they're going to meet the "bad guys" and die. I mean, isn't their ultimate goal to survive for as long as they can?
There was another part that really caught my attention in this section. As they continue their journey on the road, the father and his son come across a multitude of dead bodies just lying there in horrid condition and the boy was not phased in anyway. So then I started thinking about our topic of adversity, and I realized that maybe all of this isn't that hard for the boy considering he has grown up with it and it's kind of just what he has always done and seen. Once you grow up with something, it just seems normal and you don't see the real adversity in your situation, but like for us, it seems so horrific and terrifying.

Life of Pi Section 3: A Word About Fear

“ ...if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you.”

I believe like Pi, that fear is truly one of the greatest, if not the very greatest source of adversity because as we're forced to confront the unknown, the uncertain, the unsafe, we're compelled to acknowledge our limitations as human beings. As Pi ventured from the lifeboat onto the make-shift raft to escape Richard Parker he demonstrated an enormous amount of courage in being able to finally take action to ensure his safety, however, even through that action, the threat of shark attacks and Richard Parker's return still loomed above his head.

But I believe as much as fear is a source of adversity, it's also a source of power. In recognizing one's limitations one can also observe the limitations of others. In Pi's case, Richard Parker was indeed a formidable enemy, however, just as Pi was, Richard was also limited by his circumstances. He faced fear just as Pi faced it. And though this fearfulness didn't necessarily make them equal, it gave Pi a bit of leverage.

Getting back to the quote, I believe Pi realized that his avoidance of Richard Parker would inevitably come to an end, and he'd have to confront him eventually. As the quote says, avoiding fear only makes you vulnerable to future attacks, so in the end we must face our fears (we must overcome our adversities) in order to protect ourselves against vulnerability.

Life of Pi- Section 3

In this 3rd section of Life of Pi, our main character continues with his struggle of being stranded on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean with a tiger. This section illustrates the various ways that Pi is dealing with this adversity. By the end of our section he has more or less tamed the tiger, and kept him restricted to small section of the lifeboat, similar to a zoo enclosure. I thought it was really amazing how there was such a connection between his upbringing in the zoo and how this helped him overcome such an enormous obstacle. I predict that he will continue to use the things we heard about earlier in the book, and the knowledge he acquired will help save his life. 

Gone for Good (The Road Section 3)

Many times in the book so far, the boy has wanted to help some person, or even animal, but his father has declined. In my opinion, the man made the right decision by declining. In the post apocalyptic world they’re living in, the only thing the father has to live for is his son. Without him, “surviving” is pointless. There doesn't seem to be any foreseeable future. It appears that they are only prolonging the inevitable, in case they eventually do find some sort of salvation, and I think the man knows that. His goal seems to be to spend as much time as he can with his son, and make sure that his son is safe. I don't think he plans on finding salvation. He has accepted that that the "civilized" world of before is gone for good.

The Internal Flame (The Road Section 2)

An overlying theme in the book, and especially this section, is one of hope and despair. This can be illustrated by the sort of situations that the man and the boy encounter. Many of these situations are those of despair, however there are several situations that provide just enough hope to keep them trekking forward. The scene in the large home outside the small town, that was a trap and almost got the two protagonists killed, was definitely a traumatic situation. It seemed to crush the hope that had already been severely crippled. However, they were fortunate enough to run into an apple orchard, and find that bunker that contained plentiful amounts of food and other supplies. Those two situations seemed to help the man and the boy greatly, considering that they seemed to already be at their breaking points.
Also, the internal flame that is mentioned throughout the book is symbolized by the candle that the man found while searching through the charred remains of a house. Even though the man felt that the whole world had already been pillaged, there still remained a candle, to keep their flames of hope burning. That hope, that had been kindled by the orchard and bunker, was made illustrated by the boy's inquiry about crows. Something that seems so trivial to their situation was on the mind of the boy, showing that he no longer believed that his end was near, and rather, that there was hope for a future.

The Road Section 3

In this section I noticed a connection between what the man had done and what the boy does. Previously, the man had thrown away his wallet as a symbol of him letting go of the past and looking to the future.  In this section the boy threw away his flute, possibly with the same intentions as the man.  If the boy did not do this with the same intent as his father, I fear that he threw away his flute because he is starting to give up.  He has already seen horrific sights such as a roasted baby and people suffering in a basement.  Perhaps he has been pushed to his limit.  I hope, however, that he still has hope and they both can continue on.

I know why the caged birds sing 9-18

During this section of my groups reading what really shocked me was the fact that even when she did meet her parents, she still felt out of place. In the beginning she felt as if she didn't belong, she didn't have a "place". Surely I thought that when her parents came back into her life things would change. It shocks me that she sees it as one stranger passing her on to another stranger. Even if she doesn't "know" them I would think that it would hurt it again to have her dad hand Maya and her brother down to there mother. The reaction Maya's brother had was normal to my eyes. Also when she was mollested by her mothers boyfriend that freaked me out. I think that is so disgusting and it was too disturbing to read. The saddest part is that she's young and not independent enough to get out of her situations so I pity her.

Breaking Night (CH 7-9)

We've seen Liz's relationships with people change throughout the book and, for me, the hardest one to observe is her relationship with her mother. In this section, Liz finally goes to the hospital to visit her dying mother and I found this scene to be particularly heartbreaking. For her entire life Liz has tried to do everything in her power to capture her mother's attention, and her mother has become so sick that she can't even slightly focus on Liz (who is sitting right beside her). I think it's extremely sad that Liz never really had the attention she deserved from her mother, and even more so that instead of finally having some closure before her mother's death she is only filled with such intense sadness, fear, and disappointment that there will never be that closure between them. I think that Liz uses her experiences with her mother to guide some of her other relationships -- she now knows that no matter how hard she tries and no matter how much it pains her, some people will always be who they are and continuously do destructive things. This lesson that she's learned is what's given her the strength to leave Brick's house and be able to confront Carlos through the letter after she discovers he is using drugs.

The Road Part 3

During this section of the book, I was focusing on the boy more often. I was trying to understand how the boy viewed the world. A world he never knew. And it seemed like he had to grow up trying to imagine these things to go another day without thinking of death. However I've noticed that the boy isn't really afraid of death. I mean yes he has cried and he's afraid of pulling the trigger on himself but I feel like he's prepared for it. When the father asked the son what had happened to the flute he had made him, the son said he had thrown it away. To me, I see the flute as his way of letting go of the present and accepting what may happen to him during that moment. I don't know about anybody else reading this, but I honestly don't think the boy shares his father's view on survival, they are so opposite. It's heartbreaking to say this but the boy reminds me of his mother. However I understand why it would be so difficult for them to have a connection with both growing up in completely different worlds. This could be another adversity they have to overcome, differences.

The Road (pages 73-145)

The most horrific portion of this part of the novel, for me at least, was when the Man and the Boy discover the humans in a basement of a house. The first time I read this part, I didn't pay very close attention, but a particular detail stuck out that made me realize what was happening. One of the men in the basement had his legs cut off to the hip, and the end of him had been cauterized. It became apparent to me that these people were a stock of food for the people inhabiting the upstairs portion of the house. While at first I was very focused on how disgusting and grotesque the situation was, I started to think about what this might show about how people face and try to overcome adversity. In the case of these people who turned to cannibalism, I think it showed that their way of overcoming the adversity of their situation was to do anything they could to survive. In contrast, the Man and the Boy tried to uphold their "good guy" status, at least to some extent, and I think this is mostly due to the encouragement of more moral behavior by the Boy. This ties back to what I said in a previous post or comment, that I feel that the Boy has maintained a level of compassion because this post-apocalyptic world is the only one he has ever known, whereas the Man has probably become a more hardened/bitter version of himself as a result of this onslaught of adversity.

Part 3 The Road

I've often questioned the significance of the diseal truck and have come up with a conclusion. I believe that maybe the diseal truck is a symbol for the easy way out. In context we are told that those in the truck are "bad guys" which makes me think that these bad guys are also bad because they have no knowledge or have had no true adversity after the apocalypse, they have simply took the easy way. On the other hand the father and son only have a cart which is nothing in comparison to the truck. I think the whole comparison means that even though the father and son have so little they are better people for the path that they have chosen. They have chosen to go through hardship but live a life in which they have no regrets for what they have done because they live an honest life.

Catch-22 Ch12-22

I found it interesting that at one point during the war, Yossarian had actually been a soldier that cared about the war and was brave enough to go back through the bombing zone so that he could drop his bombs and destroy the bridge. I then feel like Yossarian became how he is currently because of how he was treated after that mission as he was reprimanded by Colonel Cathcart, yet he was given a medal and promoted to captain. So because of the inconsistency of the decisions by commanding officers, I feel like Yossarian realized how little sense everything made, such as the Catch-22 policy, so he decided to just get out of there before he died.

Breaking Night Section 1

Nearly each page from this gripping book ignites thoughts of discussion that I wish to share outlaid, but alas I must confine my thoughts for three separate sections. For chapters 1-3, I would like to highlight how Murray's tone distorts my (and I assume other's) perception of normality. From the very beginning Murray addresses her father's jail sentence and both of her parents' addiction to heroine and coke. Nearly every page has the words drug run or getting high. Through the use of extreme repetition, I nearly forget that this is a six-ten year old girl we are talking about that is witnessing the abuse of illegal substances, and everything else that comes along with it: creepy men willing to supply finances/supplies for drugs, late-night attacks/muggings, no food to eat due to money depletion from drugs, and irresponsible parents that fail to supply the children they brought into the world with a decent home. Murray's tone, however, through all of her descriptions of such horrific and unimaginable circumstances comes off as regular and normal - almost natural! I understand why; being born into this way of life, she struggles to comprehend an alternative lifestyle (even when meeting friends with parents that cook meals regularly and have higher standards of living, Murray never questions why she was unlucky enough to be born to drug-addicted parents. She continue to accepts her family and how they live.) Perhaps for a 18 year old that has experienced otherwise, reading how drug addiction is tearing her family apart is normal drives me crazy as I continually wish she would become mad with how her parents choose to live. That's not to say she doesn't experience emotion - she often describes how she cries when particular events occur, such as her mom stealing her money to buy another bag of drugs or when she learns that her mother is contracted with AIDS, but I often find myself yearning for her to be mad at her predicament.

The Road, section 2

As I read more and more into The Road, I keep noticing more and more how the father and son keep coming facing to face with adversity. At one point in the book, the father and son were hiding in the woods from "bad guys" and the father really contemplated killing his son so they wouldn't get him but luckily they were never found.That's why he's been asking himself "Can you do it?" because he doesn't know if he will should the time come. Another was that they were just in the woods, where it as freezing but couldn't do much about it or else they would risk being caught. The father also continues to hear his son say he wishes to die and only worsens the situation they're already in. 

The Life of Pi: Section 2

In this section, I observed the many adversities that Pi experiences as he experiences religious intolerance, abandonment of his home, and eventually separation from his family, but besides these instances, many other characters experience adversity, yet little attention is given to them. 

The fact that his father, mother, and Ravi are so apathetic and questioning of Pi's spirituality is an example of adversity as well. It causes the family to face the idea that despite their "forward-minded" aspirations, they're son has become consumed with the "backward" and "mythicism" of religion. And this division within the family, though small at first continues to reappear again and again as Pi delves deeper into his spirituality.

Ultimately the parents must concede to Pi's persistence and allow him to get the prayer rug and allow him to become baptized. And as these things occur, they must finally face the fact that in spite of all they'd hoped, their son will live life as he pleases.

I know why the caged birds sing 1-9

 Maya explains how she feels in regards to her look and the idea of beauty. She in laughed at and feels humiliated in what is worse, this is at a place of worship where  in gods house everyone is asposed to be accepted for who they are. She does not take pride in being African which is sad but due to the time period it makes sense. I pity her and her story because I feel even if she doesn't feel like she belongs because of her parents leaving her and people telling her she's not beautiful, it should never be okay to run out of a church crying. Later in the book when her dad comes back and she disregards as a stranger speaks a lot too because it shows the concept of "blood is thicker than water" is not true to her scenario.

Breaking Night (ch. 4-6)

One thing that I noticed in these chapters was that Liz was able to handle adversity when she made new friends such as Sam and Carlos. Her friendships with them helped  her become happier even though her life at home was difficult. Liz's mother left her father and another guy named Brick. Liz doesn't necessarily like Brick because he disrespects her mother even though she is sick. At the end of the section, Brick kicks Liz and Sam out of the house. At first I was really upset, but I feel like Liz will be ok because she finally has friends that care for her. Her whole life she was surrounded by people who cared more about drugs than her health. Maybe this will be a good transition for her. 

Breaking Night- Section 1

We are introduced to Liz, the younger sister, Lisa, the older sister, and the mother who's unstable due to drugs and other personal problems. The situation was so bad that Liz felt that she couldn't reach out to them, so she resorted to a job at the age of ten which was bagging items and receiving tips from people. While she had to go through the financial and social dilemmas at home she finds a way to overcome the problems by earning her own money. She's taking responsibility for herself at such a young age, which I believe is very impressive; one cannot find ways to earn money so young, but she felt like she had no other choice. While she still does blame herself for her mother's drug (and other forms of) abuse she still subsists and moves on.

The Road

As I read this section of The Road, I was astonished when realizing how well the young boy has taken this whole situation his father and him live in. Yes, he has cried once in a while and has seemed to be worried when asking his father if they're going to live but  they've been confronted with the sighting of human beings in a basement suffering. This is a very gruesome occurance that many people wouldn't be able to handle. A weird thing that I found about this section is that the young boy and the man keep calling themselves "good guys." I believe this may be because they're setting a limit to something they don't want to become.

Chapters 10-18 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

In chapters 10-18 what stood out to me the most was Marguerite’s and Bailey’s adoration of their mother. I can’t understand why they felt no anger towards her when she had abandoned them to live with their grandmother and never visited them. Then, out of the blue, she decides she wants them to live with her and has her ex-husband pick them up from their grandmother’s house and pluck them out of life as they know it. I would harbor resentment towards the person who did that to me. Despite the fact that even though the children now lived with their mother, they still hardly ever saw her. Oddly, they still fawned over her and admired her beauty. For the majority of the time they lived with her, they seemed constantly in awe of her, almost as if she was a mythical creature that they thought didn't exist in real life. 

Ch 1-9 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

In the first chapter of this memoir, the reader is introduced to the narrator, Marguerite, her brother, Bailey, and their grandmother, who they refer to as Momma because she raised them. What struck me in these nine chapters was how much Marguerite looked up to her older brother Bailey. To her, he was perfect and could do no wrong. In chapter four she states "My pretty Black brother was my Kingdom Come.". Throughout these nine chapters, she contrasts Bailey's smartness with her dumbness, Bailey's grace with her clumsiness, and his beauty with her ugliness. Through these adoration's bestowed upon her brother, Marguerite's own insecurities are reveled. She seems painfully aware of her own self-perceived inadequacies, and I wonder, as the book continues, if she ever overcomes these self-doubting feelings.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings Section 2

In chapters 10-18, it stood out to me the most how Maya was greatly affected by being molested by her mother's boyfriend Mr. Freeman while living with them in St. Louis. It was easy for him to take advantage of her because she lacked the love and care that most children received from their parents growing up so she equated his inappropriate behavior as him loving her. It was disturbing to read because she had such a child-like point of view and it shows the complete violation of her innocence. After the case and Mr. Freeman's "unexpected" death, Angelou decides to remain silent because she feels that anyone she speaks to will ultimately die too. She blamed herself for everything and was made to feel that she did something wrong by Mr. Freeman. This was just a sad section to read because I saw her transition from being a worry free child to literally carrying all of the weight in her world on her shoulders.

The Good Guys

From the very beginning of this section, the son and the father continue to share the belief that they are the "good guys" and are continually running away from the "bad guys".  I feel that them labeling themselves as the "good guys" creates adversity for themselves, because the father still has to act as a role model to his son even in these grim circumstances. The thought that the post-apocalyptic society would turn to the imprisonment and cannibalism left me really disgusted and terrified for the Man, and especially the son who the Man feared "something was gone that could not be put right again" after witnessing all the things they pasted along the Road. Another theme that i keep noticing is how they are constantly questioning their death, which makes me wonder why they are still traveling the road, and where they really do intend to end up both literally and emotionally.

The Road- What is Lyfe?

To be born into this barren, cannibalistic world is far beyond imaginable. This young boy has endured so many hardships with his father, but to what end? They go days without food and water, scavenging what they can, always in fear of running into the "bad"guys. 

"You put it in your mouth and point it up. Do it quick and hard. Do you understand? Stop crying. Do you understand."

No child should be forced to learn to survive, let alone know how to take their own life. Nor should they question whether life is worth living. I believe this to be the greatest adversity of the book- being born into a world in which the only guarantee is that tomorrow isn't guaranteed.

The Life of Pi (reading section #2)- Shipped Animals

In this second section of reading, Pi faces various cases of adversity, the obvious one being that the ship he had been on had sunk and he was on a life boat with a tiger and a hyena. However, another notable case of adversity was when Pi and Ravi had been told that they were moving from India to Canada. Moving in general is in itself is a struggle, but moving across the Atlantic Ocean to an unknown country with an unknown culture is even more intimidating. Pi and his family decided (well the parents decided) to leave everything they have ever known and to move to Canada. I am interested mostly to this specific case of adversity because the night I had read this section was the same night I had visited the Holocaust Museum in D. C. And I remember the tour guide stating how hard it was for the Jewish people to get up and leave everything the had ever known even with the circumstances they faced. Even with the motivation the Jews had to leave their homes they didn't because of hard it was for them to leave their lives. And it's the same for Pi, obviously he is not under the same circumstances as the Jews, but how can you imagine your parents telling you that they have decided for the family to move across the world and you will not be living the same life as you once did. I'm not sure that Pi found a way to cope with his family's decision besides just accepting that his parents had already made the decision and the move had already been set in motion.

Catch-22 Part 2

"The soldier in white was constructed entirely of gauze, plaster and a thermometer. "
Yossarian met the soldier in white when he was in the hospital. The man in white couldn't move, speak, and was fed through a tube. Was that living? Yossarian, in my opinion has a twisted view of what life is. If you live life afraid that at any moment you might drop dead from one of the million things we could die from including:
 "There were tumors of the brain. There was Hodgkin’s disease, leukemia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. There were fertile red meadows of epithelial tissue to catch and coddle a cancer cell. There were diseases of the skin, diseases of the bone, diseases of the lung, diseases of the stomach, diseases of the heart, blood and arteries. There were diseases of the head, diseases of the neck, diseases of the chest, diseases of the intestines, diseases of the crotch. There even were diseases of the feet. There were billions of conscientious body cells oxidating away day and night like dumb animals at their complicated job of keeping him alive and healthy, and every one was a potential traitor and foe. There were so many diseases that it took a truly diseased mind to even think about them as often as he and Hungry Joe did"
You only get to live once so why live afraid you might die when everyone must die eventually. instead enjoy the good moments you do have like the sun warming your back or tasting something new for the very first time. if we worry we might die all the time we will miss those moments that make up life.  Yossarian flee's to the hospital when he can't handle life in the war as if he can flee from living life itself. He can't each time he ends up right back in the field. War is nasty but even through difficult times we shouldn't run from our problems we must push through them and see the ways we can support each other in the trials of life.

 

Life of Pi- Section 2

This section of our book is overflowing with adverse scenarios. Pi begins his story of his family's journey to begin a new life in Canada, but that is only the beginning of his adversity. As if being uprooted from his life in India wasn't enough, the ship on which Pi, his family, and the zoo animals which they were going to sell were all on, sunk. Pi is thrown overboard by the crew into a lifeboat on a which an adult tiger, a hyena, an orangutan and an injured zebra are all on as well. He goes 2 days without eating, drinking, or sleeping. He watches the hyena devour both the injured zebra, and the orangutan. He is gripped by fear, but eventually reaches a point where he realizes he must drink in order to survive and sets out for water. This is probably one of the most extreme cases of adversity I have ever encountered, and it seems as if the only way Pi is dealing with it is practically accepting his death and just trying to survive as long as he can. 

The Road part 2

Throughout this section papa keeps repeating to the little boy that they will not die and never seems to lose hope that they will find a way to survive. He finally seems to overcome the adversity when they get into a house that has a lot of food in which the boy will stop being hungry and stop being cold. However, it is bitter sweet because he know that they must journey into another obstacle and face yet more adversity. But, he is positive about the situation he is in and keeps motivating the boy to keep going.

The Road - Section2

The father was really going to kill his son. He feared so much that the "bad guys" would get his son, that he wanted his son to kill himself, and when he thought he couldn't do it, the father was going to. Talk about adversity. That's why he's been asking himself "Can you do it?" He has been wondering this whole time, if he could kill his son if it came down to it. Luckily, the men did not see them hiding in the woods. That's another adversity in itself. They had to hide there, without moving in the freezing cold of the woods in order to keep the bad guys from seeing them.
This book is so gripping that I have trouble putting it down. McCarthy's writing style just keeps you hooked, wanting to know more. It's strange because it so simple, and sometimes hard to follow, but you're always left wanting to know what comes next.

The Road-144

There was definitely a lot going on in this section. We finally get to see the bad guys and to be honest I wasn't sure what I expected them to be like. However I didn't expect the situation to be as bad or gruesome as it occurred. I am surprised how well the boy is handling all these events. Yes he does get scared and cries, it's natural but the way he reacts/acts is not "normal" for a young boy. It could just be the way his father has raised him. He could have raised him to expect these sort of things in order to survive and read dangerous situations better. I did get confused on page 155 though. "Coming through the canebrake into the road he'd seen a box. A thing like a child's playhouse. He realized it was where they lay watching the road. Lying in wait and ringing the bell in the house for their companions to come." I've reread this part multiple times but I'm still not understanding, though I could just be over thinking it.

The Road Section 2

As I continued reading The Road, I noticed that so much emotion is put into so few words. The dialogue between the man and his son is very brief, yet there so much said between them.  The son expresses his fears, and at other times how he wishes to die.  The man also shows emotion in very few words such as when he saw the horrific sight of starving, naked, suffering human beings locked up in a basement, when he was looking for food for he and his son.  The descriptions of setting and occurrences adds to the detail and emotion that cannot be put in dialogue.

Breaking Night (chs 4-6)

This section emphasizes how important and beneficial it is for people to feel supported as they face adversity. Until this point, Liz has tried to face everything on her own and feels disconnected from her family and from the world. At one point she felt as though she was invading peoples' space rather than feeling like she was a part of anything. After she befriended Sam, Liz became happier and stated that "the world's rejection mattered less because [they] were with each other." She continues to make more friends and compares them to a "little family free of judgements." She knows that her problems haven't disappeared, but having a sense of belonging has made things different for her. It's made her problems more bearable because she doesn't feel so alone anymore.

"The Long and Winding Road"

So far I am really diggin’ this book and its’ post apocalyptic setting. The boy in the story is very young and whatever it was that turned the world upside down has happened several years ago. Soon after this happened the boy’s mother, and the man’s wife, took her life out on the road somewhere. The man kept a picture of her in his wallet, but he eventually dumped it out with the rest of his wallet onto the road. He was also forced to shoot a man in order to save his son’s life. I feel that this showed that he had given up on the past, pre-apocalyptic world, and had realized that at least in his lifetime, they would never return to such a civilized and relatively peaceful life. The man’s wife was in the past, and she was going to stay there. All he has to look forward to is a life with his son.

The Road (Pgs 1-72)

From the very first page, it became apparent to me that The Road was not going to be like any other novel I had read. It seems as though Cormac McCarthy's writing style/structure is meant to emphasize the subject/themes of the novel. First of all, the novel is written in vignettes rather than chapters or any other traditional book structure, which I feel highlights the "in/out" nature of the man & the boy's "higher" consciousness, and the way all of the days blend together since essentially all they do day in and day out is walk around and try to survive. Continuing the analyzation of McCarthy's style, he tended to omit many punctuation marks, which I feel served to make the writing seem hastily done.
I think that the way the author described setting of the novel really helped to illustrate the actual magnitude of their situation. Many words were used quite frequently in the descriptions of the setting including: ash, gray, murk, dark/darkness, etc. I think we all understand that their experience is a pretty tough one, one we wouldn't expect normal people to be able to weather, much less a boy. This leads to my next point...
As we are studying adversity in this unit, it's important to note that the situation presented in The Road certainly exemplifies adversity, and on multiple levels. The man and the boy are entirely alone through the majority of this portion of the book, and must look out for one another and for themselves at all times. There's immeasurable danger in the world, and they are well aware of this, as is shown by the boy's skittishness. One of the most obvious ways that the characters deal with their adversity is through memory. The man sometimes has pleasant/captivating memories/daydreams of his wife, or the woman who was his wife, as well as his childhood, and I think these memories help him because their beauty distracts him from his situation. However, these memories can also be problematic because of their distracting nature. Additionally, as much as they remind him of the beauty of the world, they also slam him with the reality that no such beauty exists anymore. Another way they deal with their adversity is their companionship, for this is the main motivation/drive/factor overall that's making them survive.

(Side note: I feel like the man is trying to prepare himself and/or the boy for something that is to happen, but I don't know what yet. I think this because of some of the man's internal dialogue, eg: "Can you do it? When the time comes? Can you?")

The Road post 1

This first part really seems to keep drudging on. Every day they wake up and travel struggling to survive on the road. What it really shows about adversity is that although every day is tough and monotonous on the road the man always has a goal and I person to keep him going . He uses the boy as motivation to keep pushing. The most interesting part was when the boy asked the man about what he would do when he died and the man said he would die also. The man is using the boy as a way to push through the adversity of the journey. 

Catch - 22 : Ch1-11

So far Catch-22 has been quite an interesting book to read as it is full of paradoxes and irony, with the most notable being that of the Catch-22 clause that prohibits Yossarian from being grounded from the war. Being a war novel, I was surprised as I often found myself laughing quite often at the dialogue and events that occur throughout these first couple of chapters. The book can be confusing as the reader may find some of the things that characters do and say don’t make sense at times, but I think that’s why this story does make sense. Instead of taking a straightforward approach to speaking about war, it displays it in a satirical way where I believe it is saying that war is senseless act, and in a sense a vicious cycle that can be difficult to escape from. This can be seen with Yossarian, who wants to be grounded, but in order to do so he must prove himself insane or fly fifty missions. But by asking to be grounded, it shows that he is sane since he cares about his safety, and cannot be grounded without asking. He could also try flying the fifty missions, except the number keeps getting bumped up by his commanding officer, who he cannot disobey, and thus he cannot get out of war.

The Road Section 1

There are many examples in the book that show the adversity that the characters have to overcome. For instance, the constant threat of starvation, cannibals, and surviving the cold conditions while heading south require a great deal of perseverance. In addition to this, they each have to deal with their own feelings. They both miss the mother, the only difference is that the boy, at one point, says he wishes he was with her, indicating that he wants to die, and the dad deals with not shooting his son even though it would mean that the son wouldn't have to suffer anymore. 

Life of Pi- No God

Throughout the first 25 chapter of the novel, there have been multiple examples of adversity. An example that stood out to me in particular was how a character (I'm not exactly sure who it was because I read that part while I was feeling sick on a plane ride) decided to no longer believe in a God because of how his "God" did not seem to answer his prayers or assist him while he was going through his sickness. Going through a sickness (don't remember which one) is an obvious a case of adversity, and often people turn to prayers in hope that their "God(s)" will find cure to their sickness. This person however gave up in believing in God and said that his sickness was cured through medicine. While going through a sickness, like I stated, is a type of adversity so is having to accept the fact that you can no longer count on a certain someone. This character in the novel was able to overcome both cases of adversity of having a sickness by medicine, and not being able to believe in God by simply having the mindset that if there was a God, where was he during his time of need?

Breaking Night (ch. 1-3)

Throughout the first three chapters of Breaking Night, there is an apparent theme of survival. Liz and her sister Lisa, struggle to survive in a household where her parents are both addicted to drugs. Drugs have taken over the parents lives so much that they immediately spend their check on buying more drugs while leaving hardly any money for food. The girls are then left to eat eggs everyday and at one point even a tube of toothpaste and Chapstick. The thought of having to live with such adversity breaks my heart. One thing that I found interesting was when Liz had decided to take matters in her own hands and find a job at the age of ten so that she could eat. She worked in a supermarket where she would bag the items and then receive tips from the costumers. To me this is an act of overcoming adversity because Liz wanted to be able to eat and not starve to death. 

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings - Section 1

In chapters 1-9, it stood out to me how segregation and racism were so bad in Stamps, Arkansas that Angelou didn't think Caucasian individuals were real people. ("These others, the strange pale creatures that lived their alien unlife, weren't considered folks. They were white folks." p. 26) I related this to adversity because of how prevalent inequality was back then. Also, how the estranged relationship she and her brother had with their parents really had an impact on her as a child. Angelou thought they were simply unwanted. Angelou and her brother had mixed feelings upon meeting their father - she feared being compared to him and he was in awe of him. They both, however, were reluctant to meet their mother. Angelou says her mother was "too beautiful to have children." They don't really connect with their mother or father in this section. 

Life of Pi- Section 1

In the first section of this book, Pi discusses various scenarios where he faces adversity. The most prominent instance for me was the time when he is bombarded by the "three wise men" of the three religions he is exploring. Pi was first a Hindu, but has recently discovered Christianity and Islam, and become very interested in both. The men each claim he can only practice one religion. Pi responds to this adversity is a very peaceful and logical way, telling them he only wishes to love God. This answer satisfies them and they go on their way. I found Pi's handling of this difficult situation to be mature beyond his years and I am intrigued to see how this ties into the book later on. 

Catch-22

Yossarian works so hard to get out of the war. If all soldiers worked that hard we wouldn't have war. I find Yosssarian point of view very interesting, He believes enemy soldiers want to kill him personally. By taking it personally he isn't desensitized to the effects of his actions he understands that war isn't a game. This concept is the basis for his idea that everyone around him is crazy. Especially Clevinger, who believed that people shooting at him was just the nature of war. Yossarian doesn't see war as a natural behavior and would rather keep his life than to throw it away on craziness. When you don't know what your fighting for war seems more pointless than usual.

The Life of Pi: To live in a zoo

I don't believe that the speakers juxtaposition of staying at the Ritz compared to being homeless, adequately supported his notion that animals must prefer living in captivity to living in the wild. 

Though I understand how the Ritz is supposed to represent the idealism and high-class living that we're all supposed to desire, the speaker can honestly compare that to animals living in a zoo. Yes, maybe living in a zoo does provide a more consistent shelter and food supply, but does that actually make it better? 

Sure things aren't perfect in the wild, and being that none of us are animals, we can really know which environment they prefer, but that being set aside, the idea of free will still remains. People who check into fancy hotels like the Ritz can make a conscious and sovereign decision to do so... The same can't be said for the animals in the zoo.

Perhaps, the speaker is right that the environment provided by the zoo is somehow superior to that of the wild, again, until we determine how to communicate effectively with animals, we may never know the answer for sure, but the big idea that I'm highlighting here is the fact that he speaker is comparing one's purposeful decision for himself with a decision he's made for something, or someone else. As far as I can see, those two scenarios simply are incomparable. 

The Road

The part I found very interesting when reading the first section of the book was when the man had a flashback to a time when he was with his wife. His wife left him and his son, yet the man is still willing to stay alive because his son needs him to survive. Something I also found very interesting was how both the man and son remain unnamed throughout this portion of the book. I believe the reason why the author didn't want to  name them was because of the situation they're in. They're in a post apocalyptic world so all that matters at the moment is their survival and heading south.

The Road Section 1

Many events that occur in the book show the adversity that the characters must face and overcome. For example, the father and son must deal with the loss of the mother. The boy says at one point that he wishes to be with his mother, or in other words, wants to die. The father and son continue on however, and the father does not give in to shooting his son, like the mother said he may have to. The father and son overcome adversity such as being near starvation, avoiding cannibals, and surviving cold winters. They could take the easy way out, but they instead use what they have learned and overcome to continue and strive for their goal to head south.

The Road

I believe that the greatest adversity that the man has faced was seeing his wife walk away. From what I understood his wife left and decided to end her life. The man could have decided to follow the same steps as his wife but he chose to stay alive for his son. The choice that he made has proven to be  full of hardship yet he clings to his life in a selfless matter. He lives for his son and even though it seems that he is going nowhere, there is no destination in his choice he keeps moving forward. 

The Life of Pi- Piscine Molitor Patel

In the third chapter, Mamaji's description of the pool at Piscines Chateau-Landon stood out to me. It wasn't the best pool in Paris, nor was it the worst. Obviously, on the outside he was just talking about another pool and its lack of cleanliness. Even though this pool was much cleaner compared to some of the other pools in Paris, Mamaji still noted that "There was so much gob and spit floating in the water, [that he] thought [he] was swimming through jellyfish."

And in that statement, I thought back to our class discussion about adversity. The fact is that when comparing people to each other, just as Mamaji compared the pools, we all have different situations going. Some of us may appear to be "cleaner" or more put together than others, like the pools, but in spite of that we all have our flaws. We all have "gob and spit" which can be represented through the adversity that we face.

The Road

I find the McCarthy's writing style extremely interesting from the very beginning because it is so unique, and I don't recall ever reading a book where the author avoids using quotation mark. Another characteristic that is relatively unique about this book is its lack of chapters, and each paragraphs acts as a separation of The Man's thoughts. I also find the fact the author avoids giving the Man and the Boy names through out this section. In the beginning of the section, we get little glimpses of the Man's and the Boy's relationship, and their dynamic is really interesting to me because of the way that the boy has moments where he seems extremely mature, and others where he resembles a relatively young child. The moments when the Man remembers his wife are really emotional to me, because those are the few instances where this book has a real strong emotional focus on something instead of focusing on the bleakness of the two's future.

Breaking Night

In the first three chapters, I think it's interesting to compare how the characters deal with the challenges they face -- Lisa, the older sister, seems to become very hard and distant. The mother turns to drugs and alcohol and is desperate for attention, she's also prone to schizophrenic breakdowns. The main character, Liz, tries to avoid her problems and seeks comfort outside of her home through friends and their family. Liz also tends to blame herself for things that aren't her fault, like how she blamed herself for her mother's breakdowns and how she thought it was her fault that her mother left. This, I thought, was extremely sad, and it also confused me -- I don't understand why she is so quick to blame herself for her mother's problems.

The Road

I have noticed that the paragraphs are rather short. Yet, I find them to be detailed and interesting. Some paragraphs offer an insight into the past, what happened or other details. However, these insights are not random, as in they aren't placed where they are just because, I see that there is a connection with the insight and the previous paragraph about the story line. I see it almost like, something they see or experience triggers a memory and so they (mostly the father) relive it in their minds. Sometimes nice things like his childhood, and sometimes darker things involving the death of his wife. "You forget what you want to remember and you remember what you want to forget."

The Road. First Glance

I found McCarthy's writing style interesting. I noticed his use of punctuations was a bit scattered and inconsistent. And he doesn't use quotation marks to distinguish dialogue within the text, which can cause a bit of confusion for the reader. I also found it strange that the two characters, the father and the son, remained unnamed throughout this whole section I read.

The Road - Wife

The part I found most interesting in this part of the book is the glimpse we got into the past when the man's wife left his son and him, but we have no idea when it happened or what sparked her decision to leave. I think what's kind of amazing about this is how the father chose to keep surviving despite all the negative things his wife has pointed out about their situation. He wasn't going to give up on his son the way she was. And his son handled the whole thing like a champ. In the morning all he did was ask if she was gone. He didn't complain or cry, which must have been extraordinarily difficult considering he just lost his mother. I wish we knew who she was talking about though when she said "...they will catch us and they will kill us." The man and his son have continued to survive despite her taking the easy way out and leaving them all on their own in a world of chaos.

Wrap Up for Night

Our Advanced Composition class had a great time blogging about the novel Night. Here are some of the reflections written by class members:

- "Being able to blog freely, at any given time of the day allowed me to sort my thoughts out clearly."

- "The overall experience of the blog we did for Night was actually shockingly enjoyable."

- "By having a blog, everyone was able to interact and pay attention to the details that they otherwise would not have caught; which led to long discussions over ideas of what the author was trying to convey."

- "I enjoyed the blog we did for Night because it felt very interactive and it was easy to do on the go since we could access it on our phones."

- "I would love to do this again."

- "I was able to express myself in a different way. I became excited and quickly loved blogging."

- "I found the blog we made for Night to be very helpful because my older siblings told me that a lot of their classes have assignments that require to post online."

- "The blog allowed me to observe a story through many different viewpoints."

- "It allowed the class to engage in conversation and brought to my attention different things about the story that weren't caught while reading."

- "I was afraid to post my thoughts on a blog...I realized I was over-thinking it. By the third chapter I really enjoyed the blog. I wanted to read the chapters as quickly as possible and post before anyone else could steal my thoughts."

- "I would like to do a blog like this on every book we read."

- "A lot of the symbols had multiple interpretations which at first I did not notice but when I went into the blog and read my classmates' posts I comprehended the chapters and symbols better."

- "I really enjoyed blogging and it got me more involved with the novel and had me thinking more deeply than usual."

- "The system of comments was also probably the most important part of the assignment since we had to engage in some kind of conversation with each other, leading to a deeper understanding of the work."

- "It was a way for people who normally don't talk much to voice their opinions and thoughts."

Our blogging experience has created not only a fire within our own class, but we have inspired sparks for other classes on our campus as well. 

*All posts from January 12 through February 20 are discussions about the novel Night by Elie Wiesel. 

Ch. 8/9- Over

I found it very mind boggling of how Elie just ended the story. How the author did not include any after the war stories or anything. I wonder if this sudden ending was just the perfect way to state that the German possession over the Jews was over. I interpreted the sudden ending of the story Elie's way of coping with he was free and that part of his life was over. Which makes sense because why would anyone want to remember those days of inprisonment.

Ch. 8/9

 In these final Chapters Elie describes the physical hardships of moving camps. Although Elie has the will to survive, his father becomes weaker and weaker. What was so shocking to me was that his father held on for so long but died only a few weeks before they were liberated. It's sad to think that if he would have held on a little longer he might have survived. I was also shocked at how anyone would have been able to survive the journey. They were given no food , no water, and we're forced to run twelve miles in the cold. It's hard for me to believe that the Nazi's hoped for any survivors. 

The Look in His Eyes

The final lines of the book can't help but leave the reader with a strange mix of relief, disillusionment, and contemplation. Though it definitely wasn't the most satisfying ending that I've read, it was unmistakably the realest. I don't know about everyone else, but I know that I still enjoy the whimsical, "fairy-tale" endings that can be found in children's books because they provide that sense of fulfillment and resolution that's often absent from life. They allow me to imagine that even as the story concludes, the characters continue to live on in happiness... Night is the complete opposite. And I think that's what's made it such a truly remarkable piece of literature. Unlike the idealistic books of my childhood, Night reminds me that life isn't all rainbows and sunshine... and even when it is, bows of color are dimmer and the sunshine feels more like a curse rather than a blessing. Night reminds us that the capacity of the human will, which is so beautifully dangerous, has the power to not only execute something as horrendous as the Holocaust, but to also author something as illuminating and powerful as Night.

ch.8/9 thoughts

It was surprising to see how Wiesel’s father was treated in his last dying moments. As he lied in his cot, barely alive, he was beat by his neighbors for his rations. This comes off as more shocking than the other beatings because it is coming from people in his same position instead of their captors. The event displays how when humans are at their lowest point, some will just break and their worst will come out of them. This even happened to Wiesel as he started to feel like he should just abandon his father and got these selfish thoughts of taking his ration’s, but then he would feel guilty about these thoughts as if he were fighting this inner darkness within himself.

Ch.8/9

Within these two chapters, I noticed Elie's reluctance in taking care of his weak, dying father. At their arrival at the new camp, Elie's father felt he could not muster the strength to survive any longer. And it was saddening to see Elie push his father to stay alive, yet he was very unwilling to take care of him. Elie saw his father's pain and suffering as a nuisance, which struck me. He had become like Rabbi Eliahu' son, just as he had feared.

Ch. 8/9: The End

These last two chapters of the book were strange to me because they didn't seem to be wrapping up the story or concluding it in any way. After Elie's father died in chapter 8, there wasn't any closure for Elie and the story never seemed to move on. It abruptly ended Elie looking at his reflection, describing it as something separate from himself. I didn't like this ending because it felt so abrupt. I wished for more details about his life after the war ended and how he turned out. I wanted some type of closure or happy ending. But I realized that perhaps Elie ended the book this way because he, and the Jewish people, never got a happy ending.

Ch. 7: Bread Fight

What stood out to me in the chapter was how horrible it was when the father and son died fighting over a crust of bread. It was shocking to me how the son didn't care about his father at all and only thought of bread, and treated his father like how an animal would treat someone with food. The son took the bread from his dead father but he too was killed before he could eat it. They both died for nothing and didn't even have the company of one another. The most powerful thing about this part of the chapter was how Elie ended it by dramatically saying "I was sixteen", emphasizing how young he was and how much horror he had witnessed.

Chapter 7- Animals

Throughout the novel Elie compares the Jews to cattle who are being herded and transported from one place to another in cattle cars. He also mentions multiple times of how the Germans treat the Jews like animals. In chapter 7 Elie makes it seem like the Jews are not just cattle anymore, but they are more interesting animals like those at a circus that generate attention. The author repeatedly states of how the Germans find themselves in awe while watching the Jews fight for the little pieces of food that get thrown in. The Jews beat and put one another out like wild animals would do for some food that gets thrown at them. Not only do the Jews fight for food, but Elie mentioned how the Jews would also fight for money that was tossed in. It's interesting how Elie, however, is above this "circus act" of wild animals. He just sits back and watches for a while and then finally asks the Germans to stop throwing in food/money.

Chapter 8/9

The last sentence of the book really struck me, because it was such an upbrupt way that Wiesel decided to end the book. I feel that all the last appearances of all the characters are extremely abrupt, like the death of Wiesel's father, the last time he sees his mother and sister,  and all the other deaths of people he experiences within the concentration camps.  So I think that all though it is and unsatisfying ending,  it was fitting to end all of his character stories in an abrupt way. The way that he describes his physical  features after the concentration camp shows just how different and hurt he has come. He is essential rising from "death" at the end of the book to describe how he is going to carry on for the rest of his life.  He left a huge piece of him inside the walls if those various concentration camps .

As I finished reading the book, and even though I have read it many times before and know how it ends, I shuddered at Elie's ending lines. It was as if Elie recognized the two people he was; he separated the part of him that died - the "him" from the "me". And at the same time, he recognized that the "him" would always be there - "the look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me" - so that the two became one.

What I would like for us to think about is how could not only Hitler and the Nazis do this to the Jews, but how could the world have allowed this to happen. Consider WHY Russia was involved in the war. Consider WHY the U.S. finally got involved in the war. Consider WHY other countries finally came to the aid of these people.

Then apply that not only to current day atrocities that are occurring in our world, but also to local/personal issues we see on a daily basis. Can we continue to turn a blind eye to the oppression and suffering of humanity? What can we do as individuals to bring awareness to the world about issues that plague humanity? Must we care about every single holocaust, every child who is being trafficked, every animal that is mistreated, and every other issue that afflicts humanity?

In other words, what do you believe your role is when it comes to humanity? We will be reading Elie's speech when he was awarded the Nobel Prize that will further help inform this conversation.

Chapter 8&9 - The End is Here

It's sad to see Elie's father pass away when freedom was so close. Obviously it would have taken a lot of strength to get there and I just don't think he had the will to survive anymore. It's amazing that he lasted that long after all the beatings and work and starvation. There's this TV show I watch called The 100 and when one of their people dies, someone whispers I'm their ear, "Your fight is over." Although it's sad that Elie's father died, his suffering has ended and that's a beautiful thing. Although it seemed harsh that Elie felt relieved, I think it's completely understandable.

Chapter 8/9

When reading this chapter, I noticed the difference from the very beginning of the book in where Elie was really scared to lose his father and to be separated from him, to showing a bit of relief when he found out his father was taken to the crematory. Although Elie was upset that his father was gone for good, I feel that he also felt a sense of relief that his father was now dead. This was because he knew now his father would finally be at peace. He knew that even if his father still lived physically, emotionally and mentally they were dead. Elie said “a corpse gazed back at me,” when he was finally free and looked in a mirror. This shows that he isn’t happy that he’s still living. The Nazis caused for the Jews to lose their sense of humanity. Elie really felt that he has nothing to live for now that he has no one. 

Ch. 8/9

"I did not weep and it pained me that I could not weep." I will weep, if only so I will have a physical reminder that there are those dying at the hand of their oppressors. Elie continued to alluding to to being just like Elihu's son, but Elie stuck by his father to the bitter end even when everyone including himself said give up on him. We commit a greater crime than Elihu's son if we forget those, suffering because we have so much to give. Elie had nothing and he gave to his father how much more can we. Elie was left with nothing except the horrors of the concentration camp. He had seen his father die in his hands. I'm glad he had the courage to write this book it is a good reminder.

Chapter 8 & 9

Even though Elie survived the Holocaust, I think that a part of him died that day that his father died. It is scary to think that this really happened. It is horrible to think that there were people who had so much hate against certain groups of people. It is frustrating to think that the Nazis did this to the Jews and to many more other groups. How can the Nazis eventually make people become mindless, numb, and survive to any extent?  Even though Elie, eventually wanted to just survive and not think anymore about his father, he still loved his father. He proved it many times and he was tempted many times but he still had strength to care and love his father. However, the circumstances and situation that he was placed in made him just think about food and survival. That must have been hard and it must have taken great strength and love to last that long. After finishing this book I have gained a greater insight into how things really were in the concentration camps. I have learned things about life and history and a story about a man who lost his : innocence, his family, his pride, and his people; but, he survived the Holocaust.

Chapter 7

In this chapter Elie's energy and happiness has been sucked out of him. He is weak and it barely sustaining himself. He can no longer distinguish the dead from the ones (the Jews) who are alive. Since they almost look like corpses he cannot tell whether they are still alive. This appealed greatly to my emotion. "Here or elsewhere, what did it matter? Die today or tomorrow, or later? That night was growing longer, never-ending." His situation is unfortunate because he and many of the others tried their best to survive in the concentration camp. But, they have gone trough too many hardships under the Nazis. The Jews can't rationalize since they don't have enough to eat and have turned against themselves.

Ch. 6 Resisting death

Chapter six revealed to me a human’s capacity to not succumb to death. When Eliezer and his father leave and then return to the shed where hundreds of prisoners were falling asleep in the snow and dying, Eliezer’s father convinces him to try and rest under his watchful eye. Eliezer tries to fall asleep but can’t, because he knows it would mean death. This is where he states “And something in me rebelled against death.” Previously in the book Eliezer had contemplated death, and saw it as an escape from the suffering he endured. And yet, at this moment when death would be as easy as falling asleep, he resisted. And he did not know why. This shows how powerful the human instinct to live is.

Ch.7 Sleep

Reading the first two pages of this chapter, I found it selfish of Elie to wake his father from his deep sleep, practically waking his father up from the dead. I know this thought comes off as cruel and insensitive, but at this point, Elie's father was clearly unfit to push on. All the marching through the snow had exhausted him completely, leaving him nothing but a lifeless body. Sure he had been able to withstand unimaginable trials up to now, but who's to know when it'd all end? And how much longer could he possible brave through the suffering? Elie had a chance to put an end to his father's agony, yet he chose to prolong his torment.

Ch 8/9

Even though I knew that they're state of mind In the concentration camp was survival, hearing it said my one of the blockalteste say he had to think about himself and nobody else came as a surprise to me. What shocked me even more was the fact that Elie began to become more selfish even thinking about how his fathers death would bring him less responsibility. He began to want to keep his fathers soup and bread and his father didn't have any one else to help him. He was dying and wanted his son to help but his son couldn't help him and at the same time didn't have the power to feel anything anymore mentally and physically. In the last chapter it surprised me that there was no thought of revenge from the Jews after they were liberated. Elie even says that after a long time of being free not once did anyone try to think about revenge. I think it had to do with the fact that they were already so tried of the situation and were so disconnected with their emotions. 

Ch 7

In this chapter when Elie said that when they through bread in the wagon all the Jews started to attack each other I thought about how dehumanized they were being described. He also said they threw the dead into a wagon like a sack of flour when they died. Those events make me think that because they aren't treated like humans, Elie and others don't think they they are actually as human anymore, emotionally.Everything that Elie describes about the inmates and himself make it sounds like he has given up on the fact that he is human and they have too.

Chapter 8/9

The last two chapters were very difficult to read because of the death of Elie's father. I noticed that Elie stretched out the chapter in which he died, including lots of details about his last few days. He even goes deep within himself, revealing the struggles he faced as he realized his father was about to pass on. I also noticed that he made the last chapter, in which he is freed, very short. I think the reason behind this format was that he wanted to emphasize how little the time after his father passed meant to him. He highlights the fact that nothing mattered to him after his father died. This shows us exactly how much Elie's father really meant to him. The chapters also showed us how hard it was for Elie to accept that his father was dying and to try and make the right choices in order to survive himself, without being disrespectful to his dying father.

Chapter 8/9

I found it interesting how much time had passed between the death of Elie's father and the day he was freed.  A majority of the book is about Elie and his father and their struggle through the multiple camps.  Only three pages are about Elie being freed.  This shows that although there were times when Elie did not necessarily show sympathy towards his father, he is showing it through the use of the book.  The time between the death of his father and Elie being free meant nothing to him.  He really did care about his father, and did not want to believe in the "every man for himself" concept.  Had he not cared, a majority of the book would have been about the day he was freed.

Chapter 8/9

"I knew that he must not drink. Water was the worst poison for him, but what else could I do for him? With or without water, it would be over soon anyway..."
'You, at least have pity on me...'
"Have pity on him! I, his only son..."
The very last sentence to this struck me the most. It almost seems like Elie was giving into his father's demands for water to speed up the process, his death. I wouldn't say intentionally, I wouldn't like it to be true. Elie understood that giving in would mean a likely death for his father because water wasn't good for him in this state. I'd also like to mention the last sentence in chapter nine. "The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me." This whole time Elie hadn't been able to look at himself, or well actually he hadn't been able to focus on things that weren't vital to his survival. It was just a chilling statement to me. I've also noticed that many of the last sentences to paragraphs have a lot of meaning to them, like they end with a strong tone. Leaving the reader eager for more, or shocked, or perhaps both. Great book though.

Revenge (ch. 8/9)

The last two chapters were definitely the hardest to read. But what caught my attention was the fact that none of the prisoners sought revenge against the nazis when they were freed. Elie does mention that  revenge was necessary, but fails to bring up the topic again and instead focuses on something else. I found this odd because of the gruesome experience that the prisoners had while in the concentration camp. As I thought about it, I came to the realization that the prisoners did want revenge, but they knew they could never change what had happened to them. The Jews had experienced a living hell. Their loved ones were killed, they were practically starved and beaten to death, and had been stripped of their humanity. In other words, the Jews may have thought about revenge, but what had happened to them couldn't be erased. 

Ch. 7 Thoughts

The Jews were treated like animals once again when they were fed bread by the German worker. The worker was exploiting their suffering and hunger for his own amusement eventually as it was fascinating for him to watch them fight over food. But this worker was not thinking about what it would be like if he had been their position. However, when Wiesel witnessed a similar event years later, except with coins this time, he tried stopping one of the ladies as he knew how cruel it was capitalize on the hardships of others for your own amusement. This also shows how the lack of empathy could still be seen in the world, even after the war had ended.

Chapter 7

During this chapter we witness how inhuman the prisoners act. Fighting over a piece of bread, hurting/killing a family member, etc. Elie seems surprised, or well perhaps not necessarily surprised but more, amazed at the behaviors of his fellow beings. Amazed at the changes, animal like changes maybe. Despite having gone through so much, they continue to demonstrate inhuman like behaviors because of what was done to them. It almost seems as if the German Nazis continue to push the limits of  human beings with such acts. Because many of the citizens are no longer surprised to see them on trains. They are probably not even surprised to see their bodies and how sickly they all look. They are actually amused by throwing them pieces of bread and watching the prisoners behave like animals.

CH 8/9 - Free at Last

Elie previously prayed to never abandon his father, to never turn into Rabbi Eliahu's son, and when he said "like Rabbi Eliahu's son, [he] had not passed the test," my heart broke. Throughout Chapter 8 we see the constant internal conflict that Elie faces -- he is torn between caring for his father and only caring for himself. Should he share his food? Should he step in when his father is being beaten? Should he abandon his father?

When Elie awakes to see that his father is gone, he has no reaction. He doesn't cry. He doesn't search for him. The closest thing he has to a reaction is his inner most thought of "Free at last! . . ."

I think it's easy for us to judge what he did, what he thought, but as much as my heart sank when I read this, I wasn't angered or upset by Elie and his actions. I'm more saddened that he had to experience all of this and had to have this inner conflict at all. I can't begin to imagine what this must have been like for Elie to have gone through at such a young age. I can't begin to imagine how much of an impact this one year in the concentration camp must have had on the rest of his life. I feel as though even after he was liberated, he was never really free, that he's still haunted by things that he experienced and witnessed. I think that's evident in his writing, especially in the final line, "the look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me."

Chapter 7

I think that it was an interesting choice for Wiesel to make chapter 7 a short chapter, in order to show how short the last day of their journey was, and yet so many men where killed. I also think that Wiesel chose to only mention Meir Katz to represent how long it took Meir Katz to accept and realize that his son had died and that he realized he didn't have a reason to continue on. I also want to mention that the last paragraph of this chapter really struck me, because all of the men that began the journey and only 12 survived to the end to the next camp. It just showed how disposal the Jews were to the SS soldiers and it just highlight the immense tragedy of the holocaust.

Giving to charity

  For me the most upsetting part of the chapter is when they are ridding through the German town and the townspeople throw bread to taunt the Jews. People begin to kill each other. When Elie has a flash back to the woman in Paris throwing money to the children and watching them beat each other she is almost taking pleasure in being superior. It's so weird that people don't always do the right thing for the right reasons. People like to feel superior to others and their circumstances . The townspeople didn't throw the bread to help the Jews they did if to taunt them. There is no empathy there. 

Chapter 6- Death

This chapter really stood out to me because it highlighted Weisel's relationship with death and his relationship with his father, and how those two relationships were interconnected. In the beginning of the chapter he discussed how his father was the only reason that he was still trying to stay alive because he "...had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his sole support." He is able to contrast his relationship with his father to the relationship of Rabbi Eliahu and his son. Weisel theorizes that Rabbi Eliahu's son purposely abandons him in order to have a better chance at surviving on his own, and Weisel mentions all the "Sons abandoned the remains of their fathers without a tear" which symbolizes all the men that became so overcome with the thirst to live that the would turn leaving their fathers to die in the snow. This is a direct juxapostion to Weisel because as he is elaborating all the ways the he is constantly brushing death, like the freezing conditions or almost being suffocated by the pressure of death corpses on his back, he is constantly reminding himself he needs to live to also keep his father alive.

Chapter 7

When reading the novel I found this chapter to be very upsetting because of how the Jews seem to almost completely lost their humanity.  From the beginning of the book to this chapter the Jews seem to have slowly been losing their humanity over the course of time, and I believe this is because of the treatment they’ve received by the Nazis. A specific event that truly struck me was when the Jews volunteered to throw the cadavers out. How can someone throw out a body of people they were close too? And even volunteer to do the job? That would require to not feel emotions or to really not care for others. Also when the Jews were thrown bread, they beat themselves to death just for a piece. All of these events just show how they have lost their humanity. 

Chapter 7

I found it disturbing how quickly it seemed that the prisoners lost their humanity.  For only one piece of bread, a son was willing to kill his own father.  I understand that the prisoners are starving and have been treated terribly,  but for one to turn on his own family is beyond me.  What was also disturbing is how amused the German workers who threw the bread in the car seemed to be.  Elie compared it to another instance in which he was on a ship and a woman threw coins to watch children fight over it.  It is unbelievable that someone would take pleasure in watching humans at their lowest. Elie on the other hand refused to see his father harmed.  When the officers threatened to throw his father out of the car, Elie did all he could to wake his father.  He and his father still show strength even when they seem to be at their lowest.

Chapter 7 - From Beyond the Grave

This chapter was short, but had a lot of details in it that made my eyes water. The thing that had the biggest impact on me was the idea that there are millions of people who died during this time without graves, without their loved ones knowing where they are or what became of them. I think this hit me hard because recently I've lost a lot of my family and if I didn't know where they were or what happened to them, I'd go insane. And then I read about Meir Katz and how "his son had been taken from him during the first selection but only now was he crying for him," and I could really relate to that. When you first lose someone, you don't want to believe that they are gone and then later, little things hit you and eventually you realize what is no longer there and you just break down and can't take it anymore. Then I think about Elie and his father and how far they have made it together, each one fighting for the other, and the terrible pain Elie must feel when he thinks of losing his father during a time of such turmoil. Elie was so close to losing him during that train ride when the "gravediggers" almost threw him out, and I'm sure his father is using every last bit of his strength to stay alive for his son, because that is just what family does.

Chapter 7

This is the part of the book where the Jews lost their humanity almost entirely. They began to behave like animals once they were thrown into the convoys. They tossed their dead aside without a second thought, killed each other over scraps of bread, and many of them gave up. They were finally overwhelmed by their environment, lack of food, and lack of hope. Even the sturdiest of their ranks, Meir Katz remained on the train when they reached Buchenwald. He was done. As Elie's story nears its end, it is hard to believe that things could get any worse than they already are for him.

CH 7 - Volunteers

Through out the book we've seen the Jews face such cruel things and we've seen them slowly become more and more dehumanized. I always thought though that they still held on to some of their humanity, that it wasn't really possible for someone to be completely dehumanized, but this chapter has made me have some second thoughts.
When the corpses of the deceased were being unloaded from the train it was said that "volunteers began the task."
Volunteers.
This really hit me because I imagine that it was very crowded and uncomfortable but I don't understand how people could just volunteer to dispose of the corpses. These were bodies of people who had faced an awful, tragic death, a death that these others had barely managed to escape themselves. These bodies belonged to people that they may have known, people that they were suffering with side by side. I imagine that they wanted the bodies gone because it was, for various reasons, uncomfortable to have them around, but I really cannot wrap my head around the fact that people so easily, so quickly volunteered to remove them -- throw them out of the train and just abandon them. I think that it takes a lot of detachment and lack of emotions to do something like that. This chapter, this scene in particular, has really made me realize how much the Jews have been dehumanized and how much they've changed.

Chapter 7

I am amazed at how inhumane the prisoners acted in this chapter. Throughout the novel, I have noticed how the prisoners have slowly began to loose their humanity. In this chapter, it is evident that the prisoners have completely been destroyed both mentally and physically. For example, when the German workmen throw bread into the train, the prisoners behave like predatory animals. They will do whatever it takes to get some food, even if it means harming loved ones. This behavior has been caused by the nazis. By being forced to live in a place where there is no respect for others, the prisoners see no harm in behaving like animals. 

And then there were 12...

And then there were 12... In just a few days, a crowded cart full of starving men dwindled to an empty cart of lonely souls. I don't know about anyone else, but personally, I was dreading the moment that we'd read about the death of Elie's father, and was a bit surprised and relieved to learn that he survived the trip. 

However, I guess that's what makes this book so hard to read. Anyone who read the Foreword already knows the inescapable fate of Elie's poor father... Just as we knew what the invading Nazis signified. And the smokestacks in the concentration camps... And all of the other dreadful horrors of this book.

I know that the crowded, filthy enclosure of the cattle carts must have been unbearable, but just imagine how empty and barren those carts must have felt with only the 12 survivors. I mean the struggle between relief over their own survival and grief resulting from the loss of their friend Meir Katz must have been terrible. And even more... Not knowing what was waiting for them, must have been the greatest uncertainty of all.

H

Ch 4 late

What stuck with me the most about this chapter was the young man who refused to be 
cowed and the child who couldn't die. The first hanging, the young man, was the first in
the book to show true courage. I think I speak for most people when I say that if you 
have to die like that Ihope I would have the courage to act as he did. His body language 
and actions screamed that this is wrong that you cannot break him and that your evil can 
be conquered. He was a hero. The young boy who took so long to die was horrific and 
almost as bad as his death was the cowardice of those preasent. I don't know how I would 
truly respond if I were actually in that position, but from my relativly safe viewpoint I
say that I would rather die than stand idly by as a young boy is slaughtered.

Ch 3 late

The most disturbing and frightening passage in the chapter was, for me, at the 
end. The faithful began to say that this was all god's test and that they had no right to 
despire. "And if he punishes us mercilessly, it is a sign that he loves us that much 
more." This mentality is destructive and it takes away from te magnitude of the crimes 
being committed and their own behavior. The most disturbing part of the proceeding 
statement it the fact that it closly reflects the type of feelings that are often shown 
in victims of abuse. The fact that any form of a just god would cause this, or that
causing suffering proves love is a trap of self depreciation as well as absolvment of 
the other's crimes. Specifically the idea that hurting someone EVER proves love being spouted 
by leaders of a community is deeply disturbing.