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.
Mikaela, I found it really interesting when we were given glimpses of the past. Even if they were small, it helped paint the picture much better of what led them to go this far. I feel like the mother was probably just tired, tired of having to survive and possible hide from the people who will kill them, as you had quoted "...they will catch us and they will kill us." I see the father using his son as a source of strength to keep going and it amazes me because they are basically each other's world and even if it may be dark, he wishes to give his son a chance to experience life.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think the son is definitely the father's source of strength, but I just don't understand how a mother could give up so easily on her family. Like why was the boy not also her source of strength? It makes sense that she was tired of the struggle to survive but I would think a mother would want to live for her family.
DeleteMikaela, these brief memories of the Wife stood out to me as well. I agree with your points about the strength/resilience of both the Man and the Boy, however, I also feel that the Wife may have displayed her own strength in a way. Not that I feel that she necessarily made the best choice, but obviously it must have been a tough decision to leave her family. When facing adversity, we all have different coping methods, and it seems as though the wife's was to get out of the situation, by leaving her family. Perhaps the events preceding the novel triggered her "flight or fight" response, and for her, "flight" was the better option. Though most people find their children to be a source of motivation/strength, maybe she was afraid and associated her child/family with all of the problems that struck them.
ReplyDelete(Personally, I think it's horrible to leave one's family like she did, but we can never know the whole thought process that went into the decision.)
You make a good point. Everyone has the "fight or flight" response and different situations trigger different responses. In a way, that could have shown her strength, but personally I think it shows more weakness than anything. She put the blame on her family for the problems which doesn't really make sense to me. Hopefully, as we keep reading we'll learn more about the wife and her situation.
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