Three Day Road

A key scene in Boyden’s Three Day Road occurs after Xavier has received a letter stating that his Aunt Niska has died. This particular scene is significant to the story because it illustrates how Xavier and Elijah are trying to deal with their pain. Xavier tries to reach to the teaching of his ancestors by preparing a sweat lodge and praying to try and deal with the grief of losing his aunt and the horror of the war that he is experiencing. Xavier wants to escape his body and try and gain some understanding of the chaos of the war. Once he finally leaves the matatosowin and goes back to the tents where Elijah is sleeping, Xavier contemplates using the morphine, but stops and instead attempts to inject Elijah. This is a critical point because it is the first time that Xavier seems to really understand that Elijah needs the morphine to deal with the war. Xavier wants to help Elijah numb the pain.

“I am light-headed leaving the matatosowin, stumble when I bend to pick up my clothes. Still no answers. The heat has sucked everything out of me. My skin is red and tender. The air outside is deliciously cool. My will does not guide me at this point. Something carries me. I’ve been in the lodge for hours. The world now is a colour I’ve never seen, a blue-black so sharp that the sky feels close enough for me to touch it. A half-moon floats above me. I let whatever this is pull me along, take me where it will”. (322)

This scene connects with the rest of Three Day Road in the way that it shows the differences in the character’s upbringing and the changes they undergo as a result of the war. Although Xavier was the more experienced hunter, his education in the traditional ways of his people prevented him from being able to kill men for sport. Xavier has deep spiritual roots because of his upbringing and so he can draw on this to try and gain some clarity. Elijah, on the other hand, feels that he is a good killer of men and numbs his pain artificially. The contrast between the two men is highlighted when Xavier thinks about taking the morphine and then stops. He finally understands the need that Elijah has to stop the pain anyway he can. This scene connects to the rest of the book by showing the horrors of war and how Xavier can draw on the teachings of his aunt to try and deal with the horrors of war and death while Elijah cannot.

The Boy In The Moon blog

The Boy in the Moon by Ian Brown

A) Comment on Ian Brown’s impressions of the L’Arche communities in Montreal and in France that he visits. (Chapters 11 and 12) Provide specific support by quoting the book directly.

Ian Brown’s impressions of the L’Arche communities were mostly very favourable. He thought that “it was a community for the disabled, there was no question of that, but because the disabled were considered, and considered themselves, equals, none of it felt like a “special” arrangement”. (p. 200) In the La

‘Arche communities, Brown felt that the disabled could live on their terms, not on the terms of the outside world. The only reservations he had about L’Arche was that he questioned whether they would be taking care of Walker for Walker’s sake or because it was their job. Brown “didn’t want Walker in a cult.” (p.197) He mentioned that he did not feel out-of-place with the disabled adults at the Mass and then when he went to the house in Verdun he felt a sense of calm. Overall, the reader gets the impression that Brown feels that this could be a possible home where Walker would be loved.

B) Describe what you have learned about life with a profoundly disabled child. How has Brown’s memoir altered/clarified your attitude? Provide specific support by quoting the book directly.

Raising a disabled child has many challenges. It is physically and emotionally difficult. It is physically draining because of long hours and lack of sleep. Emotionally, it is difficult to see your child have so many problems and struggle with everyday life. It takes a toll on marriages and on other children. The Brown’s “argue about who will take him, who took him last time, who has more or less work, who has a deadline, who’s contributing the most. “ (p. 98) Trying to get help from the government is difficult. There are not a lot of programs and places where disabled children can be given care. I had never really considered what it would be like to be part of a disabled persons life, but after reading this book I have new respect for what people have to go through.

B) Provide three questions for Ian Brown.

Do you think that there would be differences in raising a girl with CFC, rather than a boy?

Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently in raising Walker?

Is Walker still living in the same place and have you made more plans for where he might go in the future?

The Great Gatsby

Nick Carraway is the main character of Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Nick is a Yale-educated, twenty-nine-year-old, from a prominent Midwestern family. Most importantly, he is the narrator of the story and it is through Nick’s point of view and through his relationships with the other characters that the story is told. At the beginning of the novel Nick is presented as being raised with solid values which make him “inclined to reserve all judgments” (p. 7). He is also someone who others feel comfortable confiding in and he is careful and tolerant. Nick also says of himself “I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known” (p. 59). Throughout the novel we see Nick change and his ability to be completely honest is chipped away the further he is drawn into Gatsby’s and Daisy’s relationship and his relationship with Jordan. At the end of the novel, Nick realizes that even though he did enjoy the excitement of the New York life for a time it really is not for him and because of his Midwestern roots he is “inadaptable to Eastern life” (p. 167).

Passages:

1. “Most of the big shore places were closed now and there were hardly any lights except the shadowy, moving glow of a ferryboat across the Sound. And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors' eyes-a fresh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby's house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder (p. 171).”

This passage adds to the mood at the end of the story. The lights are dim and there is little activity. Nick is imaging what it would have been like for sailors discovering this land for the first time before there were homes. He is not thinking about the present or the future. He is looking into the past and to a time before the Island was spoiled. There is a feeling of sadness and a sense that Nick knows that what has happened since he met Gatsby has changed him forever. This helps wrap up the story up and finish it with reflections on the past.

2. "I wanted to get somebody for him. I wanted to go into the room where he lay and reassure him: "I’ll get somebody for you, Gatsby. Don’t worry. Just trust me and I'll get somebody for you–(p.156)."

The passage is appealing because it shows Nick's emotional side and that he really cared for his friend Gatsby. It is effective because we get a sense of how badly Nick feels that there is no one but himself there to mourn for his friend. It is clear that Nick is doing this not only out of duty, but because he actually cares that his friend is treated with respect. Nick is speaking to Gatsby in a way that would let him know that he was always on his side.

3. “There was music from my neighbours’ house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam (p. 41).”

This passage is effective because it adds to the sense that the activity at Gatsby's never stops day or night. The writing is simple, but very descriptive. It is easy to imagine the party guests moving around the grounds of the house at night under starry skies. The description of the motor-boats is graphic. The reader can picture the wake that the boats create and hear the hum of the engines and see people on boards being pulled across the water. The passage makes you think how much fun Gatsby allows his guests to have even though he might not join them.

Questions for the author:

Do you really think that people from the West can’t cope with the lifestyle of the East?

If Nick were to see Daisy again, what would he say to her and what would their relationship be like?

IRB #1 The Old Man And The Sea

Hemmingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea” is the story of Santiago an old, Cuban fisherman. Santiago has not been able to catch a fish for eighty-four days and he is ridiculed and laughed at by everyone in his village except his young friend Manolin. Santiago sets out farther than usual determined to catch a fish and he ends up hooking the largest marlin he has ever seen. For three days the fish pulls him and he holds the line in his bare hands. Finally the fish tires and he is able to bring him along side the boat. As Santiago returns, sharks attack the marlin and when he returns to his village little is left of the fish, but its skeleton. Even though nothing is left of the fish, the size of the skeleton restores his reputation in the village and allows Santiago to regain his pride.

Hemmingway’s writing style is direct and to the point, yet very descriptive. He uses a narrator to tell the story, but he also provides us with the thoughts and feelings of Santiago. Santiago flashes back on significant events in his life. This makes the storyline of his time at sea more entertaining and believable because it allows the reader to relate to his state of mind. The character of Santiago develops through his ordeal and we feel his pain and we become a part of his struggle. Santiago often talks to himself and to the fish. This adds to the story because it lets the reader know what he is thinking without actually saying it. Overall, Hemmingway successfully used his writing style, character development and diction to create a believable and compelling story.

Several passages in ‘The Old Man in the Sea” are appealing and reveal Santiago’s true character. “The fish is my friend too,” he said aloud. “I have never seen or heard of such a fish. But I must kill him. I am glad that we do not have to try and kill the stars.” (p. 75) This passage is appealing because it shows that Santiago respects the world around him and his opponent. At one point, Santiago says, “I told the boy I was a strange old man. Now is when I must prove it.” The thousand times he had proved it meant nothing. (p. 66) This shows Santiago’s determination to strive and be victorious. He is treating this challenge as the most important of his life and he needs to restore his pride. This is appealing because of the tone Hemmingway sets. When Santiago and Manolin reunite at the end of the novel, they share the following conversation: “Now we fish together again.” “No. I am not lucky. I am not luck anymore.” “The hell with luck,” the boy said. “I’ll bring the luck with me.” (p. 125) This is appealing because it shows that Manolin has the same love for Santiago that the old man has for him. The reader knows that their relationship will endure and they will care for one another.