Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Body of a child but a mind of a man
In my book “They poured fire on us from the sky” the characters have to do allot of growing up mentally to be able to handle their long walk to Ethiopia. Do you see a change in the way your main character(s) think(s) in your book? If so, how is it different from how their state of mind in the beginning? What do you think caused this transition?
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The characters in They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky are somewhat forced to grow up, mentally, whether they are ready to or not. Their village is attacked, causing them to flee for their lives. The boys are on the run, for months, not knowing what will become of them, or if their families are alive or dead. Growing smaller from starvation, the young boys start to look after the children who are younger than them, even if it’s only by a matter of months. Even during this difficult time, they manage to keep their heads held high, not only for the other children around them, but also for the hope of seeing their families again.
ReplyDeleteIn the book “They poured fire on us from the sky” in the beginning of the book the children have “normal” lives. They live in their village as did they family’s for generation and did things according to Dinka law. When the tragedy hits their village the children had to pick themselves up and move. Walking to Ethiopia was the only option. The walk was exhausting and wore them out emotionally and physically. Watching all their friends die, sickness sweeping the groups of travelers, no clothes, water or food the boys must grow up rather fast to cope with the horrific events to survive. They begin to understand that they need to work together to survive and what they must say and do to get what they need to make the journey in one piece. I believe the horrific journey is what changes the kids mindset and cause them to think like young adults rather than the children that they are.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of my book, They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky, the boys are all just regular little boys. All doing little African boy things. When their town is attacked, they all are forced to change into survival mode. Later in the book they start leaving people behind because they know they won't make it with the person dragging them behind. They start doing anything to survive. What they had been through changed them. Seeing friends and other kids die because they starved or dehydrated. They knew they had to do anything to survive.
ReplyDeleteBenson was a cry baby to me. He always whined and just flat out lazy ass. He matured immediatly! He saw others fall and he stayed stron. He even had confidence, he told a man before falling that he wouldnt fall because he was strong. I think he was strong because he knew he had to be. He mentioned being negative will welcome negative outcomes.
ReplyDeleteYeah I saw away my main character Mark in the book “Lost in Place” thinks differently about his sensei recently in the book. Before he use to almost admire his sensei because he was a fifth degree black belt and he was the boss. I know that his sensei would call him names and was abusing. So I was thinking that Mark got tired of that and lost respect for his sensei.
ReplyDeleteIn the Take the Cannoli there is definitely a transition in the mind of Sarah Vowell. Sarah is much more of a firm believer in the beginning of the book since she recalls moments from her childhood, and how she was raised. Sarah in the beginning of her life expresses more of honesty in questioning what she believes in, and how to make it to her destination. Now as I am seeing towards the ending of the book Sarah is definitely more independent with an adult view of life in her beliefs. Now instead of questioning what she believes in, she goes to find proof of what is true and just moves on to find out other questions she might have had from the past. By doing this she travels to places that relate to her heritage, her beliefs, and her role models. In finding out the truth she becomes disappointed and sometimes very grateful. In finding these parts about her life that reflect her she still manages to move on.
ReplyDeleteIn my book "They poured fire on us from the sky", the character's Benson, Alepho, and Benjamin grew up mentally through their walk to Ethiopia. All of them knew ways to keep themselves alive. They stay in groups with other kids that also have lost there parents. I think this transitions had change their life, most of the adventures that they had been through was tough. They all had rough time to stay with other groups because of the attacks by the Muslims Army.
ReplyDeleteAll of the characters I feel have matured in the story “They poured fire on us from the sky”. Because they have endured such pain and had to abandon their home, I think that has caused them to mature. Benson I feel has matured, throughout the story he has shown that maturity because he is fighting to stay alive and is doing what is necessary to continue on his pursuit. He hasn’t given up which also shows maturity because a lot of people have dead around him and he could have easily given up and decided not to get to safety. But he is trying to get to a safe haven and he his is only a young child.
ReplyDeleteIn “they poured fire on us from the sky” I think the transition began to happen as soon as they left their village. Kids no older then the age of seven had to support themselves to survive. It was either become a man or stay a child and die. A lot of kids just sat around and cried while some of them were out looking for food and work for them to get food.
ReplyDeleteI think Sarah Vowell was very mature as a young person because she made alot of decesions that were for her future. I do see changes in her thinking however, the more that she expiriences as the book goes on. So i think her expiriences are the cause for he transition(s).
ReplyDeleteI don’t really see a change in marks way mark thinks. It may be that I’m still trying to figure out his points because his style is a little scattered. I do think that Mark is in a mindset of determinations though. The way he acts and dedicates to thins show one way he thinks. Mark is willing to work and wants to live a dream. Mark is so dedicated to his dream, or dedicated to whatever he does that he spends several hours finding ways to train, condition his mind as well as show others how hard he has work. Mark thinks in a way of he wants to give and receive facts. He likes to give details so that his readers can draw an image in their head and get a true understanding. I would also call him an achier because he has that attitude of hard work and drive.
ReplyDeleteI am reading Take the cannoli and the main character Sarah Vowell does grow up. At the age of 28 she decides to finally learn how to drive. Her twin sister Amy has always done the driving. But she finally decided that it was time to grow up and get on with her life. This was a big event in her life. Her boss had taken her driving and eventually she had learned.
ReplyDeleteIn this specific setting, Mark Salzman writes about his childhood and how he wnated to become a martial arts master. He saw his first kung-Fu movie and was so moved and inspired that he made the determination that he wants to become a kung-Fu master. So, I really didn't see much change in young Mark while reading through the story.
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