Post 4; road trip

Section; 134 – 166

My whole section I read was all about the road trip Reuben and Swede went on with their dad, Jeremiah, looking for Davy, Jeremiah’s son, who escaped from jail before his sentencing for killing two boys in self defense. I was really questioning where they would go to look for Davy and how they will live on the road but, I saw a big theme of putting one’s own trust in God to lead the way through hard times and to always remember to have hope in him. Really, throughout this entire story, they have always been looking toward God to lead the way and he always does show the path in where they should go.

Throughout the book I can really see the authors’ craft. Leif Enger likes to use lots of imagery throughout the entire book, as well as using big descriptive words, not commonly used, to help showcase the intellectual abilities of the two kids being only 9 and 11. A good example of Enger using a uncommon word I personally have never heard of was when Reuben, 11 years old, wondering why they kept chasing for Davy then said, “Yet it niggled” (152). I really wondered what it meant since I never have heard of that word and when I looked it up it meant “causing slight but persistent annoyance”, which perfectly described the situation and really showed Reuben’s intelligence. Also, the author has lots of good figurative language describing things in the book to create images and to showcase his craft throughout the book. A good example would be when they poured coffee, putting in sugar cubes saying, “We baptized a few sugar lumps” (142). Lots of personification used in the book which really creates vivid imagery into the readers minds!

Before the road trip, a new character arrived named Andreeson, a federal agent. He was now looking for Davy since he likely crossed state lines, making it a federal issue. Jeremiah told off Andreeson saying they would never speak again which was a big power move for Jeremiah. Later, while the Lands are on the road looking for Davy, they take a rest stop for the night and Andreeson was right there, following them around state to state, making sure that they do not have Davy. I really dislike Andreeson because of this, but he is just doing his job. Swede calls Andreeson very derogatory words like “putrid fed” because of her distrust in him. That night though, Swede went to his cop car and poured maple syrup in the tank, which no one knew but her and explained why she was so persistent in leaving the rest stop as soon as possible. This book really showcases what goes through young kids minds when they are angry at others and are in vengeful states. While on the road, the Lands went through a town looking for gas, but at every single gas station, there was a cop outside their car looking into the streets. Jeremiah, noticing something being off decided to not stop and continue going through the town on little gas. This was weird to me and made me wonder why would there be cops at every gas station, coincidentally while the Lands are going through town? Personally, I think that it might be Andreeson looking for they after what Swede did to his car. But, that is where my section ended so I will figure it out during the next section!

Post 3; Sickness, Thoughtfulness, and Hope.

Section; 94 – 134

After the very interesting end of my last section where Davy had escaped from prison before being sentenced, it led me to ask some questions of where would Davy go? What will happen to his family now that he is no longer with them. Also, what will happen with his dad since he is now out of his job as a plumber. These questions were all mostly answered during this next section I read.

Jeremiah, Davy’s dad, after loosing his job, became a chimney cleaner. Him doing this showcased his resilience and how he will not let anything stop him supporting his family. Honestly, I can see that in the real world through my dad as well, who tries to work his hardest to support his family. Though, during the time Jeremiah got severely sick and was put on bed rest due to the damage the chimney dust was doing to his lungs. Swede, his daughter took up the role of a bedside nurse taking care of her dad while he is sick. I really found that thoughtful and a special relationship because Swede, only being 9, was able to take care of her father and the house on her own. She cooked the food and gave her dad medicine and anything he needed while he was sick. It really showcases the things people do for their families and loved in hard times.

This is a corn crib which is the thing Reuben had to tear down, which led to him getting that much needed $25.

Rueben, while his dad was sick, decided to step up for his family and go look for work to help provide since his dad is currently unable to work. I thought that this also showcases the things you do for your loved ones in hard times. At the time, they became more poor since Jeremiah was still on bedrest but Rueben was able to do some work for a neighbor getting $25! That is worth around $500 in today’s terms. Reuben, being 11, obviously wanted to treat himself and he wanted a big canoe. Though, instead of being selfish, he decided to instead by food for the family since they were dead broke. That just goes to show family cares about one another and sometimes you need to push away thing you want, for the greater good.

This is the Airstream talked about. It is very spacious and can show why they would be so thankful for it!

Jeremiah got better and eventually their neighbors came with good news. They told Jeremiah that he was left in one of the neighbor’s families wills and he inherited a big airstream trailer. This was a big thing for them because at the time the Lands (Jeremiah’s family) was basically dead broke. Jeremiah said then went on to say, “Because I was praying this morning; and I prayed Lord, send Davy home to us; or if not, Lord, do this: Send us to Davy.” (128). This quote really shows the characters faith and how the Bible and God tune into this story. It reminds me as well as others that the Lord will help you out in rough times if you need it, and to always pray in times of hardship.

Jeremiah then went and sold most of his belongings to afford food and items to keep the airstream stocked since they were going to be leaving their home to head out to North Dakota. While selling their belongings, Reuben thought, “How could we not believe the Lord would guide us? How could we not have faith? For the foundation had been laid in prayer and sorrow” (131). He knew that with the strength of the Lord, they would be able to conquer anything and that whatever happens is in God’s plan for them. They were able to easily leave the house because it was a house based on God. I personally should try to take this into my life and realize everything that happens is in God’s plan and is mostly out of my control. There are many good lessons in this book that can be tied to faith and good spirit, which I really like. The author likes to use some big words that are usually not used in today’s time which I also like! The one thing I do not really like is the shifting of time things are taking place in because the author tries to bring up past experiences which can be kind of confusing to me. I can not wait to see what happens now that they are on the road. I am wondering also what will happen to Davy since his family is no longer at the house so if he tries to find them he will be to no avail.

Post 2, new comings

Section 2; 50-94

After the very eventful ending of my book from Davy killing the two guy’s that broke into the house, the author decided to change the scene to a past occurence that happened to the dad, Jerimiah. It talks about how before they moved to where they are, Jeremiah was at a college where he meet his wife and they already had two children. It say’s Jeremiah was working, installing new floorboards in the school when a tornado went through and ripped most of the school to shreds. Jeremiah, being at the top ish of the school was picked up and levetated before being let down by the tornado. I really find that astonishing because most people when they are in a tornado will be blown or taken away by it. It then talks about the mom, who was scared for the kids because it was then coming for the house. They were able to live but she recieved a greeting from people at the school saying Jeremiah hasn’t been found in the rubble so she thought the worst. Honestly, I would also fear the worst aswell. Then it talks about how a family called her saying they found Jeremiah which likely led them to be very happy when they reunited. That tornado changed the lives for them because Jeremiah dropped out of school to become a janitor and moved to where he currently resides. The book then goes on to say they then had the other two children, Reuben and Swede, but later on the mother of the children departed without explination. At first, I wondered why the author would change the setting from the climactic scene of the book to this, but it allowed the readers to get more detail on the events before everything happened and how they came to be.

Then, it changes back to reality where Davy has been taken to jail to await trial for the killings of the two boys (Finch and Basca). The news first portays Davy as a hero who saved his family from intruders, which many people sent letters to him to congradulate him. But after the news paper’s success in this, they then turned to portray him as killing two boys who were pracically innocent and that he could have not killed them and just let them live. That made him get many death threats and people saying he wishes he would get the death penalty. Personally, from what I saw at the time I was reading this, I felt like he was the hero. I felt like the stories and headlines in euther one’s favor. Also, no one really came to comfort Jeremiah about his kid being in jail, even though he comforted and helped many other people when they were in tough times. Also, these news stories caused Swede to basically detach from reality and continue to write short poems. These poems talked about how the protagonist in it was able to kill the people but really couldn’t since it was not really life. In my opinion, that really portrays Swede because after she was abducted, kidnapped, and touched/hurt by the two boys, she really has not been the same. It really seems like she is suffering from something that no one around her can get and to get through it or ease herself, she writes poems. In these poems she tries to make the good guy kill off the two bad guys but says the way they die never work since it can’t happen in real life. She is also only nine years old so there might be some damage she will suffer for many years to come since this was such a drastic event for a young child. Also, Jeremiah was fired from his job as the janator since the superintendent really didn’t like him after all the news with his son killing two school boys. It felt really unjust and like his boss had it out for him.

Later on, it moves on to the trial, where Davy is likely going to be convicted on two counts of manslaughter since he is still 16. This is where everyone thinks Davy will get away with it and not be charged since those boys were troublesome and broke into their house. I myself too think this, and think it should be an easy case for Davy to win. Though, the plaintiff for Finch and Basca stepped up and talked about how Davy is in the wrong since he had been antagonising them. I can see this but personally, I dont think that will get him sent away to prison. Then, the defense says, the night after Finch and Basca abducted little swede, Davy went over to the boy’s house and smashed up their car. This led everyone to gasp and shifted the entire trial since Davy was portrayed as the good kid but it showed everyone the reason why the boy’s would come and break into the house, eventually leading Davy to shoot the two. It really shifted my opinion on Davy since I thought he was the good guy in the situation.

Then the prosecuter called up Reuben to testify since he was the only one who witnessed the shots as he was in the room. Personally, I would be scared if I was up in the testifying box in front of everyone, but at first Reuben was very confident and acted like an adult. Though, he is 11 years old so he couldnt hold that act up of being in control. He was sworn in under oath and the bible to tell only the truth and the prosecuter was asking him questions about potential motivations of why Davy would kill them. Reuben, being nervous admitted Davy said to Jeremiah , “How many times does a dog have to bite before you put him down” which solidifed Davy was motivated to get his revenge on Finch and Basca. If I was Reuben I don’t know if I would have admitted Davy saying that, because I would be so scared he would be sentenced due to it. But Reuben was so young and since he swore the oath, he knew to tell the truth. Reuben also made the connection that when Davy came back from smashing their car, he immediatly had his gun ready for Finch and Basca to kill them when they enter the house. It really supprised me when I was making all these connections in the book as it went on because it showed how deep the situation really is. Davy was basically set to go to prison for his actions since he was so motivated to kill them.

That night, Swede and Reuben had a plan to break out Davy since they knew he would go to prison, but seeing as they were kids, they would never be able to do it. Though, they were very motivated, as I would aswell if I were in their situation with a loved one in jail. The book then ends with the Sherrif coming to their house and saying that Davy broke out. Honsetly it shocks me since the kids were just saying they wanted to break him out but he actually did it. I can’t wait to see what happens since if Davy comes back to the family, he will easily be arrested. I feel like the kids will try to go find and talk to him but I am nervous now, since Davy broke out, Davy will be put in jail for longer. This book is pretty long so that is why there is so much information. The author can also make sometimes seemingly unnecessary flashbacks, but later on they all connect which I like. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Post 1, Mircales and chaos

Section 1; Page 1-50

To start, the beginning of my book takes place telling the story of how the character the story is told through was born. I talked about how when he was born, he wasn’t able to breath for over 10 minutes, making the doctor think he would not make it. I was also thinking, what a weird way to start the book, and I was wondering if the start of the book would be a death of a child. Though, his dad who was on a jog outside calming his nerves before the baby would be born, had an instinct to come back into the hospital to check it out, almost like a sign from God. That showed some Christian aspects in it but, after he seen his newborn baby not breathing, he commanded him to breath and the baby then started to breath. In my opinion this is just unbelievable! Sort of a real act from God, even the doctor could not believe what just happened.

Later on, the real part of the story starts where the family is out goose hunting, which I have no idea about. Personally, I felt like this was a weird shift from the start of the book, but it is what the author wants. After hunting around for geese, Swede, the little sister of the family, tells Reuben, the protaganist, about Finch and Basca. It turned out Finch and Basca beat up and molst Davy’s girlfriend (Dolly) in the girls locker room which is just crazy to me. I could not believe it, and it seemed they were doing it for fun! Then, Davy’s dad, Jeremiah, who is swede and Reuben’s dad aswell came to the locker room with a mop and started hitting them with it and poking them in places people wouldn’t want to be poked! I found that pretty funny but the situation crazy.

Finch and Basca then vowed they would get their revenge on Davy’s family and they basically did. Later on, after the goose hunt, they got home and their door was vandalised. All of this happened pretty fast so I got sort of confused. A lot of stuff packed into a short section. Then after that, Finch and Basca came and abducted Swede into their truck and took her for a ride, making her sit on their lap. This was just crazy to me because why would they do all of these crimes for really no reason. They should realize what they are doing is wrong, but they seem to have no morals. They then returned her but she had marks on her legs just above where her shorts were which makes me wonder what they would do to her. This really does impact me because personally, I have had a job that deals with younger kids and also am a helper in CLC so it really hurts to hear that someone would do that to poor Swede.

The family then heard what happened to her and Jerimiah called the police but, the police did nothing to help because they just went the Finch and Bascas house to tell them to stop and the police said that they were just doing it as a joke. I find that unbelievable because I feel like in today’s age the police would launch a full out investigation and would not take these crimes so light. The cop was too lenient with the boys because they could be capable of hurting someone!

After all of that happened, in the middle of the night Finch and Basca showed up to their house and Reuben noticed that, alerting Davy. Davy then grabbed his rifle and got ready to shoot and anyone that would enter their room. Personally, I would do the same if I was in that situation because I would be scared for my life! Finch and Basca then open the door holding bats and Davy shoots both of them right when they lifted their bat. I mean that is just crazy to see because in the span of just 50ish pages, the main opposition in the book are dead! I personally do not know if I would have actually shot him, maybe asked him to put the bat away but Davy just shot him! Also, it just escilated so fast and it really intreged me. I love how much action is in it and how there are many Christian aspects throughout! I am excited to see what else happens in this book and how the characters will be changing due to this event!

Starter Post

My book I am choosing to read is Peace Like A River by Leif Enger. I decided to pick it since it is my partner’s mom’s favorite book, and it seemed like one I would be challenged to read. My partner is Josh and I am glad to have him as my partner since this book looks to be about certain Christian aspects and Josh is well versed with those topics so I am able to ask him any questions I have about what certain biblical allusions could mean. I am looking forward that this project will allow me to challenge myself with a more Christian type book. I hope it will open some more avenues into books to read that are not just horror or action types. I am only a little apprehensive about the length of the book and the fact that it is a Christian type book that I may not understand certain allusions or parts related to the Bible or biblically historical events. I am going to make sure I read each section every week, reading during advisory and study hall if needed to be able to ensure my success with this book.

Here I posted a river that seems very peaceful, like the title of my book… Peace Like A River.

Additional Emotion

An additional emotion seen in the Crucible, other than jealousy, fear, and love, would be uncertainty. On page 112, when Danforth was questioning Elizabeth if she kicked out Abigail for being a harlot, Danforth asked Elizabeth many questions and Elizabeth kept glancing towards Proctor to get cues to see what she should say to them and if she should say the big secret. Due to her being uncertain if she should say that Proctor and Abigail had an affair, she never said it and claimed Proctor was faithful to save his name, but she didn’t know Proctor previously admitted it.

De las Casas’, Columbus’, and Red Cloud’s texts did not change their target audience

De las Casas’, Columbus’, and Red Cloud’s texts gave some great points about the tough times and pain the natives experienced. Though, during this time the people committing these acts of violence towards said natives most likely didn’t change their mind. This is because, like in De las Casas’ text he illustrates, “And in this extraordinary labor, or, better put, in this infernal labor, the Lucayan Indians are finally consumed, as are captive Indians from other provinces. And all of them were publicly sold for one hundred and fifty castellanos,” (92). These sentences De las Casas wrote show how the Spaniards, and other people in his target audience, thought the Indians and other captured natives were seen as property Spaniards could use to their benefit. The Spaniards and other people doing the acts of violence would likely not change their mind since the Natives and Indians were seen as inhumane and just part of the path to conquer the Americas. To more affect their target audience, these writers could talk more about how the audience would feel if they were in the native’s shoes where someone would come and invade taking their land and making them the slaves. Also there could be more use vivid imagery to paint the pictures of these horrors into the audience to get their points across. A point that could be more stronger on impacting their audience with the vivid imagery would be in Red Clouds speech where he states, “When the troops were sent there trouble and disturbance arose.” (2). Red Cloud could dive deeper into the trouble and disturbance the troops caused and show how they were greatly affected by it. It would allow the audience to see what the Indians and natives were feeling and why they feel like they need a change.

Cultural encounters and frontiers in De Las Casas

“A Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies” demonstrates the message that cultural encounters and frontiers can be violent and oppress certain people being affected by the frontiers of other countries. De Las Casas illistrates this as during the American frontier, “Christians attacked them with buffets and beatings, until finally they laid hands on the nobles of the villages.” (89). Christians and Spanierds that arrived into the Americas would attack, hurt, and enslave any Native Indians because they were seen as poor, inferior, non-human. To the Spanierds and Christians they thought it was all a part in creating and revolutionizing the new world.