Three Day Road (Joseph Boyden)

In the story of the Three Day Road, there are many key events that contributed to the upcoming major events in the rest of the story. The first, and arguably the most important event was when Xavier and Elijah participated in their first combat in the trenches. This scene is very important because this event marks a transition between the attitude towards war, which Xavier and Elijah initially had, and the demoralizing reality of war. Xavier was both thrilled and shocked by this event because he was forced to take into consideration of how easily one could die simply by standing a few inches closer to the line of fire. Because the young Xavier and Elijah vividly experienced such fearful event, their behaviours, especially Elijah’s would start to change.

Back in our section of trench I lie in my little cave. My mind races with what’s just happened, the sneaking about in such a dangerous place, being shot at for the first time. It’s real. All of this is suddenly very real. The other side wants to kill me, and I’ve never seen their faces. (p. 33)

This scene is a key turning point in the plot in many ways. The exposure to the truth of war starts to change the two young soldiers. Prior to the battle, Xavier had dominated the power balance between Elijah and him, however, battles like this start to alter their psychological states. Because of his skills at sniping and in communication, Elijah gains confidence and would eventually enjoy war. However, this would make him somewhat crazy. This was most conspicuous when he started honouring his kills by removing scalps of his victims. His transformation into a windigo began from this point.
Because of his internal change, he would start to overturn Xavier’s domination in their power balance. Xavier in turn would now be sceptical of Elijah.

A Moveable Feast (Character and Place Comment)

by Ernest Hemingway

“You could not be angry with Scott any more than you could be angry with someone who was crazy, but I was getting angry with myself for having become involved in the whole silliness. He did have a point though, and I knew it very well.” - Ernest Hemingway on Scott Fitzgerald

'You can sit there and read that dirty French rag of a paper and it doesn't mean a thing to you that I am dying.' - Fitzgerald to Hemingway

It is irrefutable that Scott Fitzgerald is a bizarre character with large mood swings under the influence of alcohol. Otherwise, he is, apparently, an extremely nervous fellow who is constantly worried about something: He had to call his wife after one night of journey; and he somehow misled himself into thinking that he has lung congestion and was about to die. It is interesting how he is very paranoid and how he gets very defensive when Hemingway makes any critical statements. He could also be careless at times; this was evident when he missed the train to Lyon. Although he has these flaws, Hemingway commented in the quote above that Fitzgerald is still a likeable character with a notable physical charm.



“There were no ski-lifts from Schruns and no funiculars, but there were logging trails and cattle trails that led up different mountain valleys to the high mountain country. You climbed on foot carrying your skis and higher up, where the snow was too deep, you climbed on sealskins that you attached to the bottoms of the skis.” - Ernest Hemingway in Schruns, Austria.

According to Hemingway, Schruns is a mountainous region with a lot of precipitation, therefore is often visited by skiers in the winter. He said that the place includes trails in the wood between mountains where snow would pile up to a significant height. He admitted that he was productive in his works especially the draft of the Sun Also Rises during his stay in Schruns because of its environment. Otherwise, he commented on his skiing experience and how adept Hadley was. This description of Schruns intrigued my wish to visit it because it is seemingly a calm place where people are able to concentrate on their work and enjoy skiing in the winter while being able to enjoy the scenery of snowy mountain trails.

The Boy in the Moon

By Ian Brown
Upon his visit to L’Arche in Verdun, Ian Brown initially imposed a rather distant attitude towards the people whom he had encountered. He had also made a firm declaration indicating that he would not have Walker join L’Arche in the future for the community is founded on a Christian basis. Judging from the monotonous diction the author had chosen, it seem as though Brown had gone to Verdun for the sole reason to speak with Jean-Louis Munn with little intention of interviewing handicapped people in the community. “I worried about germs, briefly.” (p.189). However, a notable change in his perspective was seen after he had spoken with Selogène, a nun who takes care of the disabled Isabella. He realized that emulating Walker’s nature of might help Brown be himself. “I couldn’t forget what Sogolène had said… maybe I could do the same.” (p.194). His idea was reinforced whilst his stay at Trosly-Breuil. While his stay in France, his limited skill in French instilled fear into Brown’s mind. This fear was very similar to the kind a profoundly disabled person might feel; one with the inability to communicate must endure the awkwardness of one’s own presence in the public and is subject to prejudices. However, people like Walker do not conform to outside pressure. This significant difference influenced Brown to stop worrying about how others may think of him. “How did I get so frustrated about everything? … Walker never worries about that” (p.218).

This book is unmistakably full of information in which I have never encountered before. A brief and concise summary of all information I had acquired from the reading of this book is that raising a profoundly disabled child is unimaginably difficult beyond words. However, Brown had stated that the rare happiness that accompanies such life could outweigh any hardships that had to be overcome during the process. Prominent difficulties Brown faced in the book includes his inability to sleep for two consecutive nights for many years due to Walker’s irregular sleep cycle, frequent visit to the hospital, medical bills that reach large amounts, and arguments with his wife concerning Walker. However, despite countless complications, Brown was able to confirm the meaning or the benefit Walker could bring to the society. Everyone is handicapped in one way or another. The gift Walker that has for people is to be able to be apathetic of such hindrance. To be honest, I had initially been afraid of disabled people for there seemed to be much to pity for. Because it is a sensitive topic, I had always feared that I might say something that would cause misunderstanding amongst people whom I talk to. Therefore I would have avoided any conversations involving people with disability with much effort. However, this was mostly because I was ignorant about this subject. Brown’s memoire provided me with much information that instilled a complex emotion in my mind as I progressed through the book. The book had made me more knowledgeable about the issue therefore a large portion of my fear was cleared. Now, I could say, with confidence, that I can readily interact with profoundly disabled people.

Questions:

1. Mr. Brown, you have mentioned earlier in the book, that you would trade Walker without hesitation for an ordinary child. However, I should consider the fact that you have not yet found the meaning in your son’s life at that point. If I was to ask again, whether you would exchange your son for a typical child who gets Cs in school, would your answer be different from before? If so, what influenced you change your answer? If not, what encouraged you to retain your position?

2. Now that Walker is growing older, I anticipate that the level of difficulty is going to decrease especially because he is living in a group home. Therefore, I assume that you are able to have more freedom compared to before. Earlier, you said that raising a handicapped child could be so rewarding to the point that the joy exceeds the stress. Do you think that the joy of accomplishment while raising Walker is exceeds the relaxation and liberty that you currently have or do you prefer the relief and freedom? Why?

3. This is a hypothetical question. A new non-profit organization was recently formed; its sole purpose is to provide a lifelong care for any child diagnosed with CFC. You have just received an offer to have Walker under its care for the rest of his life. In this program, Walker is guaranteed to have kind experienced caregivers help him satisfy his needs. The advanced medical technology at the institute allows for Walker to live longer than the initial expectation. It is heavily subsidized by the government therefore applicants do not require any money to enter their children into this community. However, because of its location and its strict policies, it is unlikely that you will see him ever again once he is entered into the program. Would you consider this offer? Why or why not?

The Count of Monte Cristo (Abridged version) By Alexandre Dumas

The skillful, and young Edmond Dantès had his life ruined by Caderousse, Danglars and Fernand when they anonymously accused him of trying to bring the emperor back to power. They did this because they were jealous of his new position as captain, his fiancée, and his fortune to come. The Procureur du Roi, Monsieux Villefort has detected the false accusation however imprisoned him to guard his father’s secret of committing the same crime. There, Dantès loses all hopes, and tries to commit suicide however he is stopped by Abbes Faria who was trying to dig his way out of prison. He later gets educated by the Abbes and learns the location of a hidden treasure. However, the old Abbes died therefore his body was to be thrown into the ocean. Dantès switches himself with the corpse therefore successfully escaping from jail. Jacopo and his group then rescue him. When he retrieved the treasure, he would use his new wealth to torture and punish those who harmed him. He gives a financial aid to his true friend, M. Morrel who tried to help him in his prison terms. He takes advantage of Caderousse’s greedy nature and learns from him who are the responsible ones. Therefore, he carefully plans a revenge on his enemies. He enters Rome with the alias of the Count of Monte Cristo and finds his way into Paris. There, he would perform his revenge. He had one of his servants Caderousse, he led to the suicide of Fernand who is now the Count of Moncerf, after convicting him with betrayal, he caused Villefort to go insane after being convicted of burying a baby alive and he led to the bankruptcy of Danglars. After completing his revenge, he aided with the reunion of Maximilion Morrel and Valentine and left to sea.

A theme in this book is hatred. The protagonist has been imprisoned for false accusation set up by those who disliked and are jealous of him and his successes. Therefore, during the life in prison, he realized that his life had been ruined. This caused him to bare immense hatred for the four individuals and urged him to punish them severely once he is freed.

Another theme in this story is greed. Many antagonists in this story are known to be greedy however the most notable one was a character named Caderousse. His greed can overthrow his senses that when the protagonist bribed him with diamonds, he confessed the procedures of how the protagonist was sent to jail. However, this would eventually lead to his down fall because the avenger would know exactly how to pay back for what has been done to him.

The most important theme in this book in my opinion is justice. The protagonist had his life ruined simply because he was successful while others were jealous. Therefore, he seeks revenge. However, he portrayed his plan of revenge as divine justice because he believed that he was giving the antagonists righteous judgment for their sins. He strongly believes in the idea that people who do good things should be rewarded whereas people who do bad things should be punished. This is also why he has saved many lives in which himself had been saved or helped by.

The author uses modern, monotonous third person descriptions to narrate this story perhaps because the book has been abridged. Even most of the quotations are not written in such a manner that it is difficult to comprehend the context. However, because the story settings, there many French words and French references are made throughout the story. However, this is effective because it emphasizes the fact that this is in fact a French story. Keeping this in mind, the writing fit itself better with the story as opposed to replacing many of those words to their English translations such as Monsieur, Mademoiselle, and Madame. These words emphasize peoples' rank in French regards.

Many issues in this story relates to adolescence in general. A large fraction of the plot recognizes the fact that the antagonists became prosperous while committing many crimes however keeps them secret. We, as adolescence make many mistakes in this period of time however tend to try to keep them hidden from our parents, our teachers and even our colleagues. This is especially true when the discovery of the secret can lead to punishments that can damage one’s reputation such as suspension, expulsion, loss of trust and others. Eventually, the main character uncovers the secrets of the sinful characters and so they are given punishments accordingly to his beliefs. This gives us a message that perhaps large and harmful secrets are impossible to keep hidden.

One resemblance this book has with what has been discussed during class is that there is a difficult marriage dilemma for some characters especially those related to one of the four main antagonists, Monsieux de Villefort. He wishes that his daughter, Valentine would marry Franz D’Epinay to help cover up his father’s crime of killing Franz’s father. However Valentine does not want to marry Franz because she is in love with and Man named Maximilien Morrel, the son of the man who was saved by the Count of Monte Cristo. This situation is similar to the dilemma surrounding the four lovers in A Midsummer Night’s Dream where each complains that they are not able to marry who they really love.

Although this book did not seem to have any draws, there is but one thing the author could do to reduce any confusion. In Alexandre Dumas’s writing it is evident that he does not specify the speaker of a quotation when the conversation moves back and forth between two speakers. Logically, if there are two participants in a conversation, the reader should be able to assume that the quotations are spoken in order. However, there were some cases when a speaker spoke two consecutive quotations without many details therefore demanding for repeated reading in the process of comprehending the conversations to the full extent. An example of this is in page 6 where there is a conversation between Dantès and the ship owner M. Morrel.

I would definitely recommend this book to others, especially those who are knowledgeable of business and politic because it is difficult to understand terms like firms, Bonapartist, extreme political views and such when heard for the first time. However, this book can almost trigger an imagery in readers’ minds about the plans and events that would take place because the Count of Monte Cristo wants to fulfill his revenge. The evil satisfaction of the completion of vengeance of one individual and the excitement of waiting to see what would happen in the future wells up as the reading goes further.

I would also recommend this book to those with a strong sense of justice, moral and ethics because the plotline constantly reflects on the characters’ beliefs of what is important to them. In Caderousse’s case, his behavior stays true to his very greedy character. In Fernand’s case, his ideas usually reflect how he would value his reputation. Villefort also values reputation however he would more likely be afraid of shame than to seek good fame. Danglars, the mastermind of the plot to frame Dantès is also money greedy however he gained his wealth because of his own ability. In contrast, the Count of Monte Cristo believed the punishments he was giving them was divine and followed the will of God. There could be many arguments whether the Count’s deeds were righteous or matched the readers’ senses of justice. Therefore, people with their own idea of justice might be interested in the comparison and the contrasts of their moral values between the Count’s ideas of justice.

To enhance the writing, the author has used an extreme case of metaphor where the Count and his vengeance are compared with the will of God, in another phrase comparing a man with God. This is also mentioned in the letter to Maximilien Morrel after the Count had gone out to sea with hi yacht. In the letter he renounces that he was wrong to have considered himself the equal of God. However, because he is known to punish those who committed crimes and saved those who are either victims of crimes or have helped him in the past, he may have been considered to share somewhat a resemblance with how God believed justice should be defined.

The author also used a great deal of oxymoron and irony to enhance the writing. As the story goes on, the plans for the punishment or the revenge continues to unfold. At one point however, it becomes conspicuous that the man who considered himself divine and the righteous is torturing the sinners and those around them. By torturing and encouraging the death of some people, it is arguable that the punisher is slowly becoming one of the sinners therefore oxymoron is present.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

The very good-looking young Dorian Gray was influenced by Sir Henry to think about the wonders of life such as beauty, morality, aging or sinning. After several conversations with him, Dorian’s way of thinking changed significantly. He has changed from the innocent, simple and ethical person in the painting done by Basil to a new Dorian who lacks emotion, cruel and corrupted. In the process of changing, he has contributed to the suicide of an actress, Sybil Vane, has killed a friend, Basil Hallward who painted his portrait. Dorian’s portrait took on the burdens life such as aging and sins in place of Dorian despite the years that passed or the crimes he committed. He grew increasingly paranoid of the discovery of his portrait, which he had locked up. After Sybil’s brother threatened his life, he realizes that he should be good. In the end, he speaks to Sir Henry and finds out that the only way to rid his sins is to destroy the portrait. Later, his servant finds his old and ugly corpse after stabbing the portrait, which seemed to have restored its original beauty.

There were multiple themes in this book. One of them was the appreciation of beauty. In the beginning, Dorian is reminded of the fears of losing his youth therefore losing the beauty that he originally possessed. After thinking over, he claims that he would rather have the portrait of himself age instead of him. His beauty attracted many people and had brought things to his favour. Most of the main conversations were based on how Dorian’s beauty would affect in surroundings.

Another theme in this book is innocence. As the plot advances, the less innocence Dorian still has left in him despite the beauty and the innocence that still appear in his physical body. At first, Dorian would have never thought that he would commit any crime or do anything that would corrupt him. However, the story discussed how that changed as time passed due to the influence of Sir Henry.

The most notable theme is the idea of life. Throughout the story, both Sir Henry and Dorian are trying to find a single answer to a question. They were always forced to think what the pleasures and the cruelties of life were. Although they both have different theories, they both found ways to please themselves. However, the dangerous sinful path chosen by Dorian proved to be very harsh and had him extremely paranoid. Therefore, life was a theme constantly mentioned in the process.

The author has used a rather older English in comparison to what is common in present time and has written in the perspective of third-person or the point of view of one who is watching the events as they happen. The type of language was very descriptive and included detailed gestures that suggested certain emotions that a character is feeling at the time. This was effective for this story because the plot was carried out by a series of conversations, thoughts, and behaviours. The detailed descriptions played a significant role in visualizing the situation, mood, emotions and such. The point of view was well chosen because in this story, ideas and thoughts of multiple people were expressed therefore, the perspective of one person does not suffice.

There were issues discussed in this book, which may not directly relate to myself but perhaps adolescence in general. The protagonist produced dangerous thoughts like wanting to keep youth and resulted in committing many crimes and sins in order to conceal the evil truth of the portrait from the society. Wanting to hide factors that might give one a bad title is very common in many people but especially people in their adolescence. This is perhaps because they are not quite sure of what is shameful, unforgivable, or does not matter significantly. When people in their adolescence discover a secret about themselves that they would rather keep, they would eventually grow paranoid. Dorian had to do unthinkable things in order to hide the truth. Likewise, people tend to act in an extreme manner when they are paranoid. Perhaps, not many would kill, cause on to die or harm others for one’s own pleasure, however, people may do whatever when they are overwhelmed by worry.

Like in the Midsummer Night’s Dream, Dorian is able to self-reflect by examining his own portrait. In Midsummer Night’s Dream, the characters, in the last act, watch a play that somewhat resembled what had happened amongst themselves in the past. Dorian’s portrait burdened age and the ugliness from the sins and crimes he himself had committed although they did not affect his physical state. Therefore, to Dorian, his portrait was a constant reminder of what he has done in his years of life. Therefore, both storied has a self-reflecting element to them.

Although the language the author used to narrate this story was effective, it also had some drawbacks. Because of the age and the complexity of the story, his dictions did not always seem clear and were not always easily understood. Therefore, the book was not suitable for all readers. The author has also lengthened the descriptions of scenes that did not contribute to the plot line, which has made reading sometimes tiring. This could be improved by simplifying the story and by being more concise with the descriptions. Without these flaws, the book would have been much easier for readers to engage in.

Although the book is fairly difficult, I would definitely recommend this book especially to thinkers or philosophers. This book contains very interesting and unique ideas about life that would certainly intrigue any reader to think or ponder about what is being discussed in the intense conversation between the owners of different ideas. A reader might even find themselves influenced by the idea or may find themselves arguing with a character’s idea. This book is filled with theories that are thought of by characters in the story and shows how one can easily change another’s life with a simple conversation. Therefore, this book may be interesting to thinkers in this world but I would strongly encourage anyone to read this book because it can influence any reader.

This book uses many similes to enhance the writing. A reader would come across many similes especially when the scenery or the surrounding environment is being described. This is effective because by using simile, the author has given readers an opportunity to compare the scene in the story with what may be familiar to them. This helps reader engage with the story with less difficulty and the mood of the story could be easily imagined therefore increasing the efficiency of this book.

Themes are also very often used to further improve this story because unlike many stories, this story is not reliant on action or events but thoughts and ideas of characters. These thoughts and ideas are consistently related to the themes therefore, the themes are constantly being discussed throughout the plot. This enhances the writing because this causes the readers to think about the themes throughout the novel and therefore readers are more affected by the writing.