Thursday, October 23, 2014

Justin Cygnor Exploration 5

1. A character that stood out to me from chapter 18 was Tommy. He is Ishmael's uncle whom he has never met. After meeting Ishmael in the the center that he had been in, Tommy allowed Ishmael to live with him and his new family. This was the first time we really see Ishmael in a calm state of mind. We can feel his sense of satisfaction when he says "I loved the walks with my uncle because it gave me a chance to talk about my childhood, about growing up with my father and older brother." This shows that Ishmael has held on to the past experiences even after the war had changed him.

2. I think Ishmael's rehabilitation was working. At the start he was very destructive and violent. The leaders of the center just said that it wasn't his fault so he and the other boys continued to be harmful. Eventually after a certain amount of time with Esther, Tommy, and engaging in activities like the talent show, I think Ishmael started coming back to his senses. I would allow him to move into my neighborhood after signs of destructive behavior were gone which I think is likely to occur.

3. When Ishmael describes the story of when he was shot in the foot to Esther, the setting and the language really put the reader in the scene. He goes into great detail about the pain he was in and the procedures that were performed in the med center. "A piercing pain rushed up my spine from my waist to the back of my neck. I fainted." This quote is an example of the language used to describe the pain that occurred after he was shot.

4. The first paragraph of chapter 16 really stands out to me. It describes Ishmael's feelings towards the civilians taking care of him and the 14 boys with him. He said just hearing the voices of the civilians made him angry and aggressive. " It was infuriating to be told what to do by civilians. Their voices, even when they called us to breakfast, enraged me so much that I would punch the wall, my locker, or anything I was standing next to. They had all they needed to survive including food. Ishmael describes that they were all unhappy even with the resources to live. They only wanted their guns and weed. This shows the reader how "off" the boys were after they stopped fighting.

6 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed reading the last part of this. I agree, at first Ishmael wasn't really sure how he felt or why he felt that way probably because he was on drugs and filled with so much hatred and violence. Good work!

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  2. I liked how you chose Ishmael's uncle as the most important character to you. He's barley in the story but he will end up being such an important part of his life. It's a huge decision and commitment to make to adopt someone that you have never met before, that has fought in the war and been through all that. Especially with how poor he seems to be with multiple children already. Good post!!

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  3. I also felt very passionately about the beginning of chapter 16. I did not understand at first why he was treating the people who were there to save him so poorly. The fact that what they wanted in life is guns and weed is disturbing and sad

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  4. I also agree that the Uncle is an important character. He is going to take Ishmel into his family and is welcoming. It shows that Ishmel is starting to open up with other people and also he has rememebered memories even after all of the terrible things that he saw during the war.

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  5. I agree with you that once Ishmael knew and met his uncle Tommy he started to have hope of a place that he could call home. I think that when his uncle started to come to the center as he promised that really jump started Ishmael whole thinking of not being able to trust people and that help him believe again that not everybody is looking out for only number one.

    I do wonder if Ishmael would actually move into our neighborhoods. dispite everything that is going on in the world and the promotion of individually and supporting yourself. I don't think that Ishmael would move on his own. I can see him being one of those people who would move his entire family and friends to live with him in a house, just so that he would not have to all alone. Which I think so long as he has his family, I think that he would continue to grow and find his reason for living on top of being an awesome neighbor.

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  6. I found it very relieving to see the relationship grow very easily between Ishmael and his uncle Tommy. It does show that Ishmael was able to hold on to some of his childhood memories and replay them by sharing them with his uncle, I was very happy while reading this part of his novel. I also found it very shocking and disturbing when the boys first got to the rehab center and didn't seem to care or appreciate the food and the shelter that was being provided for them, the fact that most of them would probably have gone back to war in that moment if they could have they would have. Great post.

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