BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN #3

Lately, in Beautiful Children, Bock writes about Kenny from his youth to his current teenage years. He seems to be a pretty well rounded kid but the way he is described makes him seen to have a troubled childhood because of his mother and father's frequent absence. Thankfully, Kenny is often with his aunt. She works at a pawn shop but she is very kind and one of the closest persons in Kenny's life. Bock writes, "Kenny could not help but feel the weight of the past" (68). Although the author does not tell us exactly what has happened to Kenny we can assume it was because of his father's addictions and his mother's bad parenting. Bad parenting is a very big reason why kids throughout the world suffer and maybe make choices that can lead to others suffering. For example; their own children. I am afraid Kenny will learn enough from his aunt so he doesn't have to make the same decisions his parents have. Also, Kenny is surrounded by very inappropriate people and language while still a little boy. A customer at the pawn shop starts yelling at Kenny' aunt for not pricing an engagement ring high enough. He yells, "MOTHERFUCKING KIKE" at her and Kenny is very surprised and scared (64). These types of things can lead Kenny to use the same language when he gets older getting him into a lot of trouble. Before you know it he will be another one of them. One's bad examples truly do impact younger generations and can be the leading cause of many people's suffering.

Beautiful Children Post # 2

As I continue to read Beautiful Children characters are focused on more and I am able to make out their own sad stories little by little. Currently I am getting to know Bing a bit more. He is a man seemingly going through the motions of life without really living it. He has no relations with woman what-so-ever, and he doesn't socialize much at all, (with the exception of the on going chat rooms he attends). Although Bing's life seems quite dull from my past descriptions, he has real talent: he is amazingly creative and intelligent. One night Bing is in a chat room with a few friends. As he explains his new genious ideas he types, "BBIXXE: If it has dimension & perspective, it kind of stops being your average tatt" (55). It may be hard to make out at first but after I read this quote I knew it had a double meaing; I believe Charles Bock writes this in attempt to describe who Bing really is as a character. Sure, from the looks of him, Bing looks like the average guy walking down the street who is neither particularly special or important. But when you stop to look at him with perspective and look at who he really is, intelligent, artistic, kind, he begins to have more hidden dimensions.

As Bing continues to venture out I believe he will finally be recognized for his dimension and his life will change for the better. I think he will be respected more and then be able to become more social and really blossom from his isolated personality. During Bing's time in the chatroom his friend under the name of ] KC_FTT_B, writes, "R_naways d_de. Nobody cares abowt r_naways" (61). I believe this quote will forshadow the rest of the novel because how I see it so far, this book is all about runaways. It could be someone running away from their emotions, someone running away from home, or someone running about from life, like Bing.

Beautiful Children # 1

This quarter I chose to read Charles Bock's novel, Beautiful Children. This book takes place in Las Vegas where Newell Ewing's distraught parents try to unravel the mystery of their son's sudden disappearance. The stories of multiple "misfit" characters categorized as: "a shy and possibly disturbed young artist; a stripper who imagines moments from her life as if they were movie scenes; a bubbly teenage wiccan anarchist; and a scheming gutter punk" are brought up in the story, all linking to the Ewing's missing son.

As I begin to read the novel many different characters are introduced along with their interesting stories. The main character, Newell Ewing is a troublesome twelve year old boy with a huge interest in comic books. Readers can see through Newell's relationship with his parents that he is ill tempered and very immature. The day Newell goes missing he makes plans with his friend Kenny who is an artistic comic book illustrator. Kenny then meets an older man, Bing Biederboxx. Bing is a self conscious 24 year old man who is also involved with comic books; having his own nude comic book series.

Although I am only 50 pages into the story I can tell the rest of the story will be filled with darkness and unfortunate instances. So far I get an uncomfortable vibe from the story and the characters make me feel very uneasy. For instance, Lorraine and Lincoln Ewing. This couple start the story off with what seems to be an awkward silence. Bock writes, "He watched when the house was dark and Lorraine was safely locked away inside what Lincoln still thought of as their bedroom" (12). Out of all the misfit character's in this novel I would expect Newell's parents to be the most "normal" but they actually make me feel most uneasy. Their quiet, shaky, non-sexual, relationship seems to be very off balance and it leads me to think they were not able to raise Newell correctly. The couple show no signs of affection to each other...Lorraine doesn't even look at Lincoln as her husband! The lack of nuture the couple show lead me to think Newell received the same treatment. The possibility of Newell running away because of his parents seems very likely to me right now. As Lorraine picks Newell up Bock writes, "her tanned flesh has all but spilled out of her baby-blue swinsuit top, and her wrap-around sarong had been clnging to her in something sttraight out of sophomoric dream" (24). This line shows how Newell's mom acts more like a teenage model than a mother. The fact she wheres very inapropriate clothes leads readers to believe she is in desperate need of attention. My guess is that Lorraine is used to getting attention more than giving it to her son.

Angela's Ashes #4

Recently in Angela's Ashes, Frank's life takes a turn from decent to devastating. At 10 years old he is diagnosed with typhoid, causing him great discomfort and short lapses of unconsciousness. He is brought to the hospital where he meets a girl his age, Lilly, who has cancer. They become good friends, reading each other Shakespeare, and keeping one another company. Although things are surely rough for Frankie he looks at life rather optimistically, rarely complaining and appreciating small things. At one point Frank writes, "Dad nods and puts his hand on mine again. He looks at me, steps away, stops, comes back, kisses me on the forehead for the first time in my life and I'm so happy I feel like floating out of the bed" (McCourt 193). Just by reading these few lines I am able to understand that Frankie values love over everything else. He doesn't care that he is poor, he isn't feeling bad for himself because of his brutal condition, he gets happy just from his father's action of love.

Frank McCourt's memoir is so innocent I have no doubt in my mind he grows up to be an ethical person. Frankie not only recognizes the importance of recieving love, he recognizes the importance of giving it. When recalling his time at the hospital with his father McCourt writes, "He's like Paddy Clohessy the day I gave him the raisin. When he looks sad it's the worst thing in the world and I start crying" (McCourt 193). The fact a ten year old boy, terribly ill with typhoid fever, focus's his greatest worries on his father's sadness is amazing. I believe that although Frank McCourt's life was filled with despair and suffering, he was able to mature from it and he teaches himself what he believes is most important in life.

Angela's Ashes #3

At his point in Grank McCourt's memoir, Angela's Ashes, Frank has befriended a neighborhood boy named Mikey. Frank is also involved in the Catholic Church and his First Communiun is about to take place. Mikey gets Frank excited by telling him the best things about the First Communiun day, "Mikey got over five shillings on his First Communiun day and ate so many sweets and buns he threw up in the Lyric Cinema" (McCourt 117). Although Mikey's life seems nice, at least to Frankie, his family is also having a hard time financially and his mother is a bit "crazy".
This chapter is finally humorous and nothing completely rough comes upon the McCourt family. Frankie is in school, he is making friends, and life just doesn't seem so bad. Although Frankie's new friend Mikey Mollow seems like the type of boy who could possibly "ruin" Frankie's innocence with his sexual expertise, "grown up talk", and fascinating stories Frank does not change. One day Frankie says, "Bless me Father, for I have sinned. I overslept. I nearly missed my first communiun"(McCourt 129). Frank confesses to the smallest of sins which demonstrates his eagerness to be good even when the world is confusing and full or despair.

OTW Post

In Cormac McCarthy's play, On the Waterfront, decisions are forced to be made, ethical or not. Johnny Friendly's mob seems to believe that anyone who shows signs of giving them away is a traitor and this factor leaves numerous people hesitant of speaking up. This is easily demonstrated by the murders of Joey and Doogan, and the attempted murder of Terry. They all were examples of the consiquences you go through when speaking up about Johnny's gang. Terry was an exception to the other men though because he was able to prove his strength by forcefully standing up for his ethical beliefs, the very characteristics necesariy to be a whistle blower.
Unfortunately, its proven by history that it is truly hard to stand up against a society. People like Oscar Schindler, Terry, and Enviornmentalis all have a form of whistle blower in them. Being a whistle blower can be very scary, whether its your reputation on the line or, in some cases, your life in risk. I believe its a very hard thing to do and believing in something isnt always enough, you need to act on your beliefs in order to make a difference. I also believe being a traitor is the simple route. Telling on someone is not always an easy task but when you are doing it for your own personal benefit that is when you are persieved as a traitor.

AMS #1

In Arthur Miller's play, All My Sons, characters are forced into making decisions, good or bad. As all of you know, (or hopefully know by now), Joe Keller makes decisions he feels will benefit his family but ultimately lead to his death. As a business man during the war work was hard for Joe and it was not always fair so he made the unwise choice of sending out 120 broken plane parts which lead to the death of 21 soldiers. Joe believes providing for his family is the most important thing and you can see that through an arguement him and his son Chris have when he finds out about the crime Joe commited. Joe yells with desperation, "Chris...Chris, I did it for you, it was a chance and I took it for you. I'm sixty-one years old, when would I have another chance to make something for you?"(70) Joe clearly believes that the decision he made was what needed to be done in order for Chris to have a good life. Although Chris does also believe family is important he didn't think what his father did was necessary or moral in any way. Chris screams, "What the hell do you mean, you did it for me? Don't you have a counry? Don't you live in the world? What the hell are you?". Chris feels that what his father did was completely out of line because he once faught in the army and he believes that decisions should be made idealisticly and in a way that is best for his country.

Although Miller's play was extremely depressing I found it very entertaining because it made me think about where people should draw the line when dealing with what it best for loved ones, or what is best for everyone. It's always tricky being put in situations where full responsibility is put on you and when a hard decision comes my way I'm like Joe Keller, all I want to do it stay in bed. Unfortunately there is not necessarily a line determining if what you do is right or wrong so you just have to do what you feel is overall smartest. I can see why Chris was upset with his father... I mean, killing 21 people is a big deal! But then i look at Joe's perspective and you ask, Is this really my fault? Was I wrong to do what I honestly thought was best for my family? The argument is very controversal.