Book Review 2: The General in His Labyrinth

People like writing about things they feel comfortable talking about. Either if it is because they know a lot about what they are talking about, or they understand it really well or if it is some other reason, they write really good things. This is  why Gabriel Garcia Marquez decided to write The General in His Labyrinth.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez was born in Colombia. As a kid, Gabriel Garcia Marquez went through many struggles. He had to deal with death, and also moving a lot from place to place.  After he was born, his father became a pharmacist and in order to make money to support his family he had to move to Sucre, Bolivia to work as a pharmacist, but he took his wife with him to work in Sucre because it would have been really hard for him to make enough money to support his family. They left Marquez with his grandparents. Marquez grew up with his grandparents and knew them more than he knew his own parents. His grandfather was the one who started teaching Marquez how to read and to write, which eventually became Marquez's favorite thing to do. He told Marquez stories which made Marquez think deeply shaping his mind as a thinker and as a writer. Marquez's biggest struggle as a kid (when he was nine) was the death of his grandfather. That changed his whole life permanently and he ended up moving with his parents to Sucre,  Bolivia where his father owned a pharmacy after having lived nine years with his grandparents.  In Sucre, Bolivia he continued with his writing and eventually he realized he wanted to be a journalist.

He went to the University of Cartagena where his career as a journalist began. Marquez really liked to write about historic events and stories based in real experiences or events. One of the people he really wanted to write about was about Simon Bolivar. He read an unfinished book by his friend who was a writer Alvaro Mutis, which was about Simon Bolivar's last voyage. The story took place in Magdalena River, Colombia. Marquez felt really interested about the book and the story for two reasons: because he wanted to write about Simon Bolivar and because as a kid, he grew up living by the Magdalena River. He knew a lot about the setting so he asked permission to Mutis to take his idea and to write about Simon Bolivar and his last voyage in the Magdalena River, Colombia. That is how he ended up writing the book The General in His Labyrinth. He felt connected to the story because he knew about some of the characters and he knew the place. That made his book even better because he actually knew what exactly he was talking about.

  Had Bolivar not existed, Mr. Garcia Marquez would have had to invent him. Seldom has there been a more fitting match between author and subject. Mr. Garcia Marquez wades into his flamboyant, often improbable and ultimately tragic material with enormous gusto, heaping detail upon sensuous detail, alternating grace with horror, perfume with the stench of corruption, the elegant language of public ceremony with the vulgarity of private moments, the rationalistic clarity of Bolivar's thought with the malarial intensity of his emotions, but tracing always the main compulsion that drives his protagonist: the longing for an independent and unified South America. This, according to Bolivar himself, is the clue to all his contradictions. -The New York Times:Book Review

It is like Gracia makes up his own stories. Stories that are real he can make them seem like he wrote them. That is how good his writing is. 

Book Review: The General in His Labyrinth

Simon Bolivar was an important figure in South America that changed the way people thought about independence. Bolivar was born in Venezuela in 1783 and died in 1830. He was known as "El Liberador" in Spanish, which translates to, The Liberator. He was one man who really made it possible for Latin America to become independent. It was mostly in South America though. He liberated Most of South America from the Spanish Empire. Then he became president of several countries in South America. He was one great leader who is always remembered, but when we really think about him, we are not sure what things he had to do or go through to give so much for his people. Some people may wonder what his life was like, or what it was like to set people free. What was it like to be him and to do the things he did?

Well, Colombian writer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez writes about Simon Bolivar's life in his book The General in His Labyrinth. Simon Bolivar is the main character in this book. At the beginning of the book, in the first chapter, Simon Bolivar is introduced as an unhealthy man. He is 46 years old and he is preparing to go on a journey to Europe, but his sickness does not leave him alone making things hard for him. During his voyage, which takes weeks, to Europe, he is really sick. One of the reasons he wanted to leave The Americas was because in his own land, people he, himself liberated started to turn against him. Some wanted to kill him because they did not like him as a leader after the Spanish left. So that is why he wanted to leave.

They accused him of wanting to be president for life so he could appoint an European prince as his successor. They accused him of pretending to travel abroad when in reality he was going to the Venezuelan border and planned to return at the head of the insurgent troops in order to seize power, (p.13).

This shows what the people in Colombia thought the reason he wanted to leave. In reality, he did not want any of that that the people thought.  Bolivar was hated by people, but loved when was setting them free. People betrayed him. Him being sick just made it easier for people not to recognize him as a hero. His sickness and illness just made him seem weak. That is how people saw him.

I don't think many people now know what this Latin American hero went through. All the hate, and the negativity. They only see him as an idol and i am sure that no one thinks that part of his life was a struggle. That is the untold story that is left out. He is so important that a country was named after him; the nation of Bolivia. Now that i know more about him, and his life, i start to think about all the sacrifices he made, and that thanks to him the world is now different.

The cycle of daughters and mothers

Mothers influence their daughters to become like them when their daughters grow up, but they don't always do it directly. Sometimes they kind of force their daughters to do whatever they think their daughters should do, in other words, they make the decisions for their daughters so that when they are older, they are shaped similar to them.

In the short stories from The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, The mothers in most of the stories treat their daughters in a very similar way. They make their daughters do things that they want them to do and not actually what the daughters want to do.

I think that this is a big part of the Chinese culture, and i also think that it could be part of other cultures around the world but the Chinese are the ones that show it the most.

In the story Rules of The Game, Waverly Jong is the daughter of a mother who tells her what to do, what is according to her what will make Waverly a successful person. Waverly learns by herself that she is good at something; playing chess. She slowly starts to show the people around her the big talent she has. Once her mother sees that her daughter is doing something with her life by herself, she interferes and starts pressuring her daughter to work harder on her chess skills, which just makes it hard for Waverly to be able to do good.

 As her men drew closer to my edge, i felt myself growing light. I rose up into the air and flew out the window. Higher and higher, above the alley, over the tops of tiled roofs, where i was gathered up by the wind and pushed up toward the night sky until everything below me disappeared and i was alone. (pg. 101)

Eventually, her mother caused Waverly to quit chess. Her mother was just trying to help her with her pushing, but Waverly could not take it. This mother was trying to make her daughter be what she wanted her to be and did not let her deal with her dream independently causing her to quit what she was so good at.

One of the main characters, Suyuan Woo who died from a brain aneurysm years after she moved from China and lived in the US. She created the Joy Luck Club, and she got a group of women to join her (They were Chinese too). After her death, the other women that formed part of the Joy Luck Club saw Jing-Mei Woo as the next leader of the group. They kind of expected her to continue what her mother had started.

'You are responsible', said my mother. (pg. 28)

This doesn't show how the women from the club wanted her to replace her m,other, but that does show how the mother, Suyuan, talked to Jing-Mei, telling her that she is responsible. This kind of shows that her mom considers her or could consider her responsible for whatever she leaves behind when she dies, in this case the club.

Mothers influence their daughters in life, they want them to turn out a certain way, but they pick the way they'll turn out and the daughters are dependent on doing things from their mothers.

Mothers and their daughters

The story, "Rules of the game" from the book The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan relates to the article written by Amy Chua: "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior". In Chua's piece, she focuses on telling the audience about what the lives of many Chinese children look like in comparison of those of, for example, western kids (Americans).
In Rules of the game, Waverly is a Chinese girl who has two brothers who are treated similarly to what Chua said kids in China are treated like. Chua focuses a lot on how the parents want their children to be successful in school in specific. In The Rules of the Game, Waverly's mother does not focus on her daughter's education though. One Christmas, Vincent, Waverly's brother  received a chess set from the church. Waverly became addicted to the idea of playing chess and when she learned how to play, she went started going out with people she didn't know and playing chess and as she did that, her sills improved.
One day, her mother realized that her daughter had a real talent; playing chess. So she signed her up for a tournament first and after she won that, she signed her up for more. She started as a local champion and ended up being a national champion. Her mother then became a real proud mother and this idea came to her, to only make her daughter practice chess and to forget about everything else. Her mother kind of forced her to improve, as she wanted her to because she wanted her daughter to keep winning so she could be proud and to kind of show off her daughter to others.

I went to school, then directly home to learn new chess secrets... But i found it difficult to concentrate at home. My mother had a habit of standing over me while i plotted out my games. I think she thought of herself as a protective ally. Her lips would be sealed tight, and after each move i made, a soft 'Hmmmmph' would scape from her mouth. 

Chua talks about a similar idea. The idea of education. Instead of education, Waverly's mother forces her to learn more chess than her studies. Its also like playing the piano and violin only.  This can be seen as one of those instruments.
I do think that Amy Tan's novel endorses Chua's arguments about motherhood.

Independent children

In The joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, she writes an introductory paragrah or paragraphs before each section of her book, which is more than one chapter each. The paragraphs do not necessarily have anything in especific to do with the stories in the section, but there are connections that can be made and there is a purpose to all of that.
I think that the introductory piece's purpose is to give the reader the idea that children like to be independent when they benefit from the independence.
As I read the chapter, Rules of the Game I realized that the girl, Waverly Jong gets to the point in her life where she starts doing something that gives her life progress which makes her be more independent from others.
Waverly Jong discovers that she has a talent; she is an amazing chess player. She became well known and was one of the best. I think that she likes to be independent after her successes.
One way that she becomes independent is by not being a part of the family. She is a part of the family, but it does not seem like she is a part of the family since she is always busy.
When se wants to practice or think about chess in her room, she can't concentrate when her siblings are making noises so she tells them to be quiet. Being good at chess and actually playing outside of home with other, professional I guess I could say, players makes her change. She does not seem like a little girl anymore. She likes to be alone and independent.
One day, Waverly and her mother went out, not because Waverly wanted to but because her mother made her. They kept seeing people and her mother would proudly tell everyone that she was her daughter. Then Waverly said,

"I wish you wouldn't do that, telling everyone I'm your daughter." My mother stopped walking. ..."Aiii-ya. So shame to be with mother?" She grasped my hand even tighter as she glared at me.

This does not necessarily shows "independence", but I think that the fact that she is embarrased of her mother and she does not want to accept it makes me think that she would like to be independent from her mother. I think that almost all kids go through that point in their lives when they don't like their parents being with them. In this case, chess has changed the life of Waverly and now she doesn't like being with the family. She prefers being alone and independent. But when she realizes that she really depends on herself at the end, she does not want to be independent anymore. What happened at the end was that her mother told the family to leave her alone because Waverly didn't care about them. When she knows she is alone, then she wants it all back.

The ever-cahnging story...

In this first story, Suyuan Woo always changes the ending of the stories of the dream because i think she is trying to send her daughters a message.
The message i think she Suyuan Woo is trying to send her daughters is that their lives are not going to be like their dreams. That they have to make their own lives and live them by what is real.
In her dream, everything was happy and peaceful and it was the perfect place for anyone, or at least for her. There were rivers in Kweilin. There were peaks that were white mists, and beds of soft moss and laugh. Nothing could ever go wrong in that place.
The endings of the stories always seem to be bad, as if they are not part of the dream. For example, Suyuan Woo says that since she was so rich, that money was not worth anything after she won it. I am not completely sure if money is one of the things that makes Suyuan Woo happy, but i bet it would be one. If money makes her happy, and now is not worth anything, not even more than toilet paper as she said, then her dream must be collapsing.
I do not think that she herself lived her life as a real situation, she lived it as if it was a dream. Maybe she is trying to tell her daughters to not have the same life that she had. That is what i meant by living life by what is real and not by their dreams.
I guess that is what she tried to do by telling them different stories. And that is what parents do usually. They learn from their mistakes and do not want their children to make the same they made. I think that Suyuan Woo was a different person in her dreams than in real life. This reminds me of inception, because its like there are dreams within a dream which is not exactly what happens here but in a way they are all different dreams that connect.

Rebelling for a reason

Through out history, people have rebelled against their leaders for different reasons. In the last 5 years i have heard about some type of rebellion or revolution in different countries around the world. Right now, the revolution in Egypt is the one that has been most know to people around the world and The United States mainly.
The main connection that i see between what is happening in Egypt and what happened in George Orwell's Animal Farm is that here is only one kind of leader. In Egypt Mubarak has been the leader of the country more than anyone else ever has. He cheats to be the leader over and over and to never be removed out of power. That is not necessarily what happened in Animal Farm but i think that the same idea can be built. Animal Farm had different leaders, but the thing was that they were all pigs and it was never a horse or a donkey, or any other animal that formed part of the farm. I think that having one leader  for a really long time is almost the same as having different leaders that can or could be the same. Even though Major might not have been like Napoleon it was still unfair to have alike leaders having the control. I think that in Animal Farm it was an injustice just to let the pigs be leaders. It would be the same as if a man just like Mubarak became leader after Mubarak and after that man another one like him.
In other cases such as what happened in Honduras in the summer of 2009 also connect to Animal Farm. In Honduras, the ex-president Manuel Zelaya tried changing the constitution of the country so that he could do the same Mubarak did and be reelected  every time. He also took advantage of his power treating the people of the country unfairly. In animal farm, Napoleon and the pigs kept changing the constitution in their favor and also took advantage of their power by making all the animals work so they did not have to do anything.
Changing the rules is unfair, and when someone changes the rules against the people, the people respond by rebelling so that their voices are heard.

The third and last freaking post! Into the wild.

I thought the book was good up until the part where the author starts talking about himself and shifts away from the main story. Almost be the end of the book, he starts like talking about how once he also had a similar experience like Christopher McCandless had. He is basically saying that he went "into the wild" and made if back alive. I thought that was unnecessary. I didn't really see why he would write about himself even though it relates a little to McCandless's story. I though he was kind of saying, by writing about himself, that he survived the wild because he is better. That is what was going on in my mind while reading that. I thought he was trying to say he did better than McCandless and that was the reason he survived nd McCandless died. That might not be the purpose of that part he wrote about himself but that's what went through my mind. I thought he had it easier than McCandless because he had all the equipment needed to survive while McCandless only had himself and really nothing else. I wouldve liked the book better if the author wouldn't have written about his experience.
I wonder what McCandless would have done with his life, had he survived. I thought maybe he would have gone back to studying and then he wouldve gotten a job and created a family. Maybe. I know that Krakauer writes at the end of the book that he was given permission to write bout such a sad story by the McCandless family but I wondered if Chris would have been happy with the publishment of this book.
This book was kind of weird in the way it was written because the author would start talking about McCandless's story, then something else, then about himself, then something else, then back to McCandless; it wandered around a lot. But in general I could understand the pattern. It didn't really have an order or a way of organization.
In conclusion, the book was good except for the part where the author added his own experiences. The book was written differently than any other book but it was still alright.
If took me a while to finish this book but so far it I the second best I have read this year.
Well, I am sleepy now so I'll finish with this.

Into The Wild second Book Response.

I found this book really interesting rather than boring. I like it because I know that the things, as crazy as they sound really happened. I like that feeling I get when something happens in a book and I know it really happened. I think of Chris as a normal person. Even though most people would say he wasted his life, I think that going to Alaska was just the decision he made for his own life.
Another reason why I like this book is bevause I like documentaries. I like knowing about real stories like this one. I think that Chria had his own way of seeing things, and he dis not think like all other humans.
I think that Chris just loved nature and just wanted to pe a part of it. He look for an adventure and he got an adventure.
In our discussion, we talked about how his adventure would have been different if he had taken resources with him. Maybe he wpuldve survived for longer. Maybe not. We also talked about his final goal; was it just to stay in Alaska forever or to go to Alaska and then come back?
I wonder how long his decomposed body spent in the sleeping bag before they found him. I know that in the story they said 2 weeks but I think he had to spend more days. It just doesn't make sense to me.
What about his family? What do they think about Chris's decision? I think they really worried when he was gone. When they got the news that Chris had died, I think that hurt them a lot. I also wondered if Chris regretted having gone on that crazy adventure after he had spent months in Alaska struggling to survive. I think that he didn't because that's what he wanted it seems and he never said anything about regret.

Into The Wild reflection

The first part (the first six chapters) of "Into The Wild" by Jon Krakauer was really interesting. I really liked the first part. Even though the story is true, sometimes it seems like the writes makes some stuff up or kind of exaggerates. I really like the way this author writes, but the book wasn't what I expected. I thought that since I knew it was a true story, that it would have been the actually person telling their story, in this case Alex. I think the book would be much better and more interesting if it was all written by the actual character. Much like a diary.
The story itself seems really good to me and is an adventure I would be interested on doing but not under his same circumstances. I think that his personality really goes with the kind of things he does and the way he sees life is a way different than any other human in the story.
I think that in this book, one of the major conflicts there is is society. Alex seems to have something with society; he isolates himself from it. He lives in his own society. Alex is the one who doesn't like the government and hates rules. He likes to be free and to do whatever he wants, that's why he goes on this adventure unto the wildness.
Another conflict in this book is himself. Not as much as society, but he has or seems to have problems with himself. It seems in the story like he is mentally ill. He might have mental issues and he seems to struggle with his life a little. Even though he enjoys living in the wild.
These are the kind of books I like reading because they are really interesting. The cool thing about books. That are based on true stories is that the events in the story actually happened. There is a feeling when I read and I know that what I am reading happened. I feel impressed sometimes, or sad. Depending on what it was I get different feelings. When I read something fictional or made up, and there are things that impress me, I realize that it didn't happen so I feel disappointed. With documentaries, it is different. That is why I like books like this one.
This book is really good in general. I like the way it flows and everything else, just that if it was written from the character's point of view, it would have been better.

The Garcia Girls Essay

When I Finished reading the book “How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents” by Julia Alvarez, I realized that the story is similar to many of those I have heard from other immigrants. It reminded me of my dad, who always tells us stories about immigrants at the table during dinner time. My dad is an Immigration attorney and he works for the government, and he always tells me and my family about his cases. The one reason I hear my dad always talk about why people come to the United States is for shelter because their country is not safe enough for them. That is what happens in this book.

It initially begins with one of the members of the Garcia family. Carlos is the first person of the family to come to the United Sates trying to escape from danger. The SIM or The Secret Police from the Dominican Republic are looking for him because he had a gun under his possession and he plotted against the Dominican government. He had to come to the United States because he did not feel safe in the Dominican Republic by being wanted by the Dominican Secret Police. He comes to the United States safely and then once immigrants get here, they usually say that their families are not safe back home either so they bring them too.

After Carlos comes, his family follows and that is normally how immigration works. After the family adjusts to the American culture, their lives change, as well as their personalities. The Dominican culture is greatly different from the American culture. In the book, it seems that when the Garcia girls come and get used to living in the United States, they lose their innocence. In the Dominican Republic they were these humble people and innocent, hidden from sins, but when they come, that changes. They lose their innocence in different ways; some of them start thinking of sexual activities as a game and also that they forget about where they come from. One of the most important things an immigrant should always consider is not forgetting the place they come from.

Me for example, as an immigrant coming from a total different place, I know exactly where I come from and what the differences of here and there are. I know what the two cultures are about and I know that I cannot leave either one behind. The two cultures are what shape me now.

This book seems to be written in a way that mostly interests Latin American people or Hispanics. The title captures the readers’ minds and especially for those who speak Spanish. Just by reading the title, “How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents”, the reader can say that it might be about Latin Americans because it includes the words, “Garcia” and “Accent”. When I read the title, I instantly knew that it would be about Latin Americans. The title absorbs a great number of Spanish speaking audience.

The actual book is written in a way a Spanish speaking person would understand much more than a person who does not speak Spanish would. The book contains little words or phrases that are written in Spanish and that may confuse a reader that does not understand them.  That can change the meaning of the book for different people. For example, for Spanish Speakers, who might have a deeper understanding of the book, it could mean something and for those that do not speak Spanish might understand a different meaning. This might be a cause why the most part of the number of people that read books like this one are Spanish speakers. Also, the topic of “immigration” is interesting for immigrants and might not be as interesting for others that are not immigrants. 

Another thing that might change the meaning of the book might be the fact that not all the audiences are immigrants. Julia Alvarez might have written this book from an immigrant’s point of view. It is easier for those that are immigrants to understand or to get what the meaning behind this story is, especially for those who immigrated to the United States for the same reason this family did, or for a similar reason; they might feel connected to the story. On the other hand, those readers that are not immigrants try to understand a little more while the immigrants just hear a similar story to theirs.  That is another disadvantage of this book.

The meaning of the book can be determined depending on the reader’s own experience or knowledge about the subject.

Another weakness is that it is not written in the order of the events; it begins with the present and it ends with the beginning. That causes confusion for the readers. The reader gets lost in the beginning of the book, is not until they read the middle part of the book that things start to become more clear. At the beginning, everything is confusing and a lot of questions pop up in the reader’s mind, questions such as, “why are they there?” or “how did they end up being like this?”. Questions that are not answered until the middle and end parts are read.

What if the book had been written in the order of the events, from the beginning to the present? Had that changed the meaning of the book? Maybe Julia Alvarez wanted to write the book the way she did to give it a specific meaning different from the meaning or meanings it would have if it was written in order of events. Everything from this book must have its purpose.

Julia Alvarez wrote this book to share with her Hispanic community and the rest of the world a story that happens to many immigrants from all around the world. She expresses herself in a way that her community can understand better than other readers, and she organizes her book in a confusing way that becomes clear until it is completely read. The book itself has or can have different meanings depending on the reader and that is one of the things Alvarez

How the Garcia girls lost their accents final reflection.

Now that I have gotten to te end of the book, "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez, it is more clear to me what the big idea of the book is. I think that what Julia Alvarez is trying to tell us, the readers is that when the Garcia girls came to the United States, they lost their innocence. The big changes in their lives caused dramatic changes in their personalities.
The first part of the book was really confusing. I could not understand anything. Once I got to the second part, it was easier to understand a little more than the first part. I could see the difference in time in the story by then. Finally, when I started reading the third part of the book, it all connected and started to make sense. I started to notice what the pattern was. How it all began. What was that caused the Garcia girls to end up being different women with much different personalities when living in the United States than when they lived in the Dominican Republic. What impressed me by the end of the book, which was actually the beginning of the story (The past) was that it sent the reader back to the beginning of the book, which was actually the ending of the story (The present) and it was like it started all over again.
The idea of them losing their innocence when their lives change is because I noticed the way they lived in the Dominican Republic an compared it with the way the lived in the United States. It seems like there are humble girls back home and when they come here, they become rebellious. I think that they weren't mentally ready to chug their lives in such a way. Being taken away from their home land was unexpected.
I was wondering what the title has to do with the actual story and I thought two things; the "accents" on the title represents "innocence" or the title actually means that the Garcia girls forget about their culture and become part of another society. I thought that the title could mean either one.
I was also wondering if the book had been written in a normal way, meaning from the beginning of the story to the end, or from past to present, if the meaning of the book had still been the same.
This book was really confusing. I thought this book was good though, the ending was much better than te beginning because it was easier to understand.

Losing your identity.

This second part of the book was much easier to read. The events that happened seemed more clear to me and some of the things that happened hooked me a little more into this book.
A lot if things happen, but I think that one if the most important ones is that The family in the Dominican Republic does does not want the 4 girls to forget where they come from. This happens almost with every immigrant family that comes to the United States to start a new life. The girls's family back in the Dominican Republic and their parents do not want them to become new people and to forget about them. They want them to continue their lives in a different, better and safer place with more opportunities, but they don't want them to change the way they are.
I think that the reason why this happens in a lot of families when they come to this country is that culture is a big thing that cannot be left behind. I know from experience that people back home want the people who are here to succeed but the don't want them to change. They don't want them to change because that could cause a gap in between their relationships.
The number one reason people cone to this country is for better and safer lives. Sometimes, people can't have good lives in their own country. The 4 Dominican girls came here fir a better and safer life. The only thing their family asks in return is to not forget where they come from, who their people are, and who they really are. Culture is a big thing. Traditions and memories are part of culture.
For example, I know and I am always told by my family back home that they don't want me to become a new person. They want me to be the same guy. Even though my it is not something I believe I can do, I always think about it. I don't think most people are able to not change; living here just makes you a different person. Makes you like every one else here. It happens naturally. I do know that some people are able to be the same way they were back in their country. I don't think those are the kind of people the 4 girls are. The girls seem to become more Americanized as they grow older.
Losing someone's culture is losing their real identity. The girls become new people in the United States and the Dominican Republic becomes a forgotten little island isolated from the world.

The confusing How the García girls lost their accents

As I began reading How the García Girls lost their accents by Julia Alvarez, I could not understand what it was really about. What mainly confused me was that there were a lot of characters and I had no idea who they were. I started to kind of understand the reading wen I got to the part where Yolanda is back in the Dominican Republic. I began to understand why she was there but I did not or was not able to connect it to the very beginning.

Another thing that is confusing is the way the story us told. It starts with the end and ends with the beginning. That's is really confusing to me and males it harder for me to understand what the meaning of the book is.

The lives of the characters seem like they've gone through a lot of things. There is disloyalty between the characters, there is anger, there are also connections but many things happen to the characters throughout the years. I think of the lives of some of the characters and see that hay have a reputation based on what they did or what they have done.

Before I started reading the book, I thought that it would be about how the Garcia girls lost their Spanish accent. When I started reading I started thinking and then I thought it might rather be about how they lose their Spanish or how they leave behind everything for a new life in the United States. I think of the title now as something different than what I tought at first when I was just looking at the book and had not started reading. Now I think that it might mean how the Garcia girls left their home, their people, their food and their language for a replacement. In hope of success. Now, they seem to have lost some of those things or they seem to have forgotten them.

Honestly, this book is really confusing. I can't read something that is told in reverse. I don't know what to expect for the rest of the book. I can't really make predictions when the order if the story is like this. I wonder what will happen next.

Night Essay: Elie vs. Society.

Society has always had problems throughout history, and human inequality has been one of the biggest problems. In the book, "Night" by Elie Weisel, a Jewish comunnity is taken by nazis to concentration camps where they literally work to death. Elie, a Jewish teenager manages to survive due to his hope, patience and effort for living. Things like this wouldn't have happened though, if the nazis hadn't seen the Jewish as different from any other human group. The main conflict of the story is between Elie and his community, and the Nazis.

Nazis keep the Jews in the dark about what is happening to them. Elie lives in a peaceful ghetto among many other Jewish people and German officers who watch them. The nazis often do unexpected things that affect the Jewish communities' people. One day, the Jewish were informed something: "The guetto was to be completely wiped out. We were to leave street by street, starting the following day,"(11). The Nazis come to Elie's community and take them all to the concentration camp without them knowing. They have little time to do it, and if they make mistakes, it can cost them their lives. Due to acts like this by the Nazis, Elie and his community feel threatened. The Jewish never know what will happen to them next.

The Nazis feel no compassion for the Jews. All throughout the story, it is shown how the Nazis mistreat the Jews and disrespect them. The feeling of superiority and power is the reason the Nazis make the lives of the Jews miserable. Elie and his group marched from the concentration camp they were being evacuated from to another one and one of the SS soldiers leading them, yelled, " 'Faster, you filthy sons of bitches!' "(81). This is how the Nazis treat the Jews; in a very disrespectful way not caring about what they say. The SS soldiers want them to run as fast as they can just to purposely make them tired, so that if anyone stops, they can shoot them and kill them. Both, the nazis and the Jewish have different points of view on this occasion; to the Nazis, this is how they show their superiority and power and to the Jewish people, this is a competition for survival. As the hate on the Jews continues, society becomes more corrupt.

The Nazis try to encourage prisoners to let the weak ones down and to try to survive for themselves. Elie sacrifices his ration of food to let his father eat more than him so he can be able to survive. The only thing Elie wants is to keep his father alive to always have someone next to him, however, the Nazi head of the block said to Elie when he noticed Elie helping out his father survive, " 'Listen to me boy. Don't forget that you're in a concentration camp. Here every man has to fight for himself and not think of anyone else. Even of his father', "(105). The head of the block is telling Elie to let his father down and to look for himself. This strikes Elie's mind just like it does to the minds of many other Jews. Elie's care for his father won't let him down, but the Nazis divide the Jewish friends and family members from one another either psychologically by messing with their minds or physically by force. At the end, all the weak ones die and the strong ones continue their misery.

The major conflict is that the German Nazis destroy Elie's life just like they do to thousands of other Jews. They take their most important values; their freedom, their hope and their own people. Nazis aren't conpassive with the Jews and they wash their minds telling them to forget about everyone else. When te Nazis mistreat the Jews, chug their minds, and isolate them from society, they cause at least as much damage as their weapons and their gas chambers do.

Nights of Terror...

I read Ianna's response to the book "Night" by Elie Wiesel. Right now, I am almost done with it. The book itself is great, it is a really well written piece. The reson why I like this book is because I like history. I do not like what happened in the book, but knowing about what happened helps me understand the world better.

This is one of the most amazing books I have ever read. So far Elie has lost himself and his religion. Watching all the cruelties of the Gastapo and SS have forced a soulless body to become the boy once known as Elie to become prisoner A-7713.

I also think that this book is amazing. Also one of the best books I've read. Personally, I love knowing about real events and learning about them, especially those that made differences in the world. Usually when I am reading fantasy or fiction I don't really get into the reading, but when I read something that really happened I really get connected with that reading. But it also depends on what it is. I usually like knowing about historical events such as World War I and II, some other wars, and colonization. I just like knowing how the world has become what it is now.
When I read stuff like this, it kind of inspires me to use another source and learn more about it. So a few days ago, after I finished reading some chapters, I came home and I started watching a movie called, "Defiance" which is about how German Nazis take Jews to Concentration camps but some scape and those that scape fight for their freedom. I really liked this movie, even though it was also sad but not as much as Night. So by reading Night, I feel inspired to know more. After that movie, I played another movie which isn't about Jews and Nazis, but about Americans in Africa. This movie is called "Black Hawk Down" and it is also really good. It's also about war.
Back to the point, this book is great because it does not only teach us a little history, but it brings us back to it. While I read, I feel like I am part of the story and that I am just an invisible character everyone does not notice. I feel pulled in to the story.
there is another movie I have seen and that I relate to this book, and that I will probably watch again tomorrow or sometime this weekend; The Pianist. The Puanist is also a movie about German Nazis taking Jews and killing them, torturing them and killing their faith. Like in Night, it brings us back to the events and shows us the feelings and what people went through. It is sad.
This book is really good and I encourage people to read it.

Ohh and btw Ianna, nice background! ;D

Reflection essay: Qfwfq

Thesis: When Qfwfq does not know what to do, he makes impetuous decisions without thinking about the consequences and unexpected things happen.

Qfwfq Is a character who is most of the time confused about the things he does, so things he doesn't expect, happen. In both of the stories, he acts the same way: lost. He seems to not know how to think fast and make good decisions. In the story, "The Aquatic Uncle" by Italo Calvino, Qfwfq falls in love with another creature and he seems to not know hat to do with her; he says, " 'Im saying that my great-uncle N'ba N'ga lives in the water the way we live on the land and he's never come out of it!' "(76). Qfwfq is trying to get his girlfriend to go in the water, where his great-uncle lives. Not knowing what to do, he just keeps pressuring her to go in the water even though she does not want to. After almost forcing her to do it, she decides to go in, but something unexpected happens. She falls in love with his great-uncle and leaves him for his great-uncle. Since he is the one responsible for what happened, his self steam lowers. Qfwfq messes up a lot, causing problems in his own life.

Qfwfq's problems continue when he keeps makind decisions that don't make sense. In the story, "The Dinosours" by Italo Calvino, Qfwfq is a dinosaur whose decisions male other creatures give him a reputation as a bad influence. He thinks he is te last dinosaur alive and he finds a group of creatures called "The New Ones" and be stays with them. With the time, they trust that be is no harm and then consider him as part if their group, or one of them. They got news saying that a giant group of dinosaurs was coming. Qfwfq is confused and hw thinks to himself, "I had to escape as soon as possible, let them stew in their own juice, have nothing more to do with those old stories" (106). Qfwfq has no idea what to do shoe think that the neat thing to do is to escape and let the dinosaurs an the new ones deal with their problems. He didn't know wether to be on his species' side, or to be on the side of the ones who took him an kept him alive. He escaped. Betraying both sides was not the right idea, and when he comes back after, knowing that the news were false, he is seem as a traitor by the new ones.

Qfwfq's love life never gies well because of his random decisions. He thinks he is falling in love with one of the new ones, her name is Fern-Flower. She talks to him about her dreams and for some reason, her fmdreams are a clear image of his life. She teats him with trust and it seems like she would tell her any of her secrets. One day, Qfwfq gets mad and can't think of anything and he tells her, " 'Why do you bore me with these dreams of yours? They get more childish everytime!' Fern-Flower burst into tears.(107). Qfwfq, angry told her that he didn't care about her dreams and offended her. Se gets mad at him, and she doesn't think of him as a creature she can't trust any longer.