Month: February 2023

Elie Wiesel’s Night is a true story written in the perspective of the author during WWII.  The book gives us a Romanian perspective of the traumatic events European Jews had to go through the Nazi’s rule. Although, Wiesel’s story is not as widely known as Anne Frank’s diary or the Book Thief by Markus Zusak, possibly due to the reason that it is based in the town of Sighet, Transylvania which is a town not known to many due to its small size and isolated location, it still holds the same amount of meaning as that these kinds of stories have as they help us achieve a greater understanding of history through the lens of someone who has suffered through the toughest of times.

In the first chapter, we are introduced to a character who was given the nickname Moishe the Beadle by the townsfolk in Sighet. Despite the impoverished community’s bad reputation in Sighet, the residents were particularly fond of Moishe as he did not intervene with the other’s daily lives, as if he were invisible. He would spend most of his time by himself attending to his job as the jack of all trades in a Hasidic house of prayer where he would later come across the protagonist, Elie Wiesel weeping over the destroyed synagogue in their town.

“Why do you cry when you pray?” he asked, as though he knew me well.

“I don’t know,” I answered, troubled.

I had never asked myself that question. I cried because… because something inside me felt the need to cry. That was all I knew.

“Why do you pray?” he asked after a moment.

Why did I pray? Strange question. Why did I live? Why did I breathe?

“I don’t know,” I told hum, even more troubled and ill at ease, “I don’t know.”

From that day on, I saw him often. He explained to me, with great emphasis, that every question possessed a power that was lost in the answer…

Man comes closer to God through the questions he asks Him, he liked to say. Therein lies true dialogue. Man asks and god replies. But we don’t understand His replies. We cannot understand them. Because they dwell in the depths of our souls and remain there until we die. The real answers, Eliezer, you will find only within yourself. (p. 4)

This was the first interaction between the two which came in the most unexpected and awkward way possible. At the same time, Eliezer was searching for someone that could teach him the studies of Kabbalah, which is the study of Jewish mysticism as his father said that he would have to wait until he is thirty to learn it so that he could concentrate on the basic subjects. Once Eliezer started asking Moishe more questions surrounding the Zohar, the Kabbalistic works, and the secrets of Jewish mysticism, he became his teacher that he was searching for. This sets an example to not judge a book by its cover, as someone as poor as Moishe could be very knowledgeable when it comes to the complex mysteries of Judaism where in Eliezer’s belief, could help him enter eternity.

In “Ishmael,” the narrator learns morals about nature from short stories by the teacher, Ishmael. In chapter 7, the narrator is given a quiz from the story. In the story, a fictional society divides people into several groups, allowing them to feast on the designated group. There is a law that everyone should obey at all costs, and the quiz is to guess what the law is. Eventually, the narrator gets the answer. The law was to not let anyone feast on a group that is not designated as prey.

Diversity is a survival factor for the community itself… As you’ve explained, the community of life would be destroyed if all species exempted themselves from the rules of competition laid down by this law.

(ll. 136~137)

Ishmael explains the importance of obeying that law. Hunting down predators or competitors not just for food eliminates the diversity in nature. Nature is preserved by the cycle. However, Ishmael further states that humans are violating the law so frequently. We hunt down the animals not for necessary products, but for additional entertainment. Ishmael, as a chimpanzee, worries about the future of this species, losing its diversity.

1984, by George Orwell, is a dystopian novel about a totalitarian society, filled with censorship, ignorance, and the loyalty of the Party. Winston, the main character, is writing in his diary (which is a crime) when he reminisces about his wife, Katherine. Even though he is rarely reminded of her, this time, it is different. 

And what he wanted, more even than to be loved, was to break down that wall of virtue, even if it were only once in his whole life. The sexual act, successfully performed, was rebellion. Desire was thoughtcrime. (p. 69)

Despite Katherine’s attitude towards Winston that leaves him feeling empty throughout the relationship, he still craves love. Winston compares successfully making love to Katherine as a form of rebellion, because it is not natural for her to act that way. The standards that are set by the Party are similar to Winston’s expectations of love and desire that can never be accomplished. 

I am currently reading Near To The Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector. It is her first novel, written from March to November 1942 and published around her twenty-third birthday in December 1943. The novel centers on the childhood and early adulthood of a character named Joana, who bears strong resemblance to her author.

„At first she dreamed of sheep, of going to school, of cats drinking milk. Little by little she dreamed of blue sheep, of going to school in the middle of the woods, of cats drinking milk from golden saucers. And her dreams became increasingly dense and acquired colours that were difficult to dilute into words.“

Near to the Wild Heart (1943), p. 43

I really like this quote because I feel like it represents a part if her mind we can see in many parts of the book. She has a huge imagination, since she was a little girl she saw every single situation in a really unique way and as she thinks more about it she adds more to it. I really like the way that even when she grows up, she stills keeps that unique way of thinking, and this quote represents her.

The book im reading Fire and Blood tells the story of the family the Targaryens, and their rule over the land of Westeros, so far its been really good. In the book so far after the death of King Aegon II, his brother Maegor, decided to just take his brothers place as king even if he couldnt, told his entire family that he was the king, because he wanted to be, then tamed the strongest dragon, had 3 wives, and ruled the land for 6 bloody years. One quote I really like when I was reading was this one:

Maegor, the First of His Name, came to the throne after the sudden death of his brother, King Aenys, in the year 42 AC. He is better remembered as Maegor the Cruel, and it was a well-earned sobriquet, for no crueler king ever sat the Iron Throne. His reign began with blood and ended in blood as well.

This depicts Maegors rule really well since everything he did, every step he took, every decision he made, was made at the cost of blood, didnt matter who, didnt matter what happened, someone would die gruesomely. Eventually his rule would come to an end when his nephew declared rebellion against him, every lord joined him except a few, Maegor was furious and one night was found dead in the throne with blades through his wrists and neck, no one knows who did it, but his nephew would now rule the land.

The book I am currently reading is Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover. This book start with the main character Kenna Rowan who had recently been released from prison after serving 5 years. Kenna returns to the town in which her 4 year old daughter lives in hopes of reuniting. A lot of the people in Kenna’s life do not want to be associated with her and decide to ignore her, except for a bar owner named Ledger Ward. Kenna and Ledger both meet when Kenna first arrives in the town, she was a mess. She stood out to Ledger because she seemed mysteriously beautiful. Soon there friendship turns into a romantic relationship and they become a very important part in each of their lives, but they have a lot of issues to resolve.

People say you fall in love, but fall is such a sad word when you think about it. Falls are never good. You fall on the ground, you fall behind, you fall to your death. Whoever was the first person to say they fell in love must have already fallen out of it. Otherwise, they’d have called it something much better. (p. 29)

I like this quote because it shows a lot of emotion. Kenna is a really strong woman, who has a lot of battles to overcome. Her character is very broken and sorrow and I think she puts a lot of things into perspective and I like how she interprets phrases that everyone uses as “happy” sayings.

“living under my grandmother’s roof, she wasn’t allowed to keep her own wages. As a secretary, my mom was bringing home more money than anyone else, and my grandmother insisted it all go to the family. The family needed a radio, an oven, and a refrigerator, and it was my mom’s job to provide it” (p. 66)

I was reading the book “they both die at the end” from Adam Silvera. It tells us about two boys called Rufus and Mateo, who got a call from Death-cast a little after Midnight. A call from death-cast means that your going to die today. The two completely strangers with completely different lives are searching for a new friend on their end day. Luckily theirs an app for that called “Last friend” and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure and to live their last day to the fullest.

“People have their time stamps on how long you should know someone before earning the right to say it, but I wouldn’t like to you no matter how little time we have. People waste time and wait for the right moment and we don’t have that luxury. If we had our entire lives ahead of us I bet you’d get tired of me telling you how much I love you because I’m positive that’s thepath we were heading on. But because we’re about to die, I want to say it as many times as I want–I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.”  (Page 342-343)

I chose this quote because of the beautiful meaning behind it. Everyone has their own time stamp to do certain things for example saying “I love you”. But it doesn’t always necessarily has to be said by a specific time just to a specific person. The situation of Rufus and Mateo shows it perfectly, they knew each other for just one day and were already ready to say it. 

A book I recently read for my independent reading was The Stolen Heir by Holly Black. I am an avid reader of her work and her books, so I figured this to be a nice choice. This book was the latest instalment in her Folk of the Air series, that follows a faerie prince named Oak, and runaway queen of the Court of Teeth. Suren lived as a child queen, and ran away to inhabit the human world as a child in a human family. After few years, she fled to live feral in the woods, before she was recaptured. Before she was recaptured by the Court of Teeth, she would often try to sneak peeks at her former household, from the woods.

Bex leaves the milk for a neighbourhood cat, but I like to pretend it’s me she’s leaving it for. Her forgotten sister.

She stands there for a few minutes while moths flit above her head and mosquitoes buzz. Only when she goes back inside do I slink closer to the house, peering through the window to watch my unmother knit in front of the television. Watching my unfather in the breakfast nook with his laptop, answering emails. He put a hand to his eyes, as though tired.

In the Court of teeth, I was punished if I called the humans who raised me my mother and father. Humans are animals, Lord Jarel would say, the admonishment coming with a breathtakingly hard blow. Filthy animals. You share no blood with them. (p. 10)

I chose this quotation because the simplicity of the humans’ actions, and Suren’s yearning for said actions, have a large impact on her. She convinces herself that they still believe in her, and perhaps, love her. Throughout the rest of the book, there is little to no more moments with her human family, so I chose this. It leaves an impact on the reader, early in the book.

The book I’m reading is called “All for you” by Louise Jensen. It is about the Walsh family. Lucy who is a wife and a mother. Aidan who is a husband and a dad, and Connor who is a son and a brother. Everyone in this family keeps secrets and they seem to never tell the truth.

I’m alone.

I’m alone.

I’m alone.

A wife without a husband. A mother without any children.

Help me.

I cannot cope with this. I just… can’t.

The flowers. The white car. Connor. Kieron. Aidan.

Hailey.

I’m so so sorry for the things I did, for the things I didn’t do.

I hate you, Connor had screamed.

I hate me too.

The smell from the flowers fills my nostrils, I crawl down the hallway from them.

A spinning top of thoughts, whirring faster and faster until I’m dizzy.

Missing.

Taken.

Funerals.

Death.

Missing.

Taken.

Funerals.

Death. (p.208)

I chose to quote this dialogue because this shows how Lucy is blaming herself and she is very upset. It shows the sadness. I also noticed how the author writes “I’m alone” three times and this symbolizes her husband and two children. The words “missing”, “taken”, “funerals” and “death” are some of the words that ruined Lucys life. I haven’t enjoyed this book has much because its really slow and vague but its intriguing.

The book I was reading is called “The Kite Runner”, a book written by Khaled Hosseini. It is about the story of a friendship between a wealthy Afghan boy, named Amir, and Hassan, the son of his father’s servant. After the unfolding of many events Hassan passes away, Amir later discovers that the two of them had always been half-brothers.

“‘When you kill a man, you steal a life,’ Baba said. ‘You steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. Do you see?’” (Chp. 3) (P. 16)

In the book Lore, by Alexandra Bracken, a tradition called the Agon takes place very year. The Agon is a punishment for a past rebellion. Nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals, they are hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines, who are all eager to kill a god and take their unique powers and immortality. Melora, known as Lore, is a member of the line of Perseus. She fled the world she lived in, when her family was slaughtered, so she would never have to participate in the Agon, hiding amongst the mortals and keeping out of site when the Agon begins each year.Lore begins to find a way in order to stop the Afon with the help of the people she has met in her past.

“It’s not always the truth that survives, but the stories we wish to believe. The legends lie. They smooth over imperfections to tell a good tale, or to instruct us how we should behave, or to assign glory to victors and shame those who falter. Perhaps there were some in Sparta who embodied those myths. Perhaps. But how we are remembered is less important than what we do now.” (pg. 376)

This quote is the Lore is brought back to a memory seven years ago when her father was still alive. Though this was shown to us near the end of the book, looking back you can see that what her father said to her greatly stuck with her, and influenced how she perceived stories told to her. Which in the end helped her determine what she truly believed in, and helped her to destroy the Agon.

In The Breakfast of Champions, (not associated with General Mills, Inc.) by Kurt Vonnegut, it is about two people who are very different. Dwayne Hoover is a cars salesman who is very rich, but also clinically insane. The other person is Kilgore Trout, who is an aspiring writer.  Trout was invited to speak at an art convention in Hoovers city, and is currently hitchhiking across the USA. Hoover on the other hand, is busy alienating everyone who he works with. Vonnegut has stated many times that in the future Trout will become rich, famous, and influential.

As an old, old man, Trout would be asked by Dr. Thor Lembrig, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, if he feared the future. He would give this reply: “Mr. Secretary-General, it is the past which scares the bejesus out of me.”

I chose this quote because it resonates with me, as I can’t count the number of embarrassing memories that have kept me up at night. The past is set in stone, but the future is more of a wet clay, if you know what I mean; continuing that metaphor, you could say that the present is the kiln where the past is forged. (yeah idk how clay works)

I’m reading a book called “Solitaire” by Alice Oseman that tells us the perspective of “Tori,” she gives us the view of people who deal with mental illnesses that interfere with their way of seeing life. Still, they must continue life by hiding or treating it in their tracks because they will never disappear. It is the weight that will go with you until your last days. Tori’s brother, who also struggles with anxiety, just had an anxiety attack after a stressful day at school. Tori tries to calm him down so it doesn’t get worst, but as his brother refuses to accept Tori’s help, she takes him and her to a therapist because she knows that she doesn’t have the necessary resources that he needs to get out of this. At the therapy session, Tori gets frustrated with the fact that her brother has a soft personality and perspective about the world, and she says in a pretty frustrated tone, 

“I don’t understand why you can’t accept things like this. If you can’t accept things you don’t understand, then you’ll spend your life questioning everything. Then you’ll have to live out your life in your own head.”(p. 178)

This passage shows how she cares and loves her brother with all she has and that she doesn’t want him to get hurt by people like thy hurt her in the past. She gives us her point of view on things. This passage is important because she explains how she sees the world. I like this quote because I agree with her. To move on to the next page of your life, you need to accept the good and the bad things that happened in the past because you can not do anything to change the past, but you can always do better in the future by learning from your mistakes.

In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”, by Harper Lee, “Scout” is having a conversation with Atticus about wanting to drop out of school. She tells him about what happened in her day at school, and how her teacher told her not read anymore. Atticus takes this chance to teach Scout about how looking at things from other people’s point of view can help her get along with all kinds of people.

“First of all,” he said, “if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (p. 39)

It is hard to put into words what I felt reading this passage, but it could maybe be described as agreement. I have always tried to have to look at the world from other peoples perspectives, and because of that, I am able to understand and respect all sorts of people, even if their actions have offended me or my friends. My best friend, Four, has even teased me about how I am a natural Devil’s Advocate. Any functioning human being, in my opinion, must learn to view others point of view and understand their reasonings, otherwise it is impossible for them to coexist with others. Empathy and understating are the keystones that allow us humans to coexist with each other, with out that, our world would be in constant, never ending wars.

The book I’m reading is “GOOD GIRLS LIE” by J.T. Ellison. The book is about the boarding life at the Goode School, which has elite status and long-held traditions. Though it seems like a peaceful story, there are lies behind the students’ smiles, and they cause murder.

 “I’ve never understood my compulsive desire to lie. I’ve read so many articles I’ve become my own sociology experiment. Everyone lies. To themselves, to each other. It’s a way to belong, to be included. To look important.”(p.23)

This is the main character’s inner thought about lying. Though she hates lies, she has been lying her whole life to protect herself. Her words are convincing. Everyone lies. That is sad, but actually true. There is no one who has never lied. I’ve lied hundreds of thousands of times in my life. Because I needed to. Some people think that lies are bad things that we should not make. However, there are always some reasons that make us lie. There is one point on which I disagree with her. I don’t think we want to lie. I assume that we are just forced to lie to become what we want to be because it’s not easy to get people to accept you as you are. I hate this society where it’s necessary to wear a mask and hide yourself with lies to belong, to be included, and to look important.

The book Im reading is called The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger. This book is about a boy named Holden, he tells his story and adventures he had before christmas. Holden has been through many things. He suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. He doesn’t like talking so much about his personal life, he just talks about his school life and how he always ends up failing in school. He writes about his life in a rest home but he doesn’t give that much detail.

“Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules.” (Page 8. Chapter 2).

Mr. Spencer said this to Holden, he is Holdens history teacher at Pencey, the boarding school holden goes to. Holden went to visit him to say goodbye. Mr. Spencer said this to Holden so that he can understand that in life there are morals that we humans need to follow in order to succeed and have a good life, just like in a game, he is just giving a advice to holden. The problem is that Holden doesn’t believe that life is a game, he doesn’t accept the rules in life. With this Mr. Spencer hopes that Holden can change his mindset and change for good and make good choices.

In Emery Lee’s novel Meet Cute Diary, the main character Noah is trying to search for a job to spend his summer occupying himself with. His older brother Brian has been working at a kids summer camp for the past little while, and Noah decides to apply to the same location. There, he meets his coworker named Devin for the first time. They initially had an unfortunate introduction to each other, and Noah quickly became avoidant of his coworker. In effort to repair this uncomfortable tension between every single interaction, Devin makes the effort to bring Noah a coffee each morning.

“Morning,” they say, all bright and cheery even though it not even eight yet.
I smile back at them, but it’s more of a grimace.
Devin laughs, passing me a Starbucks cup, and honestly, In not sure what I did to deserve them. Between the cold of the Colorado morning and the lack of sleep–which is mostly my fault–the coffee feels like life in my hands, gently breathing
into me. (pg. 212)

I believe that this passage is a direct example of the quote “good things take time”. Over the many mornings that Devin put in the effort to bring Noah a coffee each morning, their friendship was slowly rebuilding. Eventually, their bond would reconstruct itself through little acts of service, and form a relationship between the two that seemed amazingly authentic, even though it was no more than some words printed on a page.

Nyah Sharratt – 02/20

In the part that I am reading of the book fire and blood king Aegon is frustrated because one of his lords couldnt stop a rival army from taking a key castle from him and he gets very mad at him. The lord tries to undo the mistake by writing a letter to the king and the king decides to give him a lesson so he tells him to go to kings landing and he says to him

“Thrones are won with swords, not quills. Spill blood, not ink.”

After king Aegon tells this to his vassale he decides to “dismiss” him and he sends him to the prison and the day after he is executed infront of the people in a public toen square. He decides that it should serve as an example of what happens when someone doesnt do what he is meant to do and instead decides to seek glory for himself and he tells everyone that if someone else lets the enemy win a single battle he will cut of his head himself.

In the book Lord of the flies by William Golding there are a bunch of boys stranded on an island trying to stay alive and make themselves a government or rather give roles to each other to try and sustain there. While some people are happy with their roles other people prefer to fight over who the leader of the groups are etc… and most of them if not working are fighting with one another.

“Fear can’t hurt you any more than a dream. There aren’t any beasts to be afraid of on this island . . . .Serve you right if something did get you, you useless lot of cry-babies!”

This quote was amusing to me when I first read it because they hate each other so much but at the same point they need each and every one of them to survive so they have to deal with all the dumb or annoying people stranded with them

The Secret History, by Donna Tartt, is a book about the main character Richard Papen. He came from a small city in California and moved to a university in Hampden. he learned greek before and wanted to continue studying it but the class was apparently full. He even went to the teacher who teched greek at the university but that was no help. He already has five students and he’s fine with them. But after some time, Richard came to contact with the students and helped them with their greek homework. The teacher heard about it and after that accepted him.

The cold in the warehouse was like nothing I’ve known before or since. I suppose if I’d had any sense I’d have gone out and bought an electric heater, but only four months before I had come from one of the warmest climates in America and I had only the dimmest awareness that such appliances existed.

I find this quote funny because i never thought that someone would not know about this appliances. But it makes sense. There was a winter break in school for two months because it was too cold to attend school. The dorms were closed and so Richard went to live with student who already finished the same university. He gave him a room with a hole on the roof that was impossible to fix. Richard was there for a month, started to be sick and destroyed his lungs. HIs friend Henry (was in Italy for spring break but came back earlier) saved him by taking him to hospital and then let him live at his place. It is scary his little knowledge about cold almost killed him.

Ready Player One, a book written by Ernest Cline. This novel is based in the future, shares how fast technology has taken over the world, how poverty has made a turn for the worst, and everything is virtual. The main character Wade Watts is a high school student searching for a prize is the Oasis. The Oasis is a virtual reality concept where every citizen, who can afford it, works through, goes to school, and spends their free time playing video games. This is what the world has come too since the Oasis has been invented by James Halliday. Halliday had set up a “scavenger hunt” after his passing in the oasis through multiple games and certain tactics a player is going to have to follow. The winner of this “scavenger hunt” has to find the easter egg, as soon this is found, the certain player is given a crystal key, and as soon as they obtain that key, they win the hunt and win millions upon millions of dollars.

“The next game started out badly for me too. My opponents movements were relentless and precise, and i spent the first few waves just trying to evade him. I was also distracted by the incessant click of his skeletal index finger as he tapped his Flap button” (pg. 83)

I find this book very interesting because of the video games, easy to follow along with and there is never many dull moments. It cool to imagine all the different characters that are part of this book because all the sci-fi and plots involved.

Calla Eastgaard-Zaharko, February 18th 2023

In Comics and Sequential Art, Will Eisner confronts supercilious attitudes directed at audiences and auteurs of sequential art. Eisner examines comics as a distinct art and literary form, as well as an ancient means of creative expression. Challenging those who dismiss it as immature, Eisner promotes the scholarly discussion of comics as a valid form of reading.

The format of comics presents a montage of both word and image, and the reader is thus required to exercise both visual and verbal interpretive skills. The regimens of art (e.g., perspective, symmetry, line) and the regimens of literature (e.g., grammar, plot, syntax) become superimposed upon each other. The reading of a graphic novel is an act of both aesthetic perception and intellectual pursuit. (p. 2)

Eisner’s assertion feels both revelatory and affirming. I find the entire concept of cultural hierarchy absurd. How ironic is it to view the reading of comic books as ‘lowbrow’, yet flock to museums and galleries, fawning over early tapestries, friezes, hieroglyphics and other illustrated narrations? They are all comics! Sequential art is one of the the earliest methods of expression. Let us put away unwarranted contempt, and explore the enduring power of graphic storytelling for sharing ideas and telling our stories.

FYI – For those who find prizes validating, the Pulitzer Prizer for literature has twice been awarded to graphic novels (in 1992, Maus by Art Spiegelman, and in 2018, Welcome to the New World by Jake Halpern and Michael Sloan).

https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/art-spiegelman

https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/jake-halpern-freelance-writer-and-michael-sloan-freelance-cartoonist-new-york-times

In dopamine nation, by Anna Lembke, it talks about how humans do things to get pleasure and dopamine. People don’t even notice that the things they do are addictions until its to late. 

The Lying Habit is remarkably easy to fall into. We all engage in regular lying, most of the time without realizing it. Our lies are so small and imperceptible that we convince ourselves we’re telling the truth. Or that it doesn’t matter, even if we know we’re lying. (p. 175)

Lying is a powerful tool to get things or avoid things. People say lying is bad and it destroys trust but not if you’re careful. Lying to protect someone or yourself is when you bring ethics into this and really debate whether lying is okay at certain moments. But its best to avoid lying, in my opinion. 

In the book Dawn of the Belle Epoque, written by Mary McAuliffe, we take a look at France in the 1800s. The book focuses on many famous people, such as Claude Monet the painter, and Émile Zola, the writer. In this particular passage, we are looking at Monet. Monet had been struggling to make a living as an artist for years and years. But this all changed, however, when his paintings did start to sell, he capitalized on the opportunity. He partnered with another impressionist, Renoir, and the two went into business together. When this didn’t work, Monet decided to start up his own gallery to sell faster and make more money

Monet, much like Renoir and Rodin, was on his way to success. (p.102)

This quote represents a turning point in his life. From here on out, Monet was going to start making a name for himself, and he would end up doing very, very well. And it all started with 1 small opportunity.

The book Prodigy, written by Marie Lu, follows the main character Day, who is outlawed and on the run from the corrupt Republic. Despite his fears he became a braver and more selfless person when he decided to devote himself to the rebellion. Wanting nothing to do with the Republic, the last five years Day had been running and hiding from the problems he encountered.

“I want to run. To do what I always do, have always done, for the last five years of my life. Escape, flee into the shadows. But this time, I stand my ground. I’m tired of running.” (pg. 258)

This quote is significant because it explained Day’s mentality shift. After meeting June and discovering full extent of the Republics tyranny he evolved from his old ways of hiding in the shadows. Day decided to try and make a change. He started to overcome the issues he was being faced with and fight for not just himself. He’s experienced substantial character development. Now apart and fighting for something larger than himself, he exemplified his selflessness and courage.

In Billy Porter’s newly released memoir Unprotected, he goes deep into detail about his traumatic upbringing as a queer Black boy with a religious family. Specifically, Porter writes about how he was taught that being gay was a sin at church, while being sexually abused by his step-father:

As I tried to grapple with the idea that I would be burning in hell for all of eternity, I threw myself into my studies and back into theater. Those things still managed to bring me joy, but time spent at home began to feel more and more like a minefield. Because I would go home and play footsies with my stepfather under the table at dinner and do things with him in the middle of the night when he came home from work–though I didn’t even know what those things were called. That man would be in my room, at the very least, two times a week for five years. (pp. 35-36)

Porter’s secretly abusive step-father left permanent damage on Porter’s wellbeing that he still struggles to grapple with today, but it also was a prominent factor towards Porter’s success. In high school, Porter stayed away from home as much as possible (because of his step-father) by going to school, musical theater rehearsals, dance classes, and more, which taught him to have a strong work ethic and to be independent.

The book Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte follows the story of Jane. She lives with her cruel, wealthy, abusive, Aunt Reed and goes to Lowood school where she has to battle its grim conditions. Bessie is a servant at her aunt’s house who provides her with one of the few kindnesses she receives. She eventually falls in love with Mr. Rochester (her employer) but has to deal with his marriage to another woman, Bertha. Her conditions are simply not ideal.                                                                    The passage that I have chosen comes from chapter 3 where Jane states that she would never live with poor relatives, even if she had any and even if they were loving. This is because her wealthy family, the Reeds, have taught her that living in poverty is immoral and unpleasant. From this point on it takes Jane some time to realize that just because someone is wealthy, doesn’t make them any less degraded than poorer people.

Poverty looks grim to grown people; still more so to children: they have not much idea of industrious, working, respectable poverty; they think of the world only as connected with ragged clothes, scanty food, fireless grates, rude manners, and debasing vices: poverty for me was synonymous with degradation. (P. 63)

I chose this passage because it reminded me of something; that money can’t buy you happiness. In the world which we currently live, people are so focused on what brand of shoes you wear, how big your house is and where you go on summer vacation (those are just a few examples). If someone has money, it doesn’t make them any kinder than someone who is poor. It doesn’t make them perfect or any less broken, rude, or messed up. It doesn’t mean their life is easier, yes, they won’t have monetary struggles but that doesn’t mean happiness. If we only do live once, why spend our time trying to make all that money if it doesn’t bring us happiness? Why not just focus on spending time enjoying the world we’re in and the people we are surrounded by? Once we have a big house, the fanciest car, coolest shoes and have everything we could ever want; what’s next?

In the book The Witches of Moonshyne Manor, an angry mob of men have assembled to knock down the house of people who they think are witches. They say that they haven’t paid their money on time and are going to confiscate the house. The women living in the house technically have a week more before they can seize the house. The mayor’s daughter, Persephone, has heard about this injustice and has handcuffed herself to the house as a form of protest. When the angry mob see the mayor’s daughter they are forced to halt.

“I am not bewitched.” Persephone just her chin out. “I came here voluntarily to prevent a miscarriage of justice.”

Cotton Mather gawks at her like he’s never heard anything so ridiculous as a girl knowing her own mind. Ignoring Persephone, he jabs a finger against Queenie’s chest. “Wait until the mayor gets here. He’ll have your ass put in jail so fast-”

“Could you please stop shouting?” Persephone cries out, flinching.

“Why? Am I triggering you?” the reverend sneers.

“No, you’re spitting all over me. It feels like biological warfare getting so much of your slobber on your face.” (p. 56).

This quote is one of the first scenes where Persephone is introduced in the book which gives you an introduction to what her character is like. This quote also shows how Persephone likes to address things in her community that she thinks are injustices.