Family

Many times, when I read something, I think about the supporting characters.  It usually dawns on me how much we need family and friends to support us.  Without them, we could just lose faith in ourselves, others, life, etc.  However, it never occurred to me what it would be like for those who do survive without any supporting figure.  For example, Leo from the book The Mark of Athena, by Rick Riordan doesn't even know what it's like to have a family.

Leo, a demigod son of Hephaestus has been on his own so long that he doesn't know what it's like to have a family.  In the text, he even said that he questioned whether the other demigods he was on a quest with, were his family.  I find it sad that unlike most people, he can't just tell when someone is family.  It also doesn't help that he's the son of the god of fire and crafts.  Leo described how, because of this, he's more into independently working than socializing.  These things make me think about how he has lasted this long without some sort of depression.  Usually in stories the lonely people are unhappy, but Leo doesn't seem to be because he's always cracking jokes.  And even when the book describes his point of view on what is happening, he doesn't seem to have a sad side.  This makes me wonder if he's just stronger or braver when it comes to facing life alone.  Or maybe he just has a different perspective on the world, and doesn't think that family is as important as it is to others.  Overall, I question Leo's strategies of having such a strong and happy attitude all by himself without knowing family.

You Decide, When They Believe

Pretties, by Scott Westerfeld is the second book in his series "Uglies."  I the first book, the main character Tally was an ugly, or to us, a normal person.  But in the second book, she was turned pretty in order to test the cure, which takes out the lesions put into her brain during the operation.  However, when Tally finally escaped the city of Pretties, to go back to the Smokies who invented the cure, she had to choose between two boys when a tracking signal went off.  The result of her choice made me realize that if you ever have to pick one or another, you should choose the person who believes in you.

I think this because Tally chose Zane, her boyfriend from New Pretty Town.  The tracker device was in his tooth and couldn't be removed.  The Smokies insisted that they would have to abandon Zane in order to escape the Specials, who would end the Smokies and turn them into dumb Pretties.  Tally had to choose between going with the Smokies and David, her boyfriend from the Smoke, or stay and be captured with Zane.  However, when she said she would stay with Zane, David accused her of doing so just because he was Pretty.  David didn't believe in Tally's real reason (that she loved Zane), which made Tally's decision easier.  She knew that Zane would support her every move, unlike David.  I would have also chosen Zane.  I believe now that you should be with the people who believe in you the most.  What kind of relationship doesn't have mutual support?  In conclusion, I think that the best people are those who believe in and support you.

Torn Between Ugly and Pretty

The book Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld takes place in the future where everyone on their sixteenth birthday gets turned form "ugly" to "pretty."  However, their society's idea of ugly is looking like we do today.  Pretties have perfectly big eyes and lips, symmetrical body parts, etc.  Almost everyone can't wait to their sixteenth birthday.  Tally Youngblood, thought she wanted this too, until she found out that the operation to turn people pretty also changed who you are.  It adds a type of cancer to the brain that makes them happy and never want to cause riots, wars, or anything really harmful.  However, I am torn between whether to take sides with the Smokies (a group of rebels who are against being pretty) or the Specials, who are the people that know about and support this cancer.

The reason I am torn between these two sides because both seem to have good ideas and bad ones.  For example, I agree with the Smokies that turning pretty shouldn't alter who you are.  Part of being human and living is to be unique and be able to experience a variety of feelings besides happiness and slight annoyance.  Also, as the Smokie named Maddy said, "People don't even know that turning pretty doesn't just change how you look."  I believe that it's everyone's right to be informed about what really is going to happen to them, so that they can make the decision of whether they want to turn pretty or not.  However, I also agree with the Specials that a land full of happy and pretty people isn't so bad.  When Tally's friend Shay was turned pretty, she said that she liked it and wouldn't want to become ugly again and "feel things like jealousy."  This makes me think that maybe this operation isn't so bad if it keeps out war, and other things.  Both sides make a valid point. 

In conclusion, I feel torn between supporting being pretty or staying ugly.  I believe that both has its good and bad qualities.  How can you choose between a world of peace, happiness and beauty, or being yourself?  I hope that I am able to talk to others who read the book about their opinions.

What Happens Without Acceptance?

Acceptance is something that is needed in order there to be a peaceful environment.  When people don’t accept things, there is often violence and hate, which can cause the unaccepted to feel and insecure and want to hide their true identity or thoughts.  All of these awful things are shown in the short story, Am I Blue? by Bruce Coville.  Many people in the story did not accept the idea of being gay, but all that led to was trouble.

            When there isn’t acceptance, there is often violence and hate.  For example, “It started the day Butch Carrigan decided I was interested in jumping his bones,” the main character Vince had explained before he told us how he ended up “lying facedown un a puddle.”  Vince’s fairy godfather Melvin was even beaten to death!  He had said, “I was walking down the street one day last year, minding my own business, when three bruisers dragged me into an alley, shouting, ‘We’ll teach you faggot!’  They never did explain exactly what it was they were going to teach me.  Last thing I remember from life on earth was coming face to face with a tire iron.  Next thing I knew, I was knocking at the Pearly Gates.”  When others didn’t accept that they might be gay, violence and hate took the place of acceptance and both Vince and his fairy godfather were physically hurt.

            When people don’t accept others, it can also make the unaccepted feel insecure and want to hide their true identity or thoughts.  For example, Vince told his fairy godfather Melvin to turn a bully named Butch blue so that he’d think he was gay.  Vince wanted to get back at Bruce for beating him up because he presumed Vince was “interested in jumping his bones.”  However, Melvin reported, “Butch Carrigan was already as blue as a summer sky when I got there.”  This makes me presume that the reason Butch had beaten up Vince wasn’t because he hated gay people, but more because he was scared he was gay.  I think he feared what others who didn’t accept homosexuals would think of him, and that he wouldn’t maintain his tough appearance.  The only way he knew how to handle this insecurity was by beating up Vince in an effort to mask his true identity.  I think this also goes for the Republican homophobe Vince saw on T.V.  When Vince was blessed with gaydar, he was able to see if people were gay by the fact of if they were blue or not.  The Republican was blue even though he was making a speech about “the great crime of homosexuality” and “the gay threat to American youth.”  Like Butch, the Republican was insecure about being gay, so he tried to feel better about himself and hide his true identity by saying he was against homosexuality.  If I were a friend or family member of these two, I’d want to reassure them that it is okay to be gay and not follow the status quo.  Overall, because so many people didn’t accept gay people, it caused the unaccepted (Butch and the Republican) to feel insecure.  It also influenced them to try to hide their gay identities.  This kind of issue occurs all the time in reality, and not just relating to being gay.

            In conclusion, if there is acceptance towards things, violence, hate, insecurity and the desire to mask one’s true identity can be avoided.  This makes me think that lack of acceptance is the reason or the bud of all of those things.  In my opinion, I also believe that if you give things a chance and try to accept them, you might find something wonderful or different from the assumptions and original thoughts others might have made.  Things might not be as bad as you presume.  You just have to learn to accept.  After all, Melvin had dreamed of everyone having gaydar so that homophobes “would find out that they had been surrounded by gays all the time, and survived the experience just fine, thank you.”