Character Response

Throughout this month, I’ve been amazed as I read “All These Things I’ve Done” by Gabrielle Zevin. The story takes place in New York City in the year 2083. Government laws have changed and chocolate is illegal. The story focuses on the members of the Balanchine Chocolate Company and is described by Anya, the company head’s daughter. The conflict is introduced when Anya is given poisoned chocolates from her cousin, Jakov, or Jacks, Pirozhki. Soon after, her ex-boyfriend comes by begging for chocolate. Without knowing it was poisoned, Anya gives him some chocolate. After eating the chocolates, the ex-boyfriend ends up in the hospital blaming Anya for poisoning him. Throughout the book, this conflict remains unsolved. In the end, Jacks confesses he poisoned the chocolates, and is sent to jail. As I read, I kept an eye on Jacks.  When we first meet him, Anya introduces him as the awful cousin who tried to touch her as a little girl.  So why did I choose to focus on an antagonist? Why didn’t I choose Anya? As the book progresses, we learn more about Jacks’ personality and struggles. Although he is the “villain”, there’s more to him to be understood.  

From what we know about him, Jacks works a small position for the family business, but wants to do more. This is what motivates him to attempt to poison the head’s immediate family, hoping to advance his role in the business.  Even though his actions were clearly wrong, he just wanted to do something to raise his job, which is a relatable desire. In the text, he explains he’s unhappy with his current position, saying, “You probably know this without my having to say, but I’m low in the organization. No one tells me about anything.”(p.159) this shows how he isn’t pleased with his role in the business, by not feeling included or valued. All he really wants is to get more respect and attention, but he doesn’t know how to in a more positive way.

Another example of Jacks’ ongoing conflict is his relationship with his brother Mickey. The two of them are arguing about Anya being their cousin and being a part of the family. Mickey refers to Anya as “my cousin” leaving Jacks to feel like an outcast. This interaction show that Jacks doesn’t feel accepted as an equal by his own family. Mickey even tells him to stop embarrassing himself.

Although Jacks is the cause of the conflict, I think people should take a closer look at the motivation behind his actions. I think he seems to be a misguided character. He not necessarily a monster.  I hope after reading this, readers will look at characters at a different angle and try to understand their motives, even if we don’t agree with them.

Of Mice and Men Review

Title: Of Mice and Men

Author: John Steinbeck

    

"Of Mice and Men" was definitely one of the saddest, most interesting, and unexpected-ending books that I have ever read. The story takes place at a farm in California, where two best friends George Milton and Lennie Small struggle to find a long-term job. Within the first few pages, I was surprised that these two were so close to one another. George is a "small and quick", intelligent guy, whereas Lennie is a huge man with a gentle mind of a child. As kind as Lennie tries to be, he still always gets into some kind of trouble due to his super strength. After an incident in Weed, California, George and Lennie are always on the run for a mistake Lennie made. Further into the book, you learn more about George and Lennie’s relationship, and how it came to be. Throughout the book, as George looks after Lennie, he has to keep making decisions on what’s best for Lennie. In the end, the results were very dramatic.

At the beginning of the book, one of the characters, Candy, owns a blind, “stinky”, “old”, and “crippled” dog that everyone (expect Candy) hates. Candy has had this dog “since he was a pup”. Even though the dog is blind, can hardly walk, smells, and has no teeth, Candy still takes care of him.  After a lot of arguing, the other guys at the farm convince Candy that it’s useless to try to keep the dog alive in its poor condition. In the end one of the guys at the farm takes away the dog’s life, to keep it from having to “suffer any longer. At first, I was upset that they decided to kill the dog. Candy had such a strong relationship with the dog, so it seemed sad and wrong for them to kill him on the spot and not let it just die naturally.

But after finishing the book, I realized why the dog incident was put there. As a symbol, John Steinbeck wanted to show the relationship between the two deaths. Like Lennie, the dog is barely getting by. Without George looking after him, Lennie is always getting into trouble. If Candy didn’t keep taking care of the dog, he wouldn’t still be alive. So without George or Candy, neither one has the capability to take care of themselves.

After reading this book, I realized started thinking about how these kinds of decisions are made almost every day. Because people care about someone so much, it’s painful to see them suffer, so sometimes you have to do what you think is best for them. Sacrifice. Deaths. Misunderstandings. In our world…Everywhere. As hard as it is to let go, we have to think about what will happen if they were forced to keep living after all the suffering they have to go through every day.