Book Analysis ~~ The Glass Castle ~~

I recently read “The Glass Castle”, Jeannette Walls’s memoir/autobiography, and I wrote my reflections on how her parents’ philosophy eventually motivated her, as well as her siblings, to go to New York. Though it doesn’t exactly qualify as a book analysis, it was the closest I could come to a title that wasn’t extremely long. I’ve also written a book review on “The Glass Castle”, which can be found here. This is my mini-essay:

In “The Glass Castle”, a memoir by Jeannette Walls, Jeannette’s parents encouraged their children to be independent and follow their dreams, though their actions didn’t always support this philosophy. Ultimately, this philosophy led Jeannette, Brian, and Lori to go to New York on their own despite their parents’ unwillingness to let them go.

Jeannette’s parents had a lot of philosophies that made Jeannette and her siblings more independent and better able to follow their dreams. For example, Jeannette’s father once tossed Jeannette into the lake, rescuing her whenever she sank only to toss her back in, so that Jeannette would learn to swim. Meanwhile, Jeannette’s mother didn’t like the clean city water, explaining that unfiltered water was better because “Water from the wild helped build up your antibodies.” Her mother also thought that “Suffering when you’re young is good for you . . .” Her parents also taught Jeannette a lot, as well as making her more responsible. Jeannette’s father was very knowledgable when he wasn’t drunk, and he taught the three siblings a lot about math and science, while Jeannette’s mother taught them a lot about living in the wild. Jeannette had learned how to cook hot dogs by the time she was three! Eventually, Jeannette, Brian, and Lori went to New York against their parents’ wishes–their father even stole their money for going to New York!–because of these philosophies. Jeannette’s parents also taught the three not to be materialistic, and instead to do what they loved. They were independent and had been taught to follow their dreams, so they went to New York despite their parents’ reluctance, and they had the ability to survive their because of everything they had learned because of their upbringing as well as their parents.

Book Review ~~ The Secret Life of Walter Mitty ~~

Recently I read the short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by James Thurber. It’s about a quirky man named Walter who fantasizes about being younger and braver. He thinks about being undefeated and pictures himself in various positions. He is always superior in the end, though not always for the same reason. In his first fantasies, his status is the most obvious, while towards the end, his fantasies are related to what’s happening around him and only briefly allude to his superiority. Walter’s real life is dull. He is forgetful, not alert, and he needs his wife to remind him of everything. He daydreams about being exceptionally good at almost everything and able to conquer any challenges. He can face death without fear; he is youthful and well-respected. In real life, he isn’t considered particularly highly in the eyes of the other members of society and can’t even back out when he accidentally drives into the wrong lane; in his daydreams, he can do almost anything. I thought it was a very funny and engaging story and really enjoyed reading it. There’s no deeper meaning to the story (that I know of, of course), making it good reading material for all ages. I would recommend this story to anyone looking for a quick source of refreshment and would rate it an 8.5/10.

Book Analysis ~~ Lord of the Flies ~~

In the book ‘Lord of the Flies‘ by William Golding, the conflicts in the book relate to “the beast inside us” by describing the battle between the side of humans that is savage, with a desire to hunt and kill, and the more civilized side of humans that made logical, reasonable decisions. The first major conflict in the story is about the “beastie,” the shadows created by the vines in the story and eventually the dead parachuter; this relates to “the beast inside us” because the conflict that resulted had two sides; that of savagery and that of logic and reason. The next conflict in the story is about how Jack and his “hunters” were not working, but hunting, represented by the fire and how they let it go out. The hunting represented savagery and working represented civilization. The last conflict was about Jack’s wish to break completely from civilization and Ralph’s to have order, represented by the conch and its eventual destruction. Throughout the books, the representative sides of civilization and savagery battled one another.

Even in the beginning of the story, the littluns were scared of the “beastie.” The conflict that resulted had two sides: Jack, who said that he would kill the beastie, and Ralph, who tried to soothe the littluns’ fears through logic and reason. Ralph represented the civil side of humans, whereas Jack represented the more savage side of humans. Jack, who wanted to soothe the littluns’ fear through fighting, represented savagery because he wanted to fight instead of behave in a civilized manner, whereas Ralph wanted to use logic, reason, and other tools provided by civilization. Though the littluns were soothed more by Jack’s argument, Ralph used a more logical and therefore more civilized form of reasoning. The beast represented the fears of the children, and therefore the beast inside them, while the respective ways Jack and Ralph tried to deal with it represented the conflict between civilization and wildness.

Later on, when Jack’s hunters forgot to keep the signal fire lit and a ship passed by, there was another conflict. Jack’s hunters, who had merely wanted to hunt and kill pigs, said that staying alive was more important, but Ralph said that they had agreed to keep it lit and had wasted a good chance to be rescued. The hunters, who had wanted to kill animals instead of do important work that would help them get rescued, represented savagery because they wanted to give into the wild side of themselves, whereas Ralph was practical and pointed out that hunting would not be beneficial in the long run. Jack chose to give in to a wild side of himself that compelled almost everyone; Ralph resisted it and stayed practical. The fire represented a hope for getting rescued and returning to civilization, and by letting the fire go out, Jack’s hunters showed that they cared not for being rescued, but only about staying alive and hunting. When, eventually, Jack stole the spectacles and used them to create fire only for roasting pigs, then to burn up the island, he showed he merely wanted to hunt and destroy lives, not to return to civilization. The signal fire was an important symbol of civilization.

The conch was another symbol of order. In the beginning of the book, the conch was used to assemble everyone, and the bearer of the conch was also the speaker. Jack, by attempting to diminish the conch’s influence, attempted to destroy order. He said that the conch was not necessary, because people who were intelligent enough to have good ideas should automatically be allowed to speak. When the conch was destroyed and Piggy, one of the last thinking and reasonable members of the children on the island died, it represented that there was no more order on the island. The sole supporter of civility, Ralph, was being hunted, and the other biguns all partook in the hunting, whether because of fear or their own savagery.

Clearly, “the beast inside us” represents the primal side of the human heart and its battle with a more civilized and logically reasoning side. To begin with, the “beastie” showed a small part of the battles between Jack and Ralph: how Jack gave into savagery by offering to kill the beast, and how Ralph showed logic by pointing out that the beastie was not real, simply a figment of their imagination. Furthermore, the signal fire represented the differences between those who wanted to keep it lit as a form of rescue and those who wanted it only to cook meat represented the fight between the two sides of the human heart. Additionally, the conch’s destruction and the feelings Jack and Ralph expressed towards it represented Jack’s wildness and Ralph’s inclination towards order.

Book Comparison ~~ Hansel and Grethel compared to Harry Potter ~~

Many comparisons can be made between the villain in the story “Hansel and Grethel” by the Brothers Grimm and the villain in the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling.

To begin with, both antagonists seem to be very kind at first, but eventually are shown to be very evil. In “Hansel and Grethel,” the witch is very kind to the children at first, but eventually proves to be wicked, revealing her intentions to kill and eat Hansel. In the Harry Potter series, Tom Riddle is a charismatic student, proven by how almost every teacher adored him and how he was able to easily persuade Slughorn to tell him about the Horcruxes. However, he eventually became a Dark wizard, Lord Voldemort, who terrorized and killed many adults and children alike.

Furthermore, both Lord Voldemort and the wicked witch can be likened to animals, generally beasts or other animals with negative connotations. Both have red eyes, and Lord Voldemort’s eyes are even likened to those of a snake. The witch has a keen scent, “like the beasts.” Even Lord Voldemort’s house, Slytherin, reveals how he is similar to a snake. The witch is often likened to a beast, whereas Lord Voldemort is often liked to a snake, both of which have negative connotations.

In the end, both antagonists are eventually outsmarted by the protagonists. In both situations, it seems doubtful that the protagonists can beat the antagonists– Harry is an outlaw, while Hansel and Grethel are trapped with little choice but to obey the witch– but their own arrogance leads to their defeat. The witch didn’t realize that Grethel had guessed her plan and tried crawling into the oven herself, making her plan backfire. Lord Voldemort attempted to use the Elder Wand to beat Harry because it was termed unbeatable, but Harry, as the true master of the wand, won instead when the spell backfired on Lord Voldemort.

Clearly, comparisons can be made between Lord Voldemort and the wicked witch. Both of them seem to be kind and charismatic at the first, but are proven to be evil. They can also be likened to beasts. Finally, both antagonists are outsmarted by the protagonists simply because of their own arrogance.