The seniors are graduating, I'm about to become a senior, and summer is on its way. I have mixed feelings about all of these things. I'm excited for the seniors because I know they've worked so hard to get to this point, but I know I'll definitely miss some of them. I'm excited that I'll be a senior, but I'm also dreading the college application process. And last, but definitely not least, I'm excited for summer to begin. It's been a long year, and I definitely need the break.
At the same time, it's a little bit scary that senior year is already here. I don't think I'm ready for college. I'm not really sure about what I want to do with my life, and why should I? I'm only 16. I think that's too early to make decisions about your life. Applying to college makes me feel like I'm being forced to grow up too fast.
Coming of age is a process that is different for each person, but more and more I feel like we're all being forced to come of age at the same time, when we graduate high school. Some high school seniors might be "done" coming of age, and some might not be "ready." Coming of age is a slow process, but our society rushes it. It never really stops, as one can always get more mature, but it shouldn't be forced to happen within the space of one year.
The past week has really made me think about the future. I've gotten close to a few of the seniors this year, and I ca't believe they're going to college, and that my class will be next. The past 4 years at Uni have flown by. There are many times when I find myself wishing that high school was over, but at the same time, I don't know how ready I am to graduate.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Parents
There was one main thing about Sag Harbor that kept bothering me: why did Benji and Reggie's parents trust them to stay on their own all week? They're 14 and 15 years old -- just a little bit younger than I am -- and I doubt my parents would let me do that. The parents seem to put a lot of trust in their kids and I'm really not sure where it comes from.
Benji and Reggie seem to be, for the most part, good kids while they're in the city. There isn't any evidence that either of them get in any trouble. Still, it strikes me as unrealistic that parents would trust their kids to stay alone in a house for the work week, all summer long.
I expected the boys to get into much more trouble than they did. Besides drinking and shooting each other with BB guns, they honestly didn't do too many things. Nowadays, you hear a lot of stories about kids who throw huge, out of control parties when their parents go away for the weekend.
Benji mentioned that he wanted to go to a lot of parties in the city that year, so it surprised me that he didn't throw his own when he had the opportunity.
Besides the possibility of the kids throwing parties while the parents were gone, there are a whole host of other problems that could arise. The boys could get in a bad fight and, without parents to separate them, could get hurt. In fact, Benji does get hurt, when he's shot with the BB gun. The lack of parental supervision in Sag Harbor was really the only thing about the book that struck me as being wrong. Besides that, I really liked it, and I thought it was a great way to end the semester.
Benji and Reggie seem to be, for the most part, good kids while they're in the city. There isn't any evidence that either of them get in any trouble. Still, it strikes me as unrealistic that parents would trust their kids to stay alone in a house for the work week, all summer long.
I expected the boys to get into much more trouble than they did. Besides drinking and shooting each other with BB guns, they honestly didn't do too many things. Nowadays, you hear a lot of stories about kids who throw huge, out of control parties when their parents go away for the weekend.
Benji mentioned that he wanted to go to a lot of parties in the city that year, so it surprised me that he didn't throw his own when he had the opportunity.
Besides the possibility of the kids throwing parties while the parents were gone, there are a whole host of other problems that could arise. The boys could get in a bad fight and, without parents to separate them, could get hurt. In fact, Benji does get hurt, when he's shot with the BB gun. The lack of parental supervision in Sag Harbor was really the only thing about the book that struck me as being wrong. Besides that, I really liked it, and I thought it was a great way to end the semester.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Bullying through the ages
In the first four books we read -- A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, The Catcher in the Rye, The Bell Jar, and Housekeeping -- the main character's issues were mainly internal, problems with the world around them and where they fit in. In Black Swan Green, however, Jason has more trouble with the people around him than with his own thoughts.
Stephen Dedalus isn't happy with his society and where he lives, Holden Caulfield is just generally unhappy with society and the people (phonies) who are a part of it, Esther Greenwood is going through a serious mental breakdown partially prompted by her unhappiness with American culture, and Ruth Foster has issues with fitting into her culture, ultimately becoming a hobo.
Jason Taylor is a completely different story. He is dealing with lots of bullying from his peers, both in school and out, as well as watching his parents' marriage fall apart. We're always hearing in the news that bullying is on the rise, and I think that's why coming of age novels have changed their focus over the years. Instead of characters grappling with their own issues, they have to overcome challenges brought on by outside sources. Jason definitely experiences this, through the bullying of Ross Wilcox, Neal Brose, and their cronies.
Even Ruth Foster begins to feel it. She doesn't fit in with the kids in Fingerbone, and while she isn't outright bullied, it is evident that they make fun of her and don't like her very much. Esther Greenwood and Holden Caulfield don't really experience bullying. They both hate their culture and its' values, but both have friends and aren't ostracized by their peers. Stephen Dedalus experiences a little bit of bullying at the very beginning, when the older kids are making fun of him, but besides that he seems to be in control, popular yet disillusioned with his society and holding a general distaste for Ireland.
It will be interesting to see how Sag Harbor plays out, as Benji Cooper is growing up around the same time that Jason Taylor was. If Benji experiences bullying, his race could also play a role in it. All of the other characters we've read about have been part of the majority, but Benji is a minority and definitely could be the target of some 1980s American racism.
The problems that teenagers face have been changing as our society changes, and coming of age novels have to change to reflect this. This could be part of why many high schoolers today feel more of a connection to Jason Taylor than Holden Caulfield, because Jason goes through bullying and a parent's divorce, which are much more relevant to most kids today than the thoughts and struggles of a rich boy who hates his society.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Black Swan Green has a climate problem
The bullying that Jason goes through, especially in the chapter Maggot, is much more extreme than anything I've seen at any of the five different schools I've attended. Kids gang up on him, and the attacks are completely unprovoked.
Jason jumps on a one-way train to loserville when he leaves the Spooks to be a loyal friend and go back to help Dean. However, I don't think this justifies the kind of bullying he goes through. Jason shows them that he isn't really Spook material, but it seems as though they are punishing him for it. Wouldn't it be better to just let it go? They made a mistake choosing him, but just leaving him out of the group would have been enough. Jason didn't do anything to them, so the cruel bullying they put him through makes no sense to me.
Maggot opens up with a few boys ganging up on Jason for going to see a movie with his mother. What Jason does with his summer vacation has NOTHING to do with them, yet they think they get to punish him for doing something that they don't like. He wasn't conforming. Jason did something that wasn't cool by going to the movies with his mom. When he ditched the Spooks, he also wasn't conforming.
In the first few chapters of the book, Jason didn't experience nearly as much harassment. Some kids occasionally bullied him but, for the most part, left him alone. He was fairly low on the social hierarchy, but people didn't go out of their way to bully him. During this part of the book, he was trying desperately to fit in with his peers.
Jason's school has such a huge climate problem that it makes Uni seem like paradise. The biggest fight I've seen at Uni was over the video games in the lounge. That really pales in comparison to the bullying Jason endures.
Jason jumps on a one-way train to loserville when he leaves the Spooks to be a loyal friend and go back to help Dean. However, I don't think this justifies the kind of bullying he goes through. Jason shows them that he isn't really Spook material, but it seems as though they are punishing him for it. Wouldn't it be better to just let it go? They made a mistake choosing him, but just leaving him out of the group would have been enough. Jason didn't do anything to them, so the cruel bullying they put him through makes no sense to me.
Maggot opens up with a few boys ganging up on Jason for going to see a movie with his mother. What Jason does with his summer vacation has NOTHING to do with them, yet they think they get to punish him for doing something that they don't like. He wasn't conforming. Jason did something that wasn't cool by going to the movies with his mom. When he ditched the Spooks, he also wasn't conforming.
In the first few chapters of the book, Jason didn't experience nearly as much harassment. Some kids occasionally bullied him but, for the most part, left him alone. He was fairly low on the social hierarchy, but people didn't go out of their way to bully him. During this part of the book, he was trying desperately to fit in with his peers.
Jason's school has such a huge climate problem that it makes Uni seem like paradise. The biggest fight I've seen at Uni was over the video games in the lounge. That really pales in comparison to the bullying Jason endures.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Material love
Jason's parents are fighting over him as their marriage falls apart, trying to buy his affection through pocket money and gifts. They're in a competition over their unsuspecting son. This reminds me of my cousin, Amy, and her ex-husband, Joel (names have been changed).
Amy is a schoolteacher and Joel makes more money than her. Their three kids, Ellen, Jack, and Hailey, live with their mother most of the time. Since the divorce, Joel has been buying a constant stream of expensive gifts for the kids. The most recent present? Ipads. Amy doesn't have the money to buy her kids expensive presents, but she's their main caretaker. Joel tries to get his kids to like him better by buying them the expensive gifts their mother can't afford, even though they spend much more time with their mother.
The sad thing is that this method of buying a child's "love" through material things is very effective, especially for young, naive kids. I saw Jack, who is 9 years old, over spring break. One of his favorite conversational topics was his new iPad and how much fun he has playing with it.
His happiness was evident whenever he talked about his precious iPad. "My dad gave it to me!" he proudly proclaimed. It seemed that his father had successfully won his son's affection with a gift that Amy couldn't match. All Amy can give to her kids is her love and care. That seems like it's better than what Joel gives them, but the kids are young enough that they don't appreciate it. They just like the gifts from their father.
Helena and Michael Taylor are embroiled in a battle similar to the one-sided one that Joel is waging with Amy. Michael gives Jason extra spending money and then, on top of that, buys him a fossil. Helena tries to one-up Michael by giving Jason double the money that Michael gave him. Both scenes are relatively happy ones, and Jason has a bonding moment with each of his parents.
Neither parent won that battle, but maybe neither of them deserved to. They shouldn't have to fight over their son, especially through money and material gifts. What makes Jason happier is spending time having fun with his parents. not just spending their money.
Amy is a schoolteacher and Joel makes more money than her. Their three kids, Ellen, Jack, and Hailey, live with their mother most of the time. Since the divorce, Joel has been buying a constant stream of expensive gifts for the kids. The most recent present? Ipads. Amy doesn't have the money to buy her kids expensive presents, but she's their main caretaker. Joel tries to get his kids to like him better by buying them the expensive gifts their mother can't afford, even though they spend much more time with their mother.
The sad thing is that this method of buying a child's "love" through material things is very effective, especially for young, naive kids. I saw Jack, who is 9 years old, over spring break. One of his favorite conversational topics was his new iPad and how much fun he has playing with it.
His happiness was evident whenever he talked about his precious iPad. "My dad gave it to me!" he proudly proclaimed. It seemed that his father had successfully won his son's affection with a gift that Amy couldn't match. All Amy can give to her kids is her love and care. That seems like it's better than what Joel gives them, but the kids are young enough that they don't appreciate it. They just like the gifts from their father.
Helena and Michael Taylor are embroiled in a battle similar to the one-sided one that Joel is waging with Amy. Michael gives Jason extra spending money and then, on top of that, buys him a fossil. Helena tries to one-up Michael by giving Jason double the money that Michael gave him. Both scenes are relatively happy ones, and Jason has a bonding moment with each of his parents.
Neither parent won that battle, but maybe neither of them deserved to. They shouldn't have to fight over their son, especially through money and material gifts. What makes Jason happier is spending time having fun with his parents. not just spending their money.
Friday, April 12, 2013
My own coming of age
Taking this class has prompted me to think about my own coming of age a lot. The various novels we've read so far have given me a lot of new perspectives on what coming of age really is.
Independence.
Freedom.
Success.
These seem like the main points of coming of age, but they really only scratch the surface. There's so much more to coming of age than just moving out of your parent's house, going to college, getting a job.
It's a mindset.
Even if you're living independently, not living with your parents, you can still be fundamentally childlike. To come of age, you have to be able to think critically and make good decisions. You have to think about the long-term and realize the consequences your actions will have a month, a year, 5 years down the road. Thinking just about the present, the next few days, is more how a child thinks.
For children, there's always that big, scary, sometimes exciting "future" in the distance. Growing up, leaving your parents, getting a job, perhaps going to college or getting married. But the thing about that future, is it's in the future! Kids don't think about how their actions in the present will affect the way the future plays out. They don't plan their actions and make decisions based on what is good for the future. They just want to have fun!
A lot of college students are that way, too. Just because they're not living at home anymore doesn't mean they're adults. They may not have necessarily come of age yet. Coming of age can't just happen at a certain milestone age or life event. It has to happen when the mind matures, and that happens at a different time for each person.
Independence.
Freedom.
Success.
These seem like the main points of coming of age, but they really only scratch the surface. There's so much more to coming of age than just moving out of your parent's house, going to college, getting a job.
It's a mindset.
Even if you're living independently, not living with your parents, you can still be fundamentally childlike. To come of age, you have to be able to think critically and make good decisions. You have to think about the long-term and realize the consequences your actions will have a month, a year, 5 years down the road. Thinking just about the present, the next few days, is more how a child thinks.
For children, there's always that big, scary, sometimes exciting "future" in the distance. Growing up, leaving your parents, getting a job, perhaps going to college or getting married. But the thing about that future, is it's in the future! Kids don't think about how their actions in the present will affect the way the future plays out. They don't plan their actions and make decisions based on what is good for the future. They just want to have fun!
A lot of college students are that way, too. Just because they're not living at home anymore doesn't mean they're adults. They may not have necessarily come of age yet. Coming of age can't just happen at a certain milestone age or life event. It has to happen when the mind matures, and that happens at a different time for each person.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Holden kills me
I thought that one of the most striking things about Salinger's writing style in Catcher was his use of several variations of the phrase "it killed me." According to a post by Evan, this phrase is used 34 times in the novel. That just kills me, it really does.
I interpreted his use of "it killed me" to mean that he liked something or thought it was funny. Since reading the novel, I've noticed that I use the phrase as well, in a similar way as Holden does. When someone says something funny I often tell them that they're killing me. However, I also use the phrase in a very different way, to express displeasure. For example, "it kills me to see someone in pain."
Holden casually throws around this phrase, as if death doesn't matter to him. As if he's invincible. The few scenes where he really contemplated death really struck a chord, because he was getting serious about something that at other times it seemed like he didn't care about. After the disaster with Sunny and Maurice, he contemplates suicide. I guess it really killed him.
Holden doesn't seem to care too much about his own health and well-being. He spends a few days gallivanting around New York on his own, drinking too much while barely eating or sleeping. This behavior really could kill him. His casualness about his health makes it especially jarring to read about the few occasions when he gets serious and starts thinking about life and, more importantly, death. It really made me wonder just how serious he was. He doesn't seem to care about his health, so could he actually commit suicide? Would he actually go through with it? OR was he just being a phony?
I interpreted his use of "it killed me" to mean that he liked something or thought it was funny. Since reading the novel, I've noticed that I use the phrase as well, in a similar way as Holden does. When someone says something funny I often tell them that they're killing me. However, I also use the phrase in a very different way, to express displeasure. For example, "it kills me to see someone in pain."
Holden casually throws around this phrase, as if death doesn't matter to him. As if he's invincible. The few scenes where he really contemplated death really struck a chord, because he was getting serious about something that at other times it seemed like he didn't care about. After the disaster with Sunny and Maurice, he contemplates suicide. I guess it really killed him.
Holden doesn't seem to care too much about his own health and well-being. He spends a few days gallivanting around New York on his own, drinking too much while barely eating or sleeping. This behavior really could kill him. His casualness about his health makes it especially jarring to read about the few occasions when he gets serious and starts thinking about life and, more importantly, death. It really made me wonder just how serious he was. He doesn't seem to care about his health, so could he actually commit suicide? Would he actually go through with it? OR was he just being a phony?
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