The Mystery of The Dog in The Night-time

       Christopher is an extremely mathematically gifted fifteen year old boy, but he is quite socially handicapped. He takes everything that people say really literally. At first you think that the book is just a mystery novel about the journey Chris goes on to discover who killed Wellington, his neighbors dog. But once the story really starts you discover, that there's a little more to the book than that.
(WARNING:there may be some minor spoilers ahead)
        There's another important part of the story. Chris's mother is dead. Or so he thinks. One day while investigating the mystery in his fathers room, he finds a box. He opens the box. In the box there are letters, to him. From his mother. Chris was just playing a game, until this happened, this made it real. It turned out that his father had hid them, and that his mother was alive.
       This really makes me think about how parents try to protect their kids from the outside world, not wanting them to be exposed to it, and how sometimes they over-do it, really over-do it. Chris's dad was just trying to protect him from the truth, which he thought would be too hard for Chris to take, but telling someone their mother is dead is a bit too much. I think this is really about how Chris's dad took a chance, by making a big decision for Chris. But people should never make decisions that big on their own, when it affects other people so much.
       

Pure Evil

In my book, there is a character, Kalona who is portrayed to be pure evil. All the other characters don't want to mess around with him because he is so dangerous. He doesn't seem to care about anybody, and I think that is what makes him so dangerous. If you don't care about anyone, then you have nothing to be afraid of, because you won't ever have to risk hurting somebody that you love.

I find it hard to believe that it is possible for  anyone, in a book, or actually alive to have no feeling or remorse, or good inside them. How can you possibly never feel bad for somebody? I think it is absolutely impossible. I think that Kalona only seems to have no good inside of him because the situations he has been in haven't had the means to cause him remorse, or to feel badly about any of his actions.

I think that if he were in a situation where he actually had a connection to a person and/or what they were going through, and what they were feeling, then he might show his supposedly non-existant good side. This is what makes Kalona so powerful, there is no way to black mail him, or negogiate, because there is nothing that anyone can hold against him. If someone can find a way to connect to him, to get inside of him, and therefore be able to destroy him from the inside out. Then he could be defeated.

Old Man's War

Right now I am reading Old Man's War. This book has several compelling aspects to me. One it is a sci-fi book, and two I like how it sort of has a flip side on war. I find it very interesting that all of the soldiers in the army that fights the other intelligent species are Old Men. Although at first glance they wouldn't look that way. They have all had their mind and concience transplanted from their old wrinkly real bodies, into genetically in mproved and stronger slightly green bodies. Another thing I have been thinking thinking about in my book lately is, what is it saying about justice in our world?

Well, a major theme in the plot of the story is that John, and some of his friends are noticing that some of the aliens that they are destroying aren't evil at all, that they stand no chance against them. The soldiers are starting to feel bad because they know that some of the battles that they are going out to fight, are just wrong. I think this says something about justice. Sometimes there just is no justice, sometimes you just don't get justice, and the other team wins. Just like that. I think that this is definatley a big downside to how the world works.

 I think the idea that you can be powerless to stop something bad that's going on is scary. It must be scary to know that you are less powerful then your enemies, and that they can do whatever they want, and get away with it. This element in the world is more common in Old Man's War than in our world though, because in the book, there is no real government. Atleast that has the real power to serve Justice.

Hard Things in OLD MAN'S WAR

There are a lot of complicated issues going on in Old Man's War. Basically there is a intergallactic or something like that recruiting system that recruits seventy five year olds from earth, for an army that protects the colonies from intelligent alien enemies if they decide to attack. I find myself thinking about a lot of strange things that are going on this book. Like the fact that the recruits for the army are seventy five years old! that's just a little strange to me. With the help of the mini lesson on "hard things" in our stories, I have been able to begin to look at these things as not meaningless aspects of the story. But these elements in the story are purposefully put in to talk about something, put a point out there for the reader to reach out and grab onto.

I have often heard people talking about current wars as "young men fighting the old man's war" or "the poor fighting the rich's war". I think that what these people mean is, the people who are actually in power to get a war started are the old and the rich, the wise and the wealthy, and that these people can't actually fight in their war, they can just get it started. In this book though, even though it isn't very clear, I think it is just the opposite. The old men and women are fighting the war. Does this mean that the young people of their time are the people in power, and that the old people are now the slaves of the young? I'm not sure, it's really unclear at this point but I also think this could be representational for the old political powers finally stepping up the home plate and taking responsibility.

I also found it very interesting how all the characters in the book, men, women, gay, straight, they all veiw eachother as equals. They talk about their sexuality so casually with eachother, and they make a point of it, you as a reader will notice and stop, and be like you know what. This is important. Right now in the story everything is mostly peaceful, and I wonder if this is the reason the author made such a point of making it clear that these people view each other as equals. I predict that later in the story as the battle training, boot camp, and what ever lays ahead nears, they sexualities, and genders will start to rival or argue, face off. I think this because it seems to me that the peacefulness between the different people makes peace in this world, and when they become prejudiced against eachother, things will go bad. I don't have much proof to support this prediction, but it's what this text is saying to me. Maybe this is saying something about why our world isn't so peaceful.

This book takes an enteresting turn on how it expresses issues, and how they are presented makes me think certain things. I think it is interesting how now just by looking at the title of the book every time I pick it up to read it, I automatically think about indivduality and peace, and the way wars are created and fought.

Stuart Little: The struggles of Stuart

I have this one annotation that really got me going on this idea. Stuart sets off early in the morning to avoid traffic, and I was just thinking, What does he care about the traffic, he's freaking two inches tall!

Stuart was born from a human mother, but as of this moment, he still looks very much like a mouse, and has grown much taller than two inches. I can't help but wonder if he is at all self consience about his physical appearence. In the early stages of the story Stuart was just beginning to adjust to the way of life he had to lead, to live comfortably. And the things that he had to adjust to. Such as having to climb great heights just to brush his teeth, and having to pound a mallet just to get the water running. Every day activities for us were a huge work out for him. Therefore, as he puts it, his abs were like iron bands.

I think that Stuart wanted to prove to himself, and to everyone around him, that he was great, in his own way. He wanted to be as similar to everyone else as possible. One time while trying to prove to Snow bell how strong his stomach muscles were, he had a serious accident which involved him being squashed in a tight spot for many hours. Another time when he was trying to prove himself, he put himself in a very dangerous position with out thinking about it, he volunteered to be lowered into the drain to find his mothers ring. He did succeed, to the relief of his family, except for George who was very jealous. It must be hard to have a body like a mouse, but still think like a human, your mental and physical cababilities sort of, contradict each other.

I also think that Stuart has a hard time remembering his differences from other people. He doesn't seem to sense danger, and think ahead of time before doing something that for him could turn into a fatal accident. He assumes his mother sees him slip into the fridge to get some cheese, but she doesn't. And he almost freezes to death because he assumed. he doesn't think ahead before grabbing onto the ring of the shades, he doesn't foresee that he could be visiously yanked off the ground by it.

Stuart does learn from his mistakes, and towards the end of the book I notice it's almost like a fairy tale. I compare the story to a fairy tale because the whole second half there are almost no problems, no obstacles, at all. It is like a dream, I got so bored at times, that I just wanted to put my head down and go to sleep. But one drawback about Stuart learning from his mistakes is his personality seems to change. He warps more and more into a sophisticated, cocky douche, in my opinion, There are several instances where he whips out a smart remark at some poor person, probably just because it makes him feel impowered, and big. I also find it interesting how not only does Stuart try to make himself seem powerful. But he tries to make his lifestyle as similar to his fellow normal sized people.

I think Stuart would have a better life if he just went and lived in the woods and became an explorer, then he wouldn't feel pressured to be so similar to everyone else. If anyone has any suggestions for stuff I should add to this post please comment.

Archetype: Shapeshifter

In many stories there is someone who is undecided, doesn't care, or doesn't know what side they are on. Sometimes it may seem like they are on the hero's side, when they really aren't. Sometimes there are characters who only do what they do for other people because it will benefit them enough so that it is worth doing. These characters in are called shapeshifters.

In charlottes web, there is one character that continues to amaze me, time after time with his selfish deceiving personality. Templeton. The rat is so selfish, he cares about no one. Yet he still has such a big role in the book. Without Templeton Wilbur would most definately be turned into beacon and eaten by the Zuchermans.

I think Templeton is a shapeshifter, he doesn't actually care about anything except food and himself, and the only reason he helps wilbur and charlotte complete their quest is because they bribe him, in atleast four different circumstances, with food! So in a way Templton is on their side, because he helps them, and he's on the other side, because he just doesn't really care.

Charlottes Web: Templeton Again

As I have read further and further into the book, I am finding more and more evidence leading toward a theory that I am forming that the only thing that Templeton has ever, will ever, and can ever love besides himself of course, is food. Lots and lots and lots of food. There are several instances where Templeton shows this ugly truth to the rest of the barn. Even tough they all know how unpleasant he is, it is still amazing how nasty he is towards others.

One instance of this is when charlotte needs new words for her web, so that she can trick Mr. Zucherman into letting wilbur live. And not turning him into nice crisp beacon. Charlotte asks Templeton to do the small favor of bringing back newspaper clippings from his daily trips to the dump. His answer: a straight up no.

Another time this sort of thing happens is when The goose's eighth egg fails to hatch. The rat shows no consideration, no decency, no nothing for the goose and just takes the egg. The book even describes him as a rat with"No morals, no conscience, no scruples, no consideration, no decency, no milk of rodent kindness, no compunctions, no higher feeling, no friendliness, no anything." It also states that the rat wouldn't hesitate to kill a gosling, that's just sick. Who would do that, especially to their own neighbor?

When the county fair comes along, Wilbur and charlotte are going to try and have Wilbur win a prize. Just to seal his safety and well-being. Charlotte asks Templeton to come along so that she can have someone who can get her newspaper clippings with her. Templeton's first answer is, no, let him die. The only reason Templeton actually ends up going is because the old sheep convinced him to go for all the garbage that will be there.

Right at the end of the book, as Charlotte is dying, Wilbur needs to get her eggs safely into his wooden crate for transport back to the barn, Templeton is resting his fat ass in the corner of the shed, and refuses to help Wilbur. The only reason that he helps out is because Wilbur swears that he will forever let Templeton eat out of his slops first. These instances of pure selfishness on Templeton's part have led me to believe that the only thing Templeton will ever love, is food. Lots and lots and lots of food.

Charlottes Web: Templeton

"No morals, no conscience, no scruples, no consideration, no decency, no milk of rodent kindness, no compunctions, no higher feeling, no friendliness, no anything."

annotation: I wonder if Templeton is really as bad as E.B.White makes him out to be, is this foreshadowing for character change?

I think that Templeton isn't as heartless as everyone thinks and says he is, I mean is it even possible to have No morals, no conscience, no scruples, no consideration, no decency, no milk of rodent kindness, no compunctions, no higher feeling, no friendliness, no anything? I don't think so. A lot of the time in books, important characters go through signifigant character change, like a lesson. the character change makes the book more realistic, and deeper, more emotional. I think that deep down Templeton is really not that bad of a rat, in some way or another. When Charlotte is working on her plan to save Wilbur's life, and keep him from being shot and eaten as bacon, Templeton actually helps her by getting her magazine clippings for words to put in her web. Even though hes only doing it so he can continue to eat wilbur's food, and the sheep convinced him, it's still something. Something I was also thinking about is how innocent, and ignorant, and humble Wilbur is, and how Templeton is the exact opposite of Wilbur, he's apparently heartless, cold blooded, mean, nasty, unpleasant, and greedy. I think E.B.White did this on purpose. I think he wanted there to be a contrast between two of his main characters, to make things interesting, show a contrast. I also think that both wilbur and Templeton will learn something from each other because of their contrasting personalities.