The Left Age

When reading the spooks chapter we see Jason have to make a decision. He can either go help Dean or he can be a part of the spooks and just leave Dean there. Both of these choices have consequences and the question we discussed was should he go knock on the door? While in the moment it doesn't specifically say he knocked on the door, Jason tells us that he "double-backed minutes later, eye to eye with Mr. Blake's door knocker, cacking myself" (140). We learn that he probably did knock as in the next chapter the one scene we see is Ross pushing him off of the bus and everyone laughs. So, did he make the right choice. I would have to still say yes, he did make the right choice. I have never had the experiences that Jason has and don't give a crap about social hierarchies or anything like that. That was never a thing in the schools I went to so trying to be with the "cool kids" is not something that I can relate to Jason, but I do like that he made the ...

I have already taken a liking to Jason. When narrating the book at times I feel like I am reading poetry because he mixes short concise sentences with more intricate ones. An example of this is "I'd shoot the Soviet airmen with tranquilizer darts as they pressed their ejector seats. Our marines'll mop them up. I'd refuse all the medals"(4). When I first read this part of the book, it felt like a rhyme. I can really relate to Jason. I remember being in middle school and just like how Jason feels out of place, I did too. When the kids had seen The Great Escape and were talking about it he hadn't actually seen the movie, he just, "paid close attention so I can pretend to've watched it when school starts on Monday"(9). I had a group of pals that I hung out with most of the time, but when they would talk about sports and other things. I either didn't know what they were talking about or would just say things that I would hear other people say. ...

At the end of the novel we are left with a scene of Esther going into the office to be evaluated. Is she going to be able to leave the asylum or not. Throughout the end of the novel she seems to be getting better and isn't trying to kill herself. She first seems to be getting better after Mrs. Guinea, "had flown back to Boston and taken me out of the cramped city hospital ward, and now she was driving me to a private hospital" (209). When Esther gets taken out of the ward, she is able to get more one-on-one treatment and free time. After she gets taken to Caplan she meets Dr. Nolan who becomes one of the most helpful people in the book. While she is in Caplan she is on insulin and unlike Mrs. Norris, she doesn't end up going to Wymark which is a "building for far worst people" (216). At first she is only able to stay in the building, but then she is given walking rights through the grounds. Then when Esther has a reaction, she starts to feel better. Afte...

"If I were a piano player, I'd play in the goddam closet"(110). Holden has a very distinct view of what a phony is. To Holden, all adults are phonies and the only, pure and non-phony people in the society are children. He doesn't want to grow up because he has the fear that he will become a phony. Just like Stephen, he thinks that he is the only person that thinks this way. At the beginning of chapter 13 Holden describes himself in the words, "I'm one of those yellow guys"(115). He doesn't like to get into fights, but instead of him seeing this as a good thing, he sees himself as a coward and as unmanly. I personally admire how he doesn't like to hurt other people because I myself find it hard to confront others and just want everyone to be happy. While those two things aren't the same, there are some similarities. We have to again take into account that the way we view things nowadays is very different than how things were view in the 20...

Throughout the first 4 chapters of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Stephen can be seen regressing back to his younger self's thought of things being black and white. At the end of chapter 3 after he makes his confession he thinks about how it would be good to live or die if God wished it so. When he was a child he would put things in categories to help him keep his world in a pattern he could understand. When it was chapter 5 he began to think in more complex ways. If one person read the first 4 chapters of the book and another person read the 5th chapter they would not think that they were the same person. In the last conversation Stephen has with Cranley, Cranley asks Stephen if he believes in the Eucharist and Stephen's answer is that he neither believes or disbelieves. This further indicates that he now knows that not everything has a right answer. This is different from the first scene where Wells asked Stephen if he kissed his Mother where he tried both answers and ...

What does coming of age mean? As is in the phrase, "coming of age," this is a continuous process. A person can never "come of age". Society has its ways to measure how grown-up a person is. The different schools being elementary, middle, and high school. Then, other stepping stones are reaching the age of 16 and getting your driver's license, reaching 18 and having to do stuff on your own, reaching 21 and being able to rent your own vehicle. All of these things are society's definitions of coming of age. On the other hand, coming of age could mean different things to different people. The term, "mature for your age," is used many times when a kid acts older than they actually are. This was a term that was aimed in my direction often while growing up. I feel like everyone grows up at their own pace and each person can be mature or immature in different things at the same a time. Someone who is intellectually mature might not be emotionally matur...