Second to last post so I'm nearing the end. 200 out of 300 pages complete. This week I came across an interesting chapter. It was interesting for me to read because I know its coming up soon for us in our class as well. The two parallels are family issues and school.
Family issues is big for kids our age. Our personal bubbles are growning so our parents are letting go as we find more people our own age to invest in. In the book, Toby writes to his brother who is at college in Princeton. They send stories they wrote back and forth. Toby believes his brother's stories are better, but his brother says the same. Stuck in Chinook with his mother and Dwight's family there isn't much fun Toby has to have. Toby, even though he hasn't seen his brother for 6 years, he misses the only real friendly voice around. The two wanted to link upm, "Geoffrey wanted to see me. That was plain. I had been wanting to see him for years, but before now, evern when I hatched plans to join up with him, I never knew whether he felt the same way" (201). Self doubt runs in Toby's mind because he believes Princeton University is superior to his little home in Chinook. Most would probably agree. However what makes the place truely unbareable is Dwight. The only father figure in Toby's life at this point and Dwight is a major failure. He is abusive and very bad at being sympathetic. This time, "He noticed a jar of French's mustard in the garbagte pain and fieshed it out. Who threw this away? he asked. I told him I had. Why did you throw it away? Because it was empty... Does this look empty to you?" (204). The two challenge each other with every sentence they fire back and forth. It escalates. After making Toby scrape the tini bit of mustard he could from the bottle, "Allright. Now-was it empty? Yes, I said. He leaned across the table and slapped my face" (205). Rarely do healthy families raise hands against each other, but Toby's is not a healthy family.
Being sympathetic to Toby's problem, a plan is set to get Toby away from Chinook. First the brothers go over Toby's strengths, "Yes, well, let's stick with the grades and swimming and the Scouts" (207). In today's world many of my classmates, including me, are beginning to look forward to college if we haven't started to already. To apply to colleges we put together our strengths and letters and send the full application in. The process is complex, "He sent a long list of addresses and deadlines. I would have to be patient. This didn't happen over night" (207). Its a long a irritating process to apply to colleges. To give yourself a chance to see if you even can attend the college. Then you have to visit it and register. All this takes much time and effort. Boy we are in for some fun.
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5 comments:
It would really suck to be in an abusive situation at home and even worse to have your brother go off to college and leave you behind. It must have been awful living like that and having violent breakouts about something as stupid as mustard.
Its sad that a fight was started by an almost bottle of mustard. This is in support of that Toby's family is unhealthy. Its obvious why Toby wants to leave his home behind.
I feel very bad for Toby and his family situation. I'm sure it was bad enough with his brother there, but then to have to only person who truly knew what you were going through move away would be awful. Yet at the same time we see his brother is at Princeton - a very good school and realize that no matter what is going on. He can overcome it, move on with his life, and get away from the bad home situation. Plus, even though his brother is far away, it is clear, despite Tony's doubt, that he really does want to help his little brother succeed.
I totally understand Toby's point of view in the first paragraph, and I am also dreading applying to colleges in the near future. If you live in a small town with not much to do, and an ignorant father on top of that, it makes sense that someone would want a change. Especially because he has not seen his brother in six years. Because Toby is moderately abused by Dwight, he would yearn for a stable, older figure like his brother to protect and teach him.
I'm happy the brothers have such a good relationship. What are the stories like? As a reader to you get to read them?
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