Cry, The Beloved Country #2

When Potan writes about men and women I think that, surprisingly, they are treated equally. While opening the letter Kumalo and his wife seem to have a great amount of respect for each other. But in his writing he addresses  the women more properly than he does for the men. Before reading this book I assumed that the women would be treated a lot differently just because when the book was written. But I came to find that they are being treated fairly and have a good amount off respect for each other.

Cry, The Beloved Country #1

I tabbed the beginning of chapter one because it uses descriptive words to describe the setting also because it portrays this place to be peaceful and wonderful. Like it was a place you would be happy to stay at. He described Africa in a way that made it sound beautiful and that there was a lot of nature. I think that later this will be important to the story.

 While reading the conversation after the letter was delivered and I thought that showed a shift in the mood. That it isn't as happy as it seems to be on the surface. Also because you don't know anything about the letter and when people go to Johannesburg they don't come back, it makes it suspenseful and have some tension. I think it's showing that there is a conflict somehow which is foreshadowing.

 While reading the four chapters I noticed that Alan Paton wrote in third person. I think this sorta of gives the feel that the reader is an outsider because we aren't familiar with their culture or their history. His word choice is kind of dark and mysterious. I think this was done on purpose and that we'll find out why as we read more

Stephen Kumalo is an important character, I think, because he is described so much and is followed so closely. So far, you always know what he's doing and how he's doing it. Also Kumalo seems like a very precise person. He has to be on time and do things exactly how they are supposed to be done. This shows his personality that he'll have for the novel.

LOTF-Journal #3

Even though there were many reoccurring themes one of the most important, I think, is that fear is within. It's just mental and it can only be conquered mentally. It's not physical, like the boys thought, there was no beast. They created the idea of the beast to hide that they truly are just scared to be stuck on an island.
Two ways that William Golding developed this theme is through characters and through the setting. First, he used the littluns, and had them be the ones crying and tell the older boys that there was a beast. They were the ones that helped start the idea of the beast. Also he used the setting, it was always dark when the beast appeared, which helped disguise what was really out there, which made the boys unknowledgable about what was really going on. This frighten Ralph and Jack. So when they went to find the beast on the mountain and it was dark which cause them to be more afraid, they didn't want to get close to it and because of that the fear remained. If they would have gotten closer they would have seen that it was just a parachutist trying to help them not scare them. I think that the boys if they were older would have realized that there was no beast, but because they were young and stilled had their parent around when they were scared and had never really been on their own, they were just confused and didn't know what to do.

LOFT-Journal #2

If there were girls in the Lord of the Flies I think that it would have been a lot different, also it would have been way more complicated to write. At first I thought they could have kept the boys together and stayed at the shelters to take care of the little ones while the boys hunted or kept the fire going. They could have kept them civilized and help them stick to some rules/stay together. As the book went on they could have kept them as one tribe and from becoming like savages. But the more I thought about it I started thinking that if the boys were trying to impress the girls it could have been a potential conflict. Or if the girls went off to do there own thing or refused to help in certain ways that could have been important that would make the boys angry and become a problem. Also, they could have made certain friends and become anti-social to everyone else but those mew friends. So, I think the book could have gone either way, but that could only be determined by what kind of personalities William Golding gave them. It's a lot simpler with only boys to have to write about.

LOFT-Journal #1

First, I think it's interesting how William Golding doesn't describe any thing about Piggy, all you know is that he is just a voice out in the jungle. Before he is described or even named the author has him talking which could also be foreshadowing the fact that through out the book he is always talking. Also I think that when he is talking and Ralph never seems intersted, that is foreshadowing because eventhough Piggy talks alot through out the book no one really pays attention to what he has to say they just disregaurd it as if what he has to say is not intelligent.

Second (kind of ties in with the first one) when it says "searching out safe lodgments for his feet" you get the hint that William Golding is trying to make. That Piggy is intelligent and careful. He let the reader know this before his physical appearance, which is opposite from Ralph. He could have done this to show that they are different, and that he looked different from all the other boys which could be why some of them didnt want to listen to him. This created a conflict for the boys especially when Ralph stands up for him and agrees with him. Which leades to the split between the group and created two tribes.