Voice
I believe the voice in this memoir is mostly anger, if not depression. The mood that I get when I'm reading this book is definitely not happiness or a bright tone. The main character, Walter, gets into trouble a lot at school and that is a potential bad tone for the reader. The voice does lighten up eventually when, for example, Walter talks about a girl that he likes and that he writes about her. That is a positive mood/voice because it is showing Walter's more soft, sensitive side compared to the tough-like mannerisms that he has when he gets into trouble.
The darkest part of the book was mostly at the beginning when Walter would be bullied and he'd get into fights. The bullying was more negative because it was about something that Walter couldn't control, which was his reading incapabilities. And Walter was of course embarrassed and ashamed of this because he didn't want to get teased by his students. His relationship with his mother is sort of strained and/or forced, which adds more negativity. This adds more negativity because the most important relationship to have in your life is the one with your mom and if that relationship is strained, that can make you even more upset, due to the fact that you can't talk to your own mother about your issues or accomplishments. And maybe that's how Walter feels, like he can't talk to his mother about certain things because he's afraid of the response or outcome. In conclusion, the voice in this story is anger and/or depression, so far. Things may change near the end because that's typically where issue get resolved but we'll see in the future.
I like how you included a picture of Barack Obama (to be honest that is what made me click on this article in the first place).
ReplyDeleteHearing that the darkest part of the book was Walter getting bullied made me think because went to elementary school with his younger cousin (a part of our friend group) and he did not mention this, or anything about what his cousin went through, at all.
I liked how you gave examples to back up your reasoning. I do agree that the author's voice is not pleasant or happy throughout most of the book. When I'm reading, i start to feel sorry for Walter because he has to go through all this bad treatment that he did not ask for. I know for myself, I can relate to what Walter is going through because I went through the same thing in elementary school.
ReplyDeleteI also read because of the meme (lol). However this book has the same tone as mine only Arnold, the narrator, is actually disabled. It's a funny book but if I try to think about it, I realize the nightmare that Arnold find himself. He is drowning in a pool of quitters and drunks. No one around him has had a formal education or really gone through on their dreams. Everyone around him has given up which makes this story very memorable as you want him to swim above and actually do something with his life. I find that in my book it also lightens up as Arnold talks about his crush, but even THEN it's dark as his crush is anorexic! I can see you haven't finished your book and assume it will get better. Well in my book things just got worse. With the death of his grandmother, friend, and sister on his shoulders, Arnold is in a worse mindset than when he started. I hope your book goes better though and that your person feels better.
ReplyDeleteI also read because of the meme (lol). However this book has the same tone as mine only Arnold, the narrator, is actually disabled. It's a funny book but if I try to think about it, I realize the nightmare that Arnold find himself. He is drowning in a pool of quitters and drunks. No one around him has had a formal education or really gone through on their dreams. Everyone around him has given up which makes this story very memorable as you want him to swim above and actually do something with his life. I find that in my book it also lightens up as Arnold talks about his crush, but even THEN it's dark as his crush is anorexic! I can see you haven't finished your book and assume it will get better. Well in my book things just got worse. With the death of his grandmother, friend, and sister on his shoulders, Arnold is in a worse mindset than when he started. I hope your book goes better though and that your person feels better.
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ReplyDeleteI liked how you explained all of Walter's feelings with good backed up examples in the book. I feel very bad that Walter had a bad relationship with his mom and couldn't talk to her. I can speak from experience that it feels horrible when that's the case. The problem is that if it is not taken care of quickly, and no one says sorry, it could elevate quickly to the point where it can make you do something bad. I hope as you keep reading this book that Walter doesn't use his bad relations with his mom to use it as an excuse to not act like himself.
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