"Fairy"

I never realized exactly how badly the people of the time of Sammy Clay treated homosexuality. You honestly had to live in fear of expressing how you truly are in hopes of not being arrested, beaten, and scolded wherever you went. What if the world was full of homosexuals who treated straight people that way? It's pretty messed up how people treat others badly just because of their sexual orientation. Some people say that it's "against god's word" and crap like that. Even if it is against your god's word, then he will deal with them when they die and they will rot in hell like they said. But that is no reason for people to treat them badly. Someone being gay does not affect anyone around them, and half the time you wouldn't even know if someone was gay unless they told you or you saw them with their partner. I am glad that people are growing more and more accepting that everyone is equal and that homosexuality is nothing to be frowned upon. Sam Clay was a very tough person to be able to suppress his feelings for most of his life in order to be their for Rosa and Tommy, a very tough person.

Jew During the War

I can't imagine what it must have felt like for Joe knowing that he is in America safe and sound while his family is still in Prague with the threat of Hitler running rampant across Europe. The constant worrying and trying to think of ways to help would have drove me insane. Drawing comics of superheroes beating up Hitler and the Nazis helped I'm sure, but that can only do so much. After his families death, when he finally couldn't take it anymore, he joined the military in order to try to get back at the Germans. This turned out to be a pretty bad move. He spend most of his military days in Antarctica where the majority of his fellow team died due to poor ventilation and was left with only a dog and a crazy pilot. When Joe finally got a chance to kill a German like he had so wanted to do when he first started, he changed his mind and tried to be peaceful. He ended up getting shot in the shoulder and accidentally killing the German; Joe thought that was the saddest moment of his entire life, he did not want to kill the man. I can't imagine what it would be like to kill someone. I think I would be like Joe and not want to do it. Life is precious.

The Escapist

In The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Joe and Sammy's superhero The Escapist was pretty much a very strong and skilled escape artist. No chains, locks, or anything could keep him from serving up justice. This character was very sentimental to Joe because he himself was a practicing escape artist back in Prague and aspired to be like Harry Houdini. Joe also admired The Escapist because being a Jew escaped from Prague, he felt that the Germans were holding him and his family down and he so desperately wished to escape that he started picking fights with every German he saw in order to exact his revenge(if you would call it that). At the end of the book when The Escapist had to finally be retired due to a lawsuit, it hit Joe pretty hard. Although he didn't show it, he felt that something inside of him had died.

Greedy Bastards

In The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Sammy and Joe created a superhero named The Escapist for their boss at Empire Comics. The Escapist was supposed to be the comic company's very own Superman and make them millions, which it did. Sammy and Joe came up with the idea and all of the stories themselves, but were only entitled to a small portion of the profits because of a contract they signed to get their idea started. Although the two really didn't have a choice on whether or not to sign, because they didn't have the money nor the marketing powers to start selling their brainchild. Mr. Deasey and Mr. Anapol became multi-millionaires thanks to Joe and Sam, but never entitled them to more than a small percentage of the profits for any of their superhero comics. I think this was pretty messed up. I know that they had to get the majority of the money to keep funding the comic books, but they could have given the two boys at least 25% for all the work that they did. I think Deasey and Anapol were some pretty greedy bastards.

The Glass Laura

                The Glass Menagerie was a pretty good short story.  I liked it because I could relate to Tom in the way that everyone expects him to do what they want him to do and don’t care about what he wants for himself.  Although it is expected of him to stay at home and help pay the bills, he feels that he needs to escape the house as much as possible (going to the movies).  I think that the mother needs to accept the fact that he is grown and can make his own decisions, and maybe she needs to get a job and pay the bills herself instead of expecting him to do it all.  I didn’t really like the mother, she nags too much.  And Laura needs to get over her self-esteem issues and go back to school so she herself can get a job and help pay the bills around the house instead of sitting at home all day and looking at her glass collection.  I know that’s easier said than done but she could at least give it a little effort instead of sitting there feeling sorry for herself.

White Elephants?

This blog is about Hills Like White Elephants. I have absolutely no idea what’s going on in this story.  The author gives no detail to what they are actually talking about and it frustrates me!  I assume that the man is trying to convince the girl to get an abortion and she’s unsure if she wants to.  But when she’s knocking back drinks like no one’s business I change my mind.  I don’t see any other reasonable choice other than abortion though.  When the girl looks outside and says “all this could be ours if I do it” I assume she’s talking about the money they’ll save not having to raise a child.  I didn’t really like this story simply because it was hard to read and I had no idea what was going on.  If the author had given us more details as to what they were talking about maybe I would have actually enjoyed it instead of having to guess what the heck it’s about.  But I guess it makes for a good discussion topic because everyone can interpret it a different way.  Maybe that was the author’s intention all along?  Who knows, confused the crap out of me.

Crazy Lady

The Yellow Wallpaper is about a woman who id diagnosed with depression by her husband/doctor.  And by depression I’m pretty sure they meant schizophrenia. This woman is absolutely nuts.  Her husband keeps her cooped up in her room because he thinks any sort of activity will make her condition worse.  So while she sits in her room all day she starts to write a journal to keep herself sane.  But she doesn’t want anyone to know about it so she keeps it hidden from her husband and his sister.  In her journal she describes the yellow wallpaper of the room “menacing” and is determined to find the pattern that lies within it.  Over time she starts to see a woman in the wallpaper, a woman that is trying to escape.  The woman in the wallpaper has made a pattern around the room where she has been looking for a way to get out.  At night the crazy lady says she can see the woman in the wallpaper shaking what looks to be bars, as if she’s imprisoned.  One night the crazy lady decides to try and free the woman by tearing down the wallpaper.  She succeeds in doing so, and releases not just one, but multiple women from the wallpaper.  Eventually she convinces herself that she herself came from the wallpaper.  One day the husband comes into the room and looks at his insane wife and what she had done and passes out in the floor.  I liked this story, it was pretty crazy.

Tonto is Cool

            The title of this short story has nothing to do with the book, but anyways.  I enjoyed reading The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven because I can relate to the main character.  I think everyone has been in a relationship that wasn’t good for them at one point.  He would get so angry with her that he would break lamps and have to go for walks to keep himself from going crazy.  I can relate to this because I also had a girlfriend who drove me absolutely crazy.  Once the main character left Seattle and got away from his girlfriend he was able to control his anger and stop drinking.  He also devoted his time into getting back in shape and getting a job.  Sometimes getting away from a toxic environment is the best thing that you can do for yourself.  If you feel yourself going in a downward spiral, then get out of the situation and focus on getting better.  This is an important life lesson that took me a while to realize.  Sometimes there is no other way to help yourself than to leave, which is what the main character did in order to get better.  At the end of the story the main character is talking to his girlfriend and deciding where they stand.  The last sentence says, “it doesn’t matter, I know how all my dreams end anyways.”  This sentence means that no matter how much he loves and wants to be with his ex girlfriend, he knows it will never work out.  No matter who you are, if you loved someone you will always have some feelings for them.  But sometimes it’s best to leave things where they are instead of trying to fix them, because most of the time it will only get worse.  I relate to this story because I also went through a lot of the things that the main character went through, and it made him a stronger person.  Oh and I’m part Indian, so there’s another relatable quality!