Monday Muses: Childhood Memories

Childhood Memories                                                         By Momoko Otani-Hudes             

The endless summer days exploring the worlds

As big as this universe and as small as

An anthill.

Mesmerizing the way rolley polleys curl up in a perfect ball. Holding the crickets up to my ear to see if they really are the ones that make the strange music at night. Screaming when I saw a earwig under the rock. Watching all the daddy longlegs scurry away. And when the little beetles fly into the pool, jumping into action and bringing them to safety. Saving even the smallest ant to the biggest hornet.

Canon-balling into the pool then frantically swimming out because I was completely convinced that the terrible shark at the bottom of the pool would get me this time. Swinging on the hammock imagining a whole ocean around me as I lead my crew into adventure. Getting my sword sharpened by my dad and when we got bored snapping them in half by hitting them as hard as our little arms could against the towering pine trees. Chasing the little rabbits into their little rabbit holes where they are safe and sound. Finding new hideouts in the shrubs, and cutting the trees that fell down and making glorious tree houses. Playing hide and seek in the grass that passed my head. And when daddy said it was time to cut the grass, I would run into the garage, get on his lap, and drive the tractor out to the yard. Waking up at 6, just to go to the beach and coming back all red. Sailing to fire island and earning my ranger badges.

And rainy days meant we would go inside and play Ping-Pong, foosball, darts, Monopoly, Boggle, Up-words, and Pool.

When the night comes and even the creeping ants tire, the rolley polleys curl up into safety, and the beetles fly away, my dad would make a big fire with his baby brother. As everyone scurried around, roasting perfect golden marshmallows, chasing each other with torches, maintaining the fires greedy hunger for wood, I would sit on the makeshift bench and admire how the flames would reach for the sky, how the ashes flew up and then gently, like a feather, fell back down. How the center of the fire would glow blue-ish white, and waiting for the sizzle and pop of the sap. Everyone’s busyness, screaming, and shushing were drowned out as I stared into the heart of the fire and the fire wrapped its warm arms around me and lulled me to sleep.

Theme: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

               Currently I am very close to finishing the book "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky. The book is about a boy named Charlie who is starting high school and his perspective of that year. He explores getting good grades, making friends… and more. In some parts it goes into the very dark (as many parents have been saying) such as void of suicide, abuse, rape, molesting, etc. Through out the book you can tell Charlie is not the most normal person. This is portrayed by the way he acts, the ways he speaks, the way he reacts to things or carefully and silently listens to things. Charlie is also not able to understand events happening around him in a coherent manner. A reoccurring theme is you have to “wake up” to face the past and present so it can help you move on.

One example of this is when Charlie’s sibling hosted a party; they locked him in his room and kept him there. Some time through it a couple stumbled in and saw Charlie and asked, “Can we use the room?” The girl protested and said it could wait because Charlie was there but the boy kept pressing and finally got Charlie to say ok. The boy then forces the girl into doing things with him… if you get my point. As Charlie was retelling this story to his new friends Sam and Patrick, Sam asks him if he was ok and Charlie slowly replays it in his head and realizes that that girl was raped at his siblings party. Charlie was able to face the ugly truth and keep going.

Another example is when Charlie read a “poem” to Patrick for his final secret Santa present that Charlie insisted he didn’t know who the author was. This is the poem,
“Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines
he wrote a poem
And he called it "Chops"
because that was the name of his dog
And that's what it was all about
And his teacher gave him an A
and a gold star
And his mother hung it on the kitchen door
and read it to his aunts
That was the year Father Tracy
took all the kids to the zoo
And he let them sing on the bus
And his little sister was born
with tiny toenails and no hair
And his mother and father kissed a lot
And the girl around the corner sent him a
Valentine signed with a row of X's
and he had to ask his father what the X's meant
And his father always tucked him in bed at night
And was always there to do it

Once on a piece of white paper with blue lines
he wrote a poem
And he called it "Autumn"
because that was the name of the season
And that's what it was all about
And his teacher gave him an A
and asked him to write more clearly
And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
because of its new paint
And the kids told him
that Father Tracy smoked cigars
And left butts on the pews
And sometimes they would burn holes
That was the year his sister got glasses
with thick lenses and black frames
And the girl around the corner laughed
when he asked her to go see Santa Claus
And the kids told him why
his mother and father kissed a lot
And his father never tucked him in bed at night
And his father got mad
when he cried for him to do it.

Once on a paper torn from his notebook
he wrote a poem
And he called it "Innocence: A Question"
because that was the question about his girl
And that's what it was all about
And his professor gave him an A
and a strange steady look
And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
because he never showed her
That was the year that Father Tracy died
And he forgot how the end
of the Apostle's Creed went
And he caught his sister
making out on the back porch
And his mother and father never kissed
or even talked
And the girl around the corner
wore too much makeup
That made him cough when he kissed her
but he kissed her anyway
because that was the thing to do
And at three a.m. he tucked himself into bed
his father snoring soundly

That's why on the back of a brown paper bag
he tried another poem
And he called it "Absolutely Nothing"
Because that's what it was really all about
And he gave himself an A
and a slash on each damned wrist
And he hung it on the bathroom door

Because this time he didn't think
he could reach the kitchen.” 

When Charlie finished reading it was eerily silent. A sad and depressing kind of silence. Bob, another friend of Charlie, says ‘isn’t that the suicide note that the kid wrote?’ Charlie fully knew what the “poem” was in the back of his head. He just didn't want it to be true so he never accepted it. His best friend from middle school who committed suicide wrote the poem.

            In conclusion a major theme in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky is that you have to “wake up” to face the past and present to move on. Having watched the movie I know that this theme is going to come up more and a final huge event will uncover Charlie’s past to elaborate why he is who he is.

Character Reading Response: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

      In the fantastically written book, “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green, there are many similarities and differences between connections and relationships within objects and characters throughout the book. The main character, Hazel, a cancer patient, and her boyfriend, Augustus, a cancer survivor whom she met at a cancer group, have a very strong relationship compared to Isaac, Gus’ best friend, and his girlfriend Monica.

      Similarities between these two relationships are: both are connected to cancer and both end in heartbreaking, cancer-related ends. The relationships are both connected to cancer because Hazel has lung cancer, Gus had leg cancer, and Isaac had eye cancer. Without cancer, Hazel would have never met Gus. This is because Gus was best friends with Isaac. The day before Isaac became fully blind, Gus went with him to the support group. Hazel was a friend of Isaac, so she was naturally introduced to Gus.  If she didn't have cancer, she would never have met Isaac through going to the cancer support group. As you can see, both relationships are intertwined with cancer. Another similarity between the relationships is that they both end, and the cancer is resolved. Monica ends up breaking up with Isaac right before his other eye is also taken out because, “she didn't want to do it after.” Hazel translates that into, “She didn't want to dump a blind guy.” Isaac is absolutely heartbroken and crying and even throws and breaks Gus’ old trophies, but in Gus and Hazel’s relationship, nobody has to break up with each other. Gus finds out that he has a relapse of cancer, but it has infected his whole entire body. His body is cancerous. Gus later dies, leaving Hazel shattered and devastated. She knew it was coming, but she was broken hearted and grief-stricken. As you can see, both relationships end in crushing, cancer ridding ends. All in all this clearly shows how the two relationships have a lot in common and are very similar.

The two relationships are completely opposite. First of all, Monica left Isaac because it was apparently “too hard for her,” which left Isaac furious when he was the one who had cancer and was getting his eye taken out. But in the other relationship, Hazel stayed with Gus until the very end. She had seen him in the worst of times and even commented how Gus was completely different. He used to be a tall, muscular, charming, strong, and funny guy. Now he is weak, skinny, and dying. Hazel loved him so much even though she only knew him for a little over a month. Isaac and Monica had been a couple for over a year. Hazel loved Gus. They did everything together, including things she would never have done. She practically stayed inside for 3 years, rereading a book and feeling very depressed. When she met Gus her life completely changed. They went to Amsterdam: just to meet an author! They cared for each other while Isaac and Monica’s relationship seemed very one-way. Isaac might have actually loved Monica and cared for her, but Monica didn't have the same feelings. As you can see, the two relationships have many differences.

      In conclusion, the fantastic book “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green is about a cancer patient, Hazel, who falls in love and goes on a short adventure with a mysterious boy named Augustus Waters. Gus has a friend who was also in a relationship, and the two relationships have many similarities and differences.

Summer Reading Response: The Little Prince

     The fantasy book "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, is told by a narrator who crashes his airplane in the middle of the Sahara Desert. As he is feeling all is lost, he meets a little young, but wise, man who calls himself the little prince from a different world. The two of them go on to have a conversation which lasts many day and nights until the narrator is down to his last drop of water. 

     This book was written in 1943, a time when the world was at war. It was also a period where the world was becoming smaller because of the increase in airplanes. The author's inspiration to write the book was a life time experience put together. While he was lying in the hospital bed because of his injuries from dehydration after crashing his plane in the middle of the Sahara Desert, he read the book "The Little Mermaid"1. This made him want to make a fairytale where his life was the book. The rose represents his wife, Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry. The small home planet of the little prince and rose was supposed to represent El Salvador which is also known as "The Land of Volcanoes". This was Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's wife's home country and is why the home planet of the little prince and rose has multiple volcanoes. The fox in the story that explains what taming and love is, is a fennec that Antoine de Saint-Exupéry raised and adored while doing his service as an air pilot. The baobabs which the little prince hated and feared because of how fast they grew to take over your planet, were supposed to represent the Nazi's who were trying to take over the planet. Finally when the little prince is reassuring the pilot that his dying body is just an empty shell, like it says one page 86 "...it will be like an old abandoned shell....", this is meant to represent his dying younger brother François' last words"2. 

     In the book "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, he tells a story very close to him about a crashed pilot in the middle of the Sahara Desert who meets an alien who calls himself the little prince. The author sugar coats his personal experiences to express that we can make anything ordinary unique and special. Maybe not to others but to us since we are the ones who nurtured and cared for it or as the fox says, tames it.

Bibliography:
1  http://www.thelittleprince.com/work/birth-of-the-book/
2  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Prince and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_de_Saint-            Exup%C3%A9ry