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Best Bros Forever?

Best Bro’s Forever? Benji and Reggie, the two brothers. From the very beginning, this book depicts how close they are, both in age and in friendship. However, as the book continues, it expands on their relationship to show how divided they may be, and how that divide was widening as the two grew up.  To first emphasize how close these brothers were, right after Ben introduces himself, he introduces Reggie. He says, “My name is Ben. In the summer of 1985, I was fifteen years old. My brother Reggie was fourteen. (Whitehead, 5)” Thus, he indicates that next to his name and age, the most important detail he should share about his life then is his brother’s name and age. To further show how close him and his brother are, Ben says that “ We ( Ben and Reggie) were born 10 months apart, and until we went to high school, we came as a matched set, more siames than fraternal or identical, defined by an uncanny inseparability (6)” .  Thus, he indicates how close their friendship was, to cause them
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Criminal of Society and Hero to the People

               Through his year-long journey depicted throughout the novel Black Swan Green, Jason shows incredible growth from having to conform to society, to openly rejecting its rules. While his growth is gradual, when looking at the beginning of the book compared with the end of the book, one can see a stark difference in actions towards society.                This need to conform can be seen during multiple instances in the book. The first scene is where he is participating in the hated game British Bulldogs. He says, “I hate British Bulldogs…but this morning, anybody who denied loving british bulldogs’dve looked a total ponce( Mitchel, 7).” Here, he shows his reasoning for playing the game despite his hatred of it; he plays in order to avoid looking bad in his society or like a “ponce”. Thus, he shows how his actions represent his need to conform to society because he is constantly trying to make them agreeable to society. Furthermore, later in the book, he says that “The
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Literature in the Lives of Allison and Her Father

    A llison's need to find the truth and show things for what they are is contrasted with her fathers need to alter the perception of things and lie in order to fit his world to his coveted reality. This takes many forms. One way it is depicted is through their aesthetic. Where Allison likes a plain design where you get what you see, her father likes things to be placed or added or garnished just right to make it seem a certain way. Another way this is represented is through the roles literature plays in Allison and her father's life. Where Allision seems to use literature to depict and make sense of the world around her, her father seems to use literature to change himself and the world around him.       When using literature as a way of figuring out their identity, one can see Allison stay true to her inclination for a more ungarnished straight forward design by choosing to read nonfiction. With nonfiction books, there are just facts and usually not many extraneous details
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The society of those who have a problem with society

Throughout the book Esther seems to portray people as representations of stereotypes within society such as Betsy the corn Girl, who follows the rules and wants to get married or Doreen who does not follow the rules and parties on the underside of New York. In the hospital Esther seems to meet people who are representative of categories of people who have had problems with society. These include, Mrs. Norris, who completely shuts herself off from society, Valarie who tries to hide from society and Joan who tries to assimilate back into society. When Esther First meet Mrs. Norris, she quickly mentions Mrs. Norris's lack of response to Esther or anyone around her. After introducing herself, Esther explains that in response “The women didn’t stir, just stared up at the ceiling"(Plath, 213). Furthermore, Esther recounts Mrs. Norris’s lack of response to the cook who mentioned that Mrs. Norris was an hour early for dinner; “Mrs. Norris didn’t answer, she just stared ahead of her in
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When things go south, do the ducks go too?

    I think that the question about where the ducks go in winter could be a metaphor for Holden wondering, where does one go when one’s not happy with the world around them. More specifically, I think winter may represent growing up and how grown up life seems to Holden. I think he wonders, when all the good things are covered in snow and the world looks the same, and the other animals are nowhere to be found, where do the ones with the means to go, go? Do they fly away to somewhere warmer, forever running from change. Do they hibernate, close their eyes to the world around them, and keep their heads down, pretending to be apart of a world where they do not feel they belong. I think that Holden relates to the ducks. I think that he is caught up in a world where he does not feel he belongs. Just like the ducks always wanting to be where it is spring, Holden wants to remain immature. He runs from one school to the next,  just like ducks from the winter, his serial kicking-outs  shown by
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