The strange intelligence of Old Nick

One aspect of the first few chapters of Room that stood out to me was the sort of twisted smartness that Old Nick was described with. Although most criminals would be smart enough to trick someone unknowing into getting into their car. It seems sort of strange that he would be willing to go to such lengths just to kidnap someone. The two situations that this would be realistic in would be if it was just a plot device to make Jack have to be the one who helped get out, or if he took pride in planning everything out and being able to utilize all his tools.

In terms of why he is smart, we see this first in terms of his renovations to the shed. He puts basically a foot of soundproof padding in, along with all the necessities for daily life and some more including a tv. He seems to take into account that the mental health of the person he kidnaps has to be sort of stable or none of this would be worth it, but we don't really know his motivations. The garden shed also has the fence so that you couldn't cut your way out of it and other protections including the door lock.

In addition to the physical restrictions that Nick has placed on these people, he also has a strong mental grasp on Ma and many cards to play if they try to deceive him or revolt against their capture. He can starve them, cut off the electricity, and not bring them and food or other necessities. He is also much stronger physically than the undernourished victims as can be seen in how Ma's wrist gets broken after she tries to overpower him. With Jack in the equation, the threat of him getting hurt is also a card that Nick can play and something that Ma is very worried about. He never really has to play this card, but the fact that it is there is such a large factor in how he keeps them in check. Ma is in such a state that she basically needs Jack to stay mentally functioning, and although Nick probably doesn't want her in a suicidal state, shes want Jack to stay alive and with her more than she thinks about Nick objectives and the fact that Nick would probably not hurt Jack to a very severe extent.

All of these above factor coupled with Nick also trying to get favor with Jack in some ways, as with the jeep, paint a very complex picture of the victims relationship with their captor. Although Nick is definitely in the wrong, he seems to be able to think through enough that he doesn't get caught until Ma uses Jack to outsmart him. 

Thoughts on the ending of Memory of Running

Although there were mixed reactions to the ending of this book, I thought it was fairly good. One point that might be argued against it is the cheesiness of the ending, and the sort of perfectly fitting and almost creepy appearance of Norma when Smithy is with Bethany. I think that this ending works, with Smithy's incredibly bad luck it feels like something good should happen to him and Norma showing up seems to fill that hole.

I think the ending also resolves Bethany's narrative fairly well. Although I would have liked more explanation about what happened between when she left and her death, but her family doesn't know so it makes sense that we don't get the whole picture. In addition, Smithy is able to distance himself and move on from his sister's presence, and this is shown through his taking her advice and moving away from being fat as well as her disappearing into the clouds.

The Norma/"I love you" story line also finished up pretty well. We get the culmination of all the phone calls and near "love" drops, but the way the book ends really solidifies it and makes you certain that their relationship is progressing in some way. I enjoyed that there was something here that Smithy could look forward to in terms of someone who can understand where he comes from and support him after the has pretty much lost everything.

Overall, I like this ending because is shows us that Smithy has something good happen to him after everything that he has been through. It also gives us some understanding of what this journey gave him. 

Cash as a hero

In As I Lay Dying, Cash is arguably the most rational of the Bundren's and experiences a large amount of development over the course of the novel. He is one of the most Heroic characters in the novel throughout, in both his work and how he deals with the troubles that arise over the trip to town.

In the beginning of the book our impression of Cash is one of a very hardworking individual, the one with the best chance of being successful in life. We first get glimpses of his heroism when he builds Addie's coffin without stopping. Although it may seem like he is being insensitive, I believe that he is actually just trying to distract himself from the grief by working very hard, and that kind of release is pretty admirable.

Later in the book, Cash is heroic in his unwavering lack of notice that he puts towards his injury. Cash seems to know that complaining about his leg would make things worse for the whole family, so he endures that pain, saying that it doesn't hurt much, and makes them continue on the journey.

Cash also develops a lot during the journey. During the beginning he is wholly focused on building the coffin, but by the end of the book he turns into one of the most reliable narrators in the book. Cash manages to survive the whole journey, never complaining, and even questions some of the decisions of the other family members. One example of this is how he wonders if sending Darl away was really the correct choice to make.

Cash also is one of the members of the family who actually comes away with something, the "graphaphone". I think this suggests that he is more heroic because he did come out with something through a large amount of struggle and hard work, and because he lost a large amount of ability in one of his legs.

Overall, Cash is one of the most heroic characters in the novel and deserve the recognition that he gets by the end of the book as the main narrator. 

Addie and religion

In a society where religion is a very important part if everyday life, Addie seems to have some out of the ordinary viewpoints. What struck me most was when Addie said something along the lines of, to those whom sin was just a matter of words, salvation was just a matter of words too.

We get a picture of Addie that is very interesting, expressing ideas that she really had no other options in her life, but to go with this we find that she is a pretty smart woman and this is complimented by her views on religion. Addie doesn't seem religious, but she understands religion on a more  fundamental level than the other women in the society.

Instead of blindly following prayers, and praying for others as Cora does when she thinks people are blind to sin, Addie knows that religion isn't much more than fancy words just being thrown around. She understand that sin isn't something that can be described in words. There is something more fundamental there that can't be expressed if you are so focused on prayer, and to compliment this she thinks that salvation can't be that simple either.

I believe much of this is coming from her disillusionment with religion as she had an affair with the local religious authority, and this provides us with this woman who can be seen as even more distinct from the other farmer's wives. Not only because she has interesting views on child rearing, but because she doesn't blindly follow religion when many were illiterate and thought that  religion could make their lives much better. Addie doesn't turn to religion to make her life better. She puts it off as mostly words spoken by people with no real meaning.

I think that Addie has an interesting view on religion, but it would be cool to see the other character's views on it. We  know Anse can philosophize so his religious experience would be nice to look at. I think Cash would also be interesting to find more out about as we already know he is very rational. Overall, it would be interesting to find out this particular family's view on religion.

Anse as a Hero

In As I Lay Dying, the picture we get of Anse is not very heroic. I don't think Anse really represents a hero even though he is going through a journey. So far it hasn't really changed him or helped anyone other than him.

First off, Anse doesn't even take the lead in this journey that he proposed. He seems to be the only one who pushes for the journey, but during the travel he is often letting Jewel lead the wagon and the mules. If Anse took lead of the journey, I think that would make him more admirable, as it would lead you to believe that he could actually do something if he tried and would show that he has some sort of determination to do something even if he refuses to work.

To further push Anse into the role of not being a hero, his motives for making the journey to town are questionable. Throughout the book he keeps mentioning the teeth that he hasn't had for year and that if he goes to town he will be able to get them. Although all the other characters have their own reasons for going to town, Anse seems the most deliberate in stating the he is just fulfilling Addie's wishes when in fact the is also fulfilling his wishes. None of the kids say that they are helping Addie, they are just following what their father is telling them and they can get to town as a by-product of that.

Anse is also very stubborn about this trip when it is evidently a very bad idea. Both bridges are flooded, people get injured, everyone else is telling them not to go and they don't really have enough money to support the trip. In general, I think that the children are more heroic than Anse in this story, as they have to struggle through the same hardships as Anse, but they try to solve their own problems. This can especially be seen in how Vardaman is figuring out what death is when he just lost a mother and almost everything that can be going wrong is. 

Telemachus' dynamic character

Telemachus is one of the most dynamic characters we have seen in the whole book so far. His character not only starts out as fairly pathetic but gains a large amount of confidence and respectability by the point we have read up to now.

Telemachus starts out moping in his house contemplating whether his father will actually return home and not really doing anything substantive. The main good quality that we see he has at this point is the fact that he completely follows the laws of hospitality. He welcomes his guests without any qualms and doesn't even want to hear what he is there about until he has been welcomed.

We first see Telemachus' development with Athena prodding him to go and visit the other islands/states to learn more about where is father is. Although Athena helps him, Telemachus does a large amount of the work himself in terms if the talking and interacting with others.

We really see most of his development in the few chapters where he meets his father. First, he is able to come up with a plan with his dad and begins to put it into motion. There is no  hesitation in him helping his dad with the arms or him not telling his mother or any others what is happening. Telemachus also starts to stand up to the suitors. At one point he threatens to pull his sword out and go at them, but he is laughed at. Although he is laughed at, the fact that he still has the courage to say something like that shows a large amount of character  development.

Overall, Telemachus is one of the more developed characters and we can see this in many ways. It will be interesting to see how he develops in the remaining few chapters of the book.

Odysseus' Heroic Qualities

Odysseus doesn't seem to have many heroic qualities showcased in the first half of the story. He is unfaithful, shows off his power and strength, which ends up hurting him and his troops, and doesn't work that much to get what he wants, in the case of him sleeping during the whole trip from Scheria to Ithaca. One classic heroic trait that he does seem to have is ability to strategize and win battles.

We first see this in the fact that Odysseus basically won the Trojan War for the Greeks. His strategy that entailed acting like the Greeks had left and sending a giant horse into the city, which was designed to look like an offering to Poseidon, and then sack the city from the inside was pretty ingenious. Odysseus also is one of the more respected people during the war, further complimenting his strategic talent.

We can also see Odysseus' strategies taking effect when he has to escape from the cyclops' cave. Although being caught in the cave was his own fault and overconfidence at work, Odysseus is able to get out of the cave successfully by basically drugging the cyclops and then disguising him and his men as sheep.

Odysseus also is fairly strategic in his speech and what he says to people. One example of this is when he convinces Nausicaa to help him while convincing her with words and staying far away instead of trying to beg at her knees. He also is able to convince many others to help him, and this diplomatic skill can also be seen as heroic as he doesn't need to rely on force to get what he wants. His diplomatic skill can also be seen in how Telemachus has similar abilities, in addition to the other ways that he resembles Odysseus.

Overall, Odysseus is not heroic in many of his traits, but he is able to lead people to victory very successfully even with limited options, as with the cyclops. The scale of victories he is able to pull can be seen with his contribution to the Trojan War. His diplomatic skill can also be seen as heroic and thus Odysseus has at least a few heroic qualities to him.