I reacted so strongly to the
responsibility of the main character, Ree. She took on the role of the mother and father. I have been
there. My parents divorced and even though my brother was older I became the
man of the house. I fixed things kept an eye on my brother.
I love that the gender roles come out of
the box in the story. Ree teaches her brothers how to shoot, hunt and cook. At
the same time the men in the extended family do treat her like a stupid girl
but she tries to stand on her own two feet. She takes on the full responsibility of the house, even trying
to hunt down her irresponsible crack-making father. She tries to keep the
burden off her mentally unstable mother, and brother by keeping everything to
herself and trying to handle it all by herself.
I’m sure we all feel at some point that
taking all the responsibility on ourselves is the best thing. There have been
many times for me. It seems kinder. Trying to just do the right thing keep
everyone you love, as happy and healthy as possible.
Tribulation for love.. I guess that is how I would describe it. Taking one for the team. Responsibility that she neither anticipated or desired.
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I like your outlook on the book. I connected strongly with the main character as well simply by having many responsibilities myself. I think that at some point trying to take on all the responsibility for yourself will eventually fail. I think that eventually the person will break or the constant stress, pressure, and responsibility will manifest itself someway negatively. People weren't meant to carry such heavy burdens alone. I think it can be done for a period perhaps without effects, but eventually they will come in one way or another. I enjoyed your post a lot!
ReplyDeleteI saw the gender role pop out in the book as well. I think when people are forced to the brink of hunger and poverty, the drive to survive kicks in, no matter what your gender is. I would agree that Ree did not desire the responsibilities she had, but I am sure at some point she anticipated. Having been raised by a family of meth dealers, her life was never easy to say the least. And I'm sure her definition of easy would not compare to mine and yours. I think at some point we all take on great responsiblity, perhaps not as much as Ree's, so I think that helps readers to connect with her character. But great job on your post, it was good!
ReplyDelete-Kyle Audis
I think you did a really good job on finding the connection between the book and your own life, and finding connections between other readers and the story. I think that Ree is a really strong character and it's amazing how she never gives up. I liked that you talked about how she acts like the man of the house and even takes care of her family with that in mind.
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