Creative: The Road

Dear The Boy, I want to tell you that I am very proud of you.  You are a very strong boy to have made it this far in such a destroyed world.  You stayed extremely ethical throughout your whole journey, when you didn’t want to take things from others houses because you knew that meant you were stealing from them.  You are very mature for your age, but we both know that is because of what all you have been through.  You asked very mature questions to your father, asking if you were going to live or die and faced the fear that you actually might die.  I’m sure it was very hard when you Papa died.  I know it made you sad and you felt alone.  But know that your with the new family, you need to make everything out of your life that you can as the world is put back together.  You need to stick with this new family, but remain a “good guy”.  Please don’t forget how you were with your father and always wanted to do the right thing, for example when you wanted to help the old man that got struck by lightning.  I don’t want you to lose yourself in survival and lose the things you stand for that makes you a good guy.  Don’t start eating people even if this new family you are with starts too.  I hope you stick to your values and find safe places and good food, just like when you found the underground cabin with all the crates of food and a safe place to sleep.  Continue to talk to the woman about God and learn more about Him.  He will benefit your life in so many ways.  Also don’t forget about your dad, continue to talk to him anytime you miss him.  I hope the world turns around for you and that you and this new family are the start of a new community.  And this new community will start the new society in this new world.  Keep praying to God and talking to your father and also always remain to carry the fire.
I’m so proud of you,
Mallory

Mini Literary Analysis: Peace like a River - How is Jeremiah a Christ figure?

Jeremiah Land plays a huge role in this book; he is the father and the head of his family.  Jeremiah is mostly seen as a Christ figure in this book for multiple reasons.  But first I want to look at some of the characteristics of a Christ figure.  Some characteristics are temptation, miracles, teaching sacrifice and an outcast.  These are the main ones that I feel Jeremiah Land and a Christ figure have in common.  First, I am going to start off with miracles.  As we see over and over in the book Jeremiah performs miracles.  The very first story told in this book is a miracle.  This miracle is performed on Reuben by Jeremiah.  This miracle happens in the hospital when Reuben was born.  The doctor, Dr. Nokes, tells Jeremiah that his son is not breathing.  After he was born he was not breathing and it had been twelve minutes so the doctor said that Reuben would be brain dead even if he did start to breath, but Jeremiah kept persisting.  Jeremiah said “Reuben Land, in the name of the living God I am telling you to breath” (Enger, p.3).  After this Rueben goes on telling his own story, which clearly explains that he started breathing and does not have brain damage.  He does however have weak lungs but they still work on a day to day basis although it does get hard for him at times, he has asthma.  Another characteristic I wanted to point out is teaching.  Jeremiah is always teaching his children, especially through example.  He is a great father to them and shows them the Lord and the wonder of his ways through his miracles he does through Christ and by taking them to church.  As we look at temptation I see that in how he held back from getting revenge to the two boys that Davy eventually killed.  Jeremiah definitely did the right thing by turning the other cheek but I’m sure that when he went home and his door had been painted black when they took Swede he wanted to get revenge on them.  I would think that the devil tempted him with wanting to do something bad to those boys but Jeremiah chose to ignore it which was the right thing to do.  Next one I want to discuss is outcast.  I believe that Jeremiah was treated as an outcast when he was a janitor.  I think all janitors are treated badly and are thought to be very low on the social ladder.  Especially after Davy murders the two boys, Jeremiah is definitely treated as an outcast in his job by his boss.  They treated him like he was dirt and made his do the dirtiest jobs that he had never done before and certainly made him feel like an outcast.  The last Christ characteristic I want to point out is sacrifice.  Just as God gave the ultimate sacrifice to us being his son and had him crucified, Jeremiah also crucified his life.  At the end of the story Waltzer shoots Jeremiah and then shoots Reuben in the chest.  Jeremiah and Reuben meet each other in this unknown place and there is where Reuben runs free with no breathing problems.  Reuben was truly supposed to be the one that lost his life that day, but in turn Jeremiah gave up his life so Reuben could live.  Not only did Reuben just live but he lived with absolutely no breathing or lung problems.  Jeremiah was definitely a Christ figure in this book.  

Work Cited
Enger, Leif. Peace like a river . New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2001. Print.

Reflective: The Road I

The reading of “The Road” part one definitely challenged my understanding of things in a way that I didn’t imagine.  It challenged me because I have never thought about what if I had to live with nothing and had nothing.  I would be completely lost without a family and shelter and food.  In class we talked about the shopping cart and how that was not just something they put their stuff in but it was their home, their car and their safety.  The point that I connected to the text was when the boy got very sentimental over the old man who was struck by lightning.  I am a very sentimental person and I can see why he wanted to help the old man.  But I can also see from the Mans point of view of why they could not stop to help him, because they would also die.  This story has already contributed to my future.  It has showed me to not take for granted what I have now.  Of course, I’ve always heard that but for some reason this story is already very powerful and teaches you to not take your life for granted because you never know when it will disappear right in front of you.  I think this text can relate to our culture by teaching our culture something.  In this generation we have so many things that we want and need and spend hundreds of dollars on an iPod or phone that we don’t really need.   Our culture is a selfish culture and I believe that whoever has the opportunity to read this book will appreciate the little things more.  Just little things like having a Coke.  The boy in the text was given a Coke by the man and the boy thought it was the sweetest thing he has ever tasted, but us in the world now; we see a hundred Cokes a day just sitting in drink machines and being thrown out.  So it’s just something as simple as a Coke that can be the highlight of someone’s life, but to us it is just something that is always around.  I am enjoying this book so far and hoping it makes me live my life to the fullest because I have all the resources to do so unlike the man and the boy in the book. 

Creative: Peace Like a River II

Dear Davy,

Dad, Reuben and I really miss you! Every time I see the saddle you give me I think of you.  I know the day you had trail was a hard day for you, but why didn’t you show any remorse? you might would have gotten out of jail.  I understood why you broke out of jail.  You had no other option.  Everyone was against you and no one was giving you a fair shot.  But once I heard you escaped, I knew you wouldn’t be caught, not my brother, no one can catch him.  Dad got really sick over Christmas.  He wasn’t doing well for a while.  I nursed him back to health while Rueben would was tearing down a corncrib to help out and gain some extra cash.  We really missed you over Christmas though, it was a great one.  We had a Christmas dinner that was too big for anyone to eat, all made by me.  You would have loved it.  I wonder if you’re hungry where you are, I hope not.  But after dad got sick he has become very thin now.  We thought of moving to New Mexico where the air is a lot dryer and would be easier for dad and Rueben to breathe but we didn’t want to leave in case you came back looking for us.  But the best thing we got for Christmas was an Airstream.  Dad had prayed for a way to find you and Mr. Lurvy got sick and wanted us to have his Airstream.  We sold things from the house and dad has been doing odd jobs to make a little extra cash for us to come look for you.  That’s right! we are coming to look for you.  Oh, but there is a man named Mr. Andreeson out looking for you, he is a federal agent, so watch out for him because he wants to take you back to jail.  So we finally decide to take off in our Airstream.  Our first stop is August and Birdie’s home.  They are such nice people but they say that Andreeson has been there already too.  But Mr. and Mrs. Schultz said that you were there at their house.  But you didn’t stay for long because you know people  are looking for you.  But I just wanted to say that I hope we find you and that I miss you very very much!

Love Always,

 your sister, Swede.

Creative: Every Trip is a Quest (except when its not)

Let’s say that hypothetically there is a girl named Lindsey White who at the age of seventeen.  She gets to her high school every morning by walking.  When she walks to school she has to get up at 5AM.  She lives in Massachusetts so it is usually always snowing.  Since it is snowing she has to make sure she is warm enough so she doesn’t get frost bite.  Once she finally gets to school and in her class she takes off her coat and everyone sees she is wearing the same clothes she had on the day before.  As she sits in class waiting for it to start, she looks out the window and sees Tracy Zimcolua get out of her nice brand new Mercedes with her big fluffy coat on made out of rabbit fur.  Tracy is head of the cheerleaders and would never be caught talking to Lindsey.  Lindsey goes to school to get her education so she can be the first one in her family to graduate.  She takes great pride that she has made it this far in her education.  She has promised herself that her children will not have to go through the same thing she is going through by walking three hours to school and freezing the whole time and loosing feeling in her feet.  After school Lindsey also works a job at the pet store cleaning up after all the animals.  Every time she passes Tracy in the hall she is a little jealous of her because she is always warm and drives up in her brand new car and has never had to work a day in her life.  But in the end Lindsey will be rewarded because she will know the value of hard work and how to keep going when you have trails. 

If you did not notice, that was a quest.  The quester was Lindsey.  Her place to go to was to school.  Her stated reason to go there was for her education.  Her challenges and trails were the things she faced everyday like having to walk to school while it was freezing outside.  Her real reason to get go to school was so that her children will not have to go through the same thing she is going through now.