Maria's Blog
Journal Entries:
On the pages, 5 and 6 of the novel Tuck Everlasting, the author described the difference between both sides of the woods. In one direction, where the cows lived. It was calm, relaxed and peaceful. Then on the other part of the wood, it was noisy, dusty and risky. On this road, there was a house that stood alone. Individuals who passed the house usually were terrified of it. “On the left side stood the first house, a square and solid cottage with a touch-me-not appearance…”, the house was spooky and with rare visitors (Babbitt, 2007, p.6). Also, the author compares how different were the wood and the town. Wood is relaxed, pleasant, tranquil, slow, and infinite. Easiness dissolves; it becomes abruptly, uncomfortably hot, oppressive, ragged, forlorn, square and solid. The author transmitted us that the two roads were completely distinct. Additionally, the author included foreshadowing because she described only the house, the jailhouse, the wood and the gallows. This told us that something was going to happen during the story that had to do with the buildings and the wood. Another thing I noticed was that she wanted to show that the wood had something suspicious. Some evidence of this is “And then it went on again and came at last to the wood. But reaching the shadows of the first tree, it veered sharply, swung out in a wide arc as if, for the first time, it had a reason to think where it was going, and passed around” (Babbitt, 2007, p.6).
In chapter 8 of the novel Tuck Everlasting, the Tucks revealed their immortality to Winnie. Even though she just met them, Winnie felt as if she was part of something. Although Winnie was kidnapped by the Tucks, she felt welcome. Her family always told her that she was going to feel nervous and scared, but she didn’t feel like this at all. Winnie felts safe. She never screamed for help. “It was so good, in fact, that through it all, not one of them noticed that the man in the yellow suit, had crept up to the bushes by the stream and heard it all, the whole fantastic story” (Babbitt, 2007, p.45), this is an evidence that Winnie didn’t felt in danger. He could have yelled for help, since she knew the man in the yellow suit.
I didn’t relate completely to how Winnie felt. If I positioned myself in Winnie’s shoes I would be scared and terrified. I would have tried to escape. I also wouldn’t have felt special at all, since they were a family completely not normal. I would have ran away to my parents right away when I saw Jesse. Even though I don’t share any feeling with Winnie during that scene, I do have emotions in common outside of the book. I usually feel welcome when I am with my parents, as she did with the Tucks.
“How do you want to Feel” by Laura Jane Williams, is a blog where she shared her opinion of how she would like to feel. When I read this text, it reminded me of when I was younger. The old days when I was insecure and unsure of myself and my feelings. Ever since then I always proposed to myself to learn how to admit my vulnerabilities and how to overcome them.
The first thing that came to my mind was that I have a lot in common with the blog. In the first part of the blog she told us a story of her friend. The moment I read it the image of me playing my instruments and soccer came to my mind.
When you first meet people they usually ask you what are your hobbies, well in my case I have three, playing the violin, piano and soccer. Normally people react telling me how weird is the combination between them, since I play the violin and the piano that are calm and beautiful and soccer that is aggressive. That happened with her friend. He wanted to be a rock star but studied medicine. She says that both of his hobbies had a special part in his life, “The two things – music and medicine – feed the same part of him.” (Williams, 2015, p.2). This relates to me because music and soccer maybe be different but, what I feel when I practice them is what is most important. As she said, “If we chase theintangible feeling, rather than the concrete thing, we might get a whole lot closer to that sigh of satisfaction as we close our eyes at night.” (Williams, 2015, p.2).
Doing my hobbies make me feel calm and I get transported to a whole new place that give me peace and silence. I feel special like Winnie did around the Tucks. “And the way that they spoke to her, the way they looked at her, made her feel special” (Babbitt, 2007, p.44). Calm, welcomed, special, accepted, peaceful, secure, and positive, are the ways I would like to feel.
In the novel, Mae, Tuck and Jesse talked to Winnie and explained her their point of view of what happened to them. The three of them had totally different perspectives of immortality, but still they have to live with what they have.
Mae perspective in the novel differed to Tuck’s and Jesse point of view because she thought that they should live their life normally and that it doesn’t matter how short or how long it might be. Mae stated, “Life’s got to be lived, no matter how long or how short” (Babbitt, 2007, p.54). She also says that even though they don’t know or understand if it is a blessing or a curse that they still have to deal with it. “We don’t deserve no blessings-if it is a blessing. And, likewise, I don’t see how we deserve to be cursed, if it’s a curse. Still- there is no use trying to figure why things fall the way they do” (Babbitt, 2007, p.55). She also said that she didn’t feel alone. Even though her to sons, Miles and Jesse, go to work and come back after a while. Mae said, “Tuck and me, we got each other…” (Babbitt, 2007, p.54). As a conclusion, we can say that she thought about is as something that happened and that they had to live with it.
“But dying is part of the wheel, right there next to being born. You can’t pick out the pieces you like and live the rest”, said Tuck (Babbitt,2007, p.63), He thought that their deathless life was bad. Tuck described it as something he wouldn’t wish to anyone. He also stated that if he had the chance of changing their immortal life he would, “It don’t make sense. If I knowed how to climb back on the wheel, I’d do it in a minute” (Babbitt,2007, p.64). Tuck felt that the way they were was worthless, “Living’s heavy work, but off to one side, the way we are is useless, too” (Babbitt,2007, p.63). Tuck wished he could grow again even if it meant to die “I want to grow again, he said fiercely, and change. And if that means I got to move on at the end of it, then I want that, too”, said Tuck (Babbitt,2007, p.64). As a conclusion, Tuck believed that their everlasting life was bad or a curse.
Different from the rest Jesse thought of their endless life was positive and useful. He even proposed to Winnie to wait until she was seventeen and drink the water. So, they could h=get married. He thought of it as something convenient that they had. Jesse told Mae, Miles and Tuck that they really didn’t know how to take advantage of it. Jesse said, “Listen Ma and Pa and Miles, they don’t know how to enjoy it, what we got.” (Babbitt, 2007, p.72). Jesse also believed that life was to enjoy. Instead of them working and coming back home. They should travel and experience things. “Why, heck, Winnie, life’s to enjoy yourself, isn’t it?”, he told Winnie. (Babbitt, 2007, p.72). Besides that, when Winnie and Jesse first met, he told her his point of view. “Just think of all the things we’ve seen in the world! All the things we’re going to see!” (Babbitt, 2007, p.43), he explained. This proved that Jesse sees immortality as something good. Additionally, he stated, “Oh, stuff, said Jesse with a shrug. We might as well enjoy it, long as we can’t change it. You don’t have to be such a parson all the time” (Babbitt, 2007, p.43). After we read this we can conclude that Jesse looked at it as something useful and wonderful.
All three thought differently about eternal life. When I compared and placed myself in their shoes. My point of view related to the three of them. I agreed with Mae, that they still had to move on. Because even though they had all the time they want, they couldn’t be worried and sad about something that could be a blessing. They should have stopped worrying. I also agreed with Tuck. I wouldn’t have taken the opportunity, because then life would have no purpose. Why would I wake up if I have all the time left to do it? Then come Jesse’s perspective. I agreed a little bit with Jesse because, life is not that easy. You need to work and take care of yourself. All though I think that you should also have fun in life. Basically, I agreed with each and every one of them.
To finalize, the three characters from the novel had different points of view regarding their endless life. Jesse, thought that it is wonderful and an advantage. Then Mae, believed that they should had lived more and worried less. And finally Tuck felt like it was something awful and he didn’t wish anyone had to go through that.
In the novel, the author used the name the man in the yellow suit, to describe mysteriousness and danger. The man in the yellow suit used a bright yellow suit, as its name suggested. The author wanted to make the character stand out. If you analyzed the character, he was unique and rare. In any other movie or book is hard to find another character like this. Also, the author wanted to emphasize the characters personality. The color yellow represents caution, sickness, and jealousy. This relates to man in the yellow suit because he was jealous from the Tucks. They had the spring and he didn’t.
He used a bright yellow suit with a black hat. He had a long chin, that faded off into a thin beard. The man had grey hair and thin legs. In the novel, they described him as, “His long chin faded off into a thin, apologetic beard, but his suit was a jaunty yellow that seemed to glow a little in the fading light” (Babbitt, 2007, p.4). Also, the man in the yellow suit had a suspicious way of been. For example, I noticed in page 97 that usually he smiled every time he was going to propose somethings that benefited him. In the book it states, “The man in the yellow suit smiles” (Babbitt,2007, p.97). Another characteristic of the man is that he had very good strategies and he was astute. This implied that he was good making deals. He usually looked for the persons low point to get what he wants. For example, he used the spring as the Tucks vulnerability and Winnie for the Fosters.
Every one of us, thinks of ourselves differently. The man in the yellow suit had a high self-esteem. He believed that he was better than most people. He considered himself as someone who deserved everything. For example, he wanted the spring because he felt that he earned the land and that he worked a lot for it. Some evidence of this is, “Ignorant people like you should never have the opportunity. It should be kept for… certain others. And for me” (Babbitt, 2007, p.98). In this quote, the man in the yellow suit told the Tucks that they didn’t deserve the land, but he did. So, this explains that he had a high self-esteem.
The man in the yellow suit wanted to be worthy and well known. His ambitions were to get the wood and find the spring. To sell the water and become rich. In the novel he said, “But I’m not going to sell it to just anybody, he protested. Only to certain people, people who deserve it. And it will be very, very expensive” (Babbitt, 2007, p.97). This explained that he wanted to get the wood and the spring so, he could sell the water and get rich. The man in the yellow suit would do whatever it took to get what he wanted. In the novel, he took the Tuck’s and the Foster’s weakness to get the wood and the spring. In the Foster’s case, he uses Winnie as their fragile point. He told the Foster that he knew where Winnie was, “That’s right, said the man in the yellow suit. I know where she is” (Babbitt, 2007, p. 73). And for the Tucks he used the spring, since they were really scared of someone discovering the secret. With ambition he stated, “Like all magnificent things, it’s very simple. The wood-and the spring-belong to me now”, this tells us that he managed to get the things he wanted, the spring and the wood (Babbitt, 2007, p.97). This tells us that he got what he wanted.
The man in the yellow suit was very passionate of what he wants. He did whatever it took to accomplish his goals. But something that bothered him was not getting what he wanted. For example, he told the Tucks that he was trying to find the immortal family that his grandmother told him about. He lasted years of looking, he studied all type of things. He studied philosophy, metaphysics and a bit of medicine. He told them, “I nearly gave it up. It began to seem ridiculous, and a waste of time” (Babbitt, 2007, p.95). This says to us that he is passionate and that even though he almost gave it up he found them. This means that the man in the yellow suit got frustrated when he didn’t achieve what he desired.
If I was to compare the man in the yellow suit with a historical character, I would choose Trujillo. Trujillo was a dictator of the Dominican Republic. He governed the Dominican Republic from 1930 to 1961. One of the things they had in common was that both of they were killed. The man in the yellow suit was killed by Mae when she hit him with the gunshot, “Mae had killed the man in the yellow suit” (Babbitt, 2007, p. 109). Trujillo on the other hand was killed by some man that were against his government. Also, their attitude is similar. Trujillo was a good deal maker, as well as the man in the yellow suit. Trujillo manage to become a dictator and lasted 31 years ruling. As well as Trujillo, the man in the yellow suit, made his way up to get what he wanted. He wanted to become wealthy and powerful. Another thing that they have in common is that both of them wanted to have money and authority. But, the man in the yellow suit didn’t get rich because he got killed. Instead Trujillo did get power. To conclude the man in the yellow suit and Trujillo have a lot in common.
In the novel Mae and Winnie had to make some hard choices that would change their life forever. In Winnie’s case, she chose to replace Mae from the jailhouse, so that the secret wouldn’t go out. Winnie told Jesse this, “Tell your father that I want to help. I have to help” (Babbitt, 2007, p. 115). This is what Winnie told Jesse the day before she took the decision of taking Mae’s place. Another decision Winnie took was not to drink the water from the spring that Jesse gave her. She gave it to the toad. In the novel, it describes the moment as, “Winnie pulled up the cork from the mouth of the bottle, and kneeling, she poured the precious water, very slowly and carefully, over the toad” (Babbitt, 2007, p. 132).
On the other side Mae also took many decisions. She chose to hit the man in the yellow suit with the shot gun. “Mae had killed the man in the yellow suit”, this explains that Mae decided to kill the man in the yellow suit to protect Winnie. She protected Winnie in a way that other people wouldn’t do. She sacrifices herself and went to jail because of her actions.
If I was to choose to live eternally and be normal. I would decide to be normal and die someday. I would prefer this because if I was immortal I wouldn’t have a point in waking up. Life would have no point. I wouldn’t have goals and I wouldn’t try my best in everything I do. To conclude, I would be a normal human been that would die someday.
Life Must come to an End
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Life must come to an end.
Live each day as if your last,
This is something you have to comprehend,
Cause life goes by fast.
If we wouldn’t die,
Life would have no purpose,
And we will never say goodbye,
To our loved ones.
Say hello to each day with a smile,
And leave your sad moments in the past.
Run it as if it is your last mile.
Make each moment count.