Ray Bradbury Interviews

Ray Bradbury's interviews showed a lot about his writings. They show the feelings coming from his heart and how they were poored into his books.
Bradbury was trying to show in his book Fahrenheit 451 that television was taking away peoples imagination and their ability to think for themselves. Television or "walls" took away peoples desire to read to look beyond the surface of things in life, it took away peoples ability to be content with the smallest things in the world. "Clarisse was the essence of life and love," Bradbury said, and this is shown completely by the way that Montag feels about Clarisse. Most things that Montag brings up that is meaningful he relates back to Clarisse showing how that she is tied to all these things. In Fahrenheit 451 the absence of books makes the people seem as if they have nothing to live for and once Montag finds the meaning of these books he starts to have a joy and reason for life.
Bradbury was very effective in this book and makes the reader really look at things in life today that might be a hinderence to our values in life. Today we have more than television, we have phones, computers, internet, ipods, ect. and with all these different technologies in our lives it seems like some of us dont have time for anything else or time to "stop and smell the roses". Bradbury brings this point across so well in his books and his interview was so great to see how he spoke about these feelings and not just read them from a page.

Farenheit 451

Ray Bradbury catches his readers attention by showing how an everyday thing would be missed if taken away. Reading and books are what he draws our attention to in Fahrenheit 451 he shows how people like Montag start to lose their values of life. He forgets to look around at the amazing world surrounding him and enjoying the small things in life like looking for the man in the moon or tasting the rain. Clarisse is the essence of life and love in this novel and Montag is privileged to find this essence.
Faber was a stepping stone for Montag which helped him to start having a mind of his own and start wondering about what was in the books he was burning. Faber gave Montag the kindling for his fire, he gave him the curiosity and desire to know what was beyond the cover of the book. Faber is also what keeps Montag going after he finds there is no one else to go to for understanding after he lost Clarisse.
Montag realizes that there are more than one fire in this world and finds what they are when he takes the path of Clarisse. There are different types of fire that can give off different types of feelings and different reactions. The fire used to burn books was always very hot and gave an evil feeling to those around. This type of fire was killing the voices of people. The fire that was used to warm the homeless in the woods was welcoming and gave the feeling of secureness. This type of fire was giving Montag the ability to find his voice.
I said that Montag had found the different types of fires when he took "Clarisse's path" because as Montag walked along the railroad tracks he felt as if Clarisse had walked there once before. This may be a way to look differently at Montags journey into the forest away from those that were chasing him. Montag was running from people that wanted to kill him for having a mind of his own, like trying to find the mystery behind the cover of the books. Clarisse was also running from those in the world that wanted her to have a mind like theirs, like going to school and having to do things for someone else and not for yourself. Montag was experiencing new feelings and new things like love and joy and the taste of rain on his tongue. Clarisse was showing him how to find these new things and how to embrace them. Montag in the end was able to find his voice and to find how to carry that voice until he was able to share it but Clarisse had her voice all along and was able to share it they both needed to find a way to get people to take action though.
Fahrenheit 451 was a touching book that opened my eyes to the things in life that we take for granted or maybe that we use too much that make us lose sight of all other things in life.

To Kill A Mockingbird Part I

The character Scout was my favorite character because she is so independent and has an attitude that is fun to see come through the text. Scout reminds me of the character Huck in the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. They are both adventurous characters that like to think they could make it through life on their own sometimes.
Jem was also a really great character because he has such a calm and timid appearance. He seems like such a responsible big brother. He sounds like a boy that holds his emotions inside and then one day he blows with anger and that day happens to be focussed on Mrs. Dubose. Jem is a really polite boy and seems to take after his dad and looks up to his dad a lot.
Atticus is a gentleman raising two kids on his own. He is doing a very good job at raising his kids to stand up for what they believe in but still be peaceful and to accept other peoples opinions. Atticus is always thinking of others and making sure that others are okay but Tom Robinson's case is one time he has to put himself over his family. He knows what he is doing is right and tries to make his kids understand this and help them to withstand the taunting that they get. Atticus always has new ways of teaching his kids lessons that are really effective.
Dill is a mystery to me because I believe he is lying about his past and about where he comes from. I think that Dill may be embarrassed or ashamed of his past so he lies about it. I think Dill has a crush on Scout but cant admit it because he has to act tough. You dont know very much about Dill because he so little comes into a full picture in the book. Maybe he is a dynamic character and we will find out more about his past and who he is later in the book.

A Separate Peace

Wow! This book was pretty amazing. There were a few parts of the book that seem like rambling and didnt really interesting to me. The characters were built nicely and you get the feeling that you know the characters. Finny came across to me as a leader and Gene as a follower. Seems that everyone in the school "looks up" to Finny or has a fear of him. These characters are dynamic characters because in this book it shows the maturing of young men.
Finny was an interesting character to men because of his ways and his actions. My opinion of him changed very much throuhout the book. At first I really did not like Finny and I thought he was not good for Gene, but by the end of the book I had a love for Finny. Finny seems to be a "sweet talker" and he knows how to talk himself out many things and not get in trouble for breaking the rules.
This book has many examples of how our human nature cant leave a challenge behind. Like when Finny is wanting Gene to jump off the branch and pressures him until he does and when Finny wants Gene to go to the beach or when Gene thinks that Finny is trying to "out do" him athletic wise. After the accident when Gene and Finny are helping each other with sports and academics it made me feel good that they were using their talents to help the other instead of competing.
Gene was in a very hard place to tell Finny that he had made him fall from the tree and Finny was in a hard place to believe that his best friend had ended his sports career or his ability to be in the war.
I love the way that Knowles compares the Jeeps to adolescents. He says that the jeeps look as if they are wishing they were going 80 miles per hour instead of rolling down the dull street they are on. This is so much like young teenagers always wishing that they were going down that highway at 100 miles per hour. They are always wishing for something better than where they are in their life.

The Crucible

I cant say that I loved this book from the first page to the last because those first few pages were a nightmare to get through. I read them over and over but never really could get my interest in them good enough to comprehend it all. I really loved the book other than that! I couldnt put it down from then on even to write in my notebook about it! This book had about everything in it, it had love, drama and tradegy all in it! I think this may be why it kept my interest throughout it all.
Im not saying I liked what was happening in the book. I can't believe that these girls would have people hang because of vengeance. Abigail didnt even get what she wanted, in the end. Instead, John died and Elizabeth lived, exact opposite of what Abigail wished. I hate that Abigail felt that she owned the world and that she pretty much did because everyone listened to her and believed her.
Elizabeth, Rebecca and all the other innocent women were all in such a horrible situation because it was tell the truth and die or tell a lie and save their life! I really admire those who would not tell a lie just to live. I thought it was so sad that if you tried to save those accused you would most likely be accused of something and be hung like, John Proctor.
I dont like how that Danworth says he cant pardon the last ladies because he already hung others for the same crime. To me, if you have the chance to what is right, take it no matter how much wrong you have already done! Well I think I have said enough about how I dont like the ways the characters are in this book but I will have you know it was written very well!! :)

The Scarlet Letter

Well let me say that I liked this book, and it made me think! I really believe that the people in the book are very judgemental! They judge Hester because of her sin but do they realize that they sin and sinning by judging her? Hester tries to keep herself together and be strong in the beginning but by the time she makes it to the scaffold she breaks. I believe that adultery is wrong but Hesters sin should be between her and God not be put out there by all those around her.
I love the picture of that rose in the prison yard in the beginning and from this I got the picture of innocense or a seed of good that survived among all the bad. "The rose among the thorns." I believe that Pearl is like this little rose and her character really stood out to me throughout the book. She was so innocent but she was exposed to the world and was beginning to understand so much. It seemed her eyes were just being opened to the real world and she wasnt stopping it but, she just wanted to know more.
In the scene, where Pearl points out her mothers reflection in a piece of armor and all that you can really see is Hester's scarlet letter, it seemed to be a symbol that wherever Hester looked it seemed she was reminded of what she had done. It confused me that Hester would not want to leave the town that tortured her for her sins but in the end when Dimmesdale dies it made me believe that she just didnt want to leave because she still loved Dimmesdale and couldnt leave without him. Dimmesdale was an interesting character too. He had sinned but didnt have to be punished publically instead he was punished on the inside and he punished himself. Dimmesdale knew he had done wrong and he punished himself for it.
I thought it interesting that Pearl could feel the connection between her mother, Dimmesdale and herself. Pearl twice wanted Dimmesdale to come out with the truth and to take the punishment and scorn of the town holding her and her mothers hands. Both times he said no and she turned down his offer of kindness. Finally in the end he tells the truth to all the people and she gives him that kiss she had been wanting to give to him. The kiss was like a symbol for the gladness in Pearl that he had finally stood up and made himself known.

So this book started out very boring and very confusing for me. Actually all throughout the book there were parts that i didnt understand but once i got into it i could hardly stop. The book kept going with more and more action that kept you on your toes trying to keep track of what all was happening. I liked the character Nick because he seemed to be the only one that wasnt so snobby in the book along with Gatsby.
I thought it was confusing how that Gatsby lied about his life and in the end it didnt seem that he had that much to hide except the drug dealing. It seemed that Gatsby had a good life and was a good kid until he met up with Meyer Wolfshiem. It was interesting how that the author made the Doctor T.J Eckleburg advertisement eyes like a symbol for Gods all-seeing eyes.
Throughout the book I enjoyed a few sentences that seemed to have such a deep meaning but meanings that were too deep for me. Maybe you would know how to explain them to me? "Life is much more successfully looked at from a single window" and "So we drove on toward death through the cooling twilight." To me the second sentence was just saying that we are always going on toward death no matter how hard we try to stop time or turn it back.
Gatsby was kind of a sad character because his wealth and parties didnt buy him any friends. He had parties at his house at which he hardly 3/4 of the guests and he tried to live the past over again with Daisy in which we all know that we cant do that. Gatsby had one true friend in the whole book, Nick. Nick was really the only one that took the time to understand Gatsby and to see beyond the rumors of the city people.
I think it was different seeing all the affairs going on through the men and women of the book. Most times we dont see these types of things put out so boldy but usually hinted at but not put out in plain words. This book made no confusion there and made sure we knew who was having an affair with who.
In the end this book had a love story, murder, and a sad story in it too. Enjoyable book but some parts were sketchy and some parts seemed to have no reason. In the beginning I felt the book was explaining things that led to nowhere.