The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Ch 1-7

" Seemed like I'd die if I couldn't scratch. Well, I've noticed that thing plenty times since. If you are with the quality, or at a funeral, or trying to go to sleep when you ain't sleepy- if you are anywheres where it don't do for you to scratch, why you will itch all over in upward of a thousand places." - Pg 15

I have wondered about the same thing many times before. When it is time to do my homework or study for a test, all I want to do is play and bother my roomate =p. When I am at a place where I should not be doing homework, homework is all I can think about. When I'm in Korea, I want to be in China. When I'm in China, I want to be in Korea. Sometimes I want to get out of the community of people I see here every single day, just to have the opportunity to meet new people and not stuck in one place. But when I do, I miss the dorm, my friends at school, my teachers, and I want to go back to them. It's like in Yanji, China, when I get some kind of chocolate or candy, say... a hershey's chocolate bar from someone who has just come from the States. It is treasured. However, in Korea, where hershey's chocolate is available in many places, it is not so special. Also, for the first several years I was in China, after moving from America, I missed Taco Bell a lot. However, after going to Taco Bell when, as part of the XC team or soccer team we went to base schools, Taco Bell lost its special- ness. It is like the crystal merchant in The Alchemist who does not go to Mecca, which is his dream, because he is afraid that once he acquires his dream, it will not be special anymore. Why is this?

Maybe there is a solution. The solution is to live in the present, and to be thankful for it- everything about it. Then, if Huck is not itchy, he will not itch. However this does not mean that I will stop wanting things I do not have. I can still want a crispy cream doughnut even if i am thankful without it. Maybe if I was satisfied with everything? But there is nothing wrong with wanting something. But why do we always want things we don't have when we are not even thankful for them when we do have them? If I was thankful that I was in Korea, when I go to China, it does not mean that I will not miss Korea.

So is there a solution?

Not wanting anything would be horrible... it would be like living life in black and white. maybe gray, but no red or yellow or green or blue........................................................

Huckleberry is a smart, care-free kid like Tom. He loves being outside, sleeping under the stars more than living in a nice house in a nice room on a bed. However, he is not as imaginative as Tom, nor as courageous. I am curious to see what kind of adventures Huckleberry will go through as I continue on reading this book =]

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

I really liked this book =)

And I really liked Tom Sawyer =]

He is a character that lives every moment and makes the best of it, something I really want to learn from him.

He takes what he gets and creates something new and imaginative, knowing what he wants, and creating it.

He is a boy, full of mischief and fun & games, but he is also very mature, in the way he took responsibility for the lives of himself and for Becky Thatcher.

He accepts the situation he is in and twists it for the better.

He is always thinking positively. never negative.

He is creative, and he knows it.

He is confident.

He is not a prideful brat like Sid, but is an easy going, content, happy boy.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ~ THE END

"Wherever Tom and Huck appeared they were courted, admired, stared at. The boys were not able to remember that their remarks had possessed weight before; but now their sayings were treasured and repeated; everything they did seemed somehow to be regarded as remarkable; they had evidently lost the power of doing and saying commonplace things; moreover, their past history was raked up and discovered to bear marks of conspicuous originality. The village paper published biographical sketches of the boys...

'Tom, I wouldn't ever got into all this trouble if it hadn't a'been for that money; now you just take my sheer of it along with you'n and gimme a ten-center sometimes- not many times, becuz I don't give a dern for a thing 'thout it's tollable hard to git...'" Pg 208

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer- "A Sensation"

"When Tom awaoke in the morning, he wondered where he was. He sat up and rubbed his eyes and looked around.Then he comprehended.

It was the cool gray dawn, and there was a delicious sense of repose and peace in the deep pervaing calm and silence of the woods...

Now, far away in the woods a bird called; another answered; presently the hammering of a woodpecker was heard. Gradually the cool dim gray of the morning whitened, and as gradually sounds multiplied and life manifested itself. the marvel of nature shaking off sleep and going to work unfolded itself to the musing of the boy...

Now a procession of ants appeared, from nowhere in particular, and went about their labors; one struggled manfully by with a dead spider five times as big as itself in its arms, and lugged it straight up a tree trunk...

A tumblebug came next, heaving sturdily at is ball, and Tom touched the creature, to see it shut its legs against its body and pretent to be dead. The birds were farily rioting by this time. A catbird, the northern mocker, lit in a tree over Tom's head, and thrilled out her imitations of her neighbors in a rapture of enjoyment; then a shrill jay swept down, a flash of blue flame, and stopped on a twig almost within the boy's reach, cocked his head to one side and eyed the strangers with a consuming curiosity...

All nature was wide awake and stirring, now; long lances of sunlight pierced down through teh dense foliage far and near, and a few butterflies came fluttering into the scene."

Pg 88,89

I wish i could write like this...

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ~Ch 13

Tom has a very wild and creative imagination. This imagination is supported by his amazingly high skills in looking at one thing from many different points of view. By using his imagination and by looking at something from a different point of view, he plays with his emotions and controls them very well, according to the way that gives him the advantage. This helps him to get out of trouble with his aunt, who is very sympathetic and worried about him. With these abilities, Tom is a light that attracts many other kids. He cannot sit still for longer than a short moment and is always looking for some way to have fun. Because of this, he has several friends, who are never bored or standing around, thinking of what they can do. Tom is always full of ideas when it comes to having fun, or getting out of work.
This character keeps readers interested in this book because he is always doing interesting things. Tom is so fun to read about!

I wish I had half of Tom Sawyer's imagination...

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ~CH4

"Tom was literally rolling in wealth. He had... twelve marbles, part of a jew's harp, a piece of blue bottle glass to look through, a spool cannon, a key that wouldn't unlock anything, a fragment of chalk, a glass stopper of a decanter, a tin soldier, a couple of tadpoles, six firecrackers, a kitten with only one eye, a brass doorknob, a dogcollar-but no dog- the handle of a knife, four pieces of orange peel, and a dilapidated old window sash."
-Pg 13

Tom learned that "In order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain," and this is how he collected his treasure. He gave the other boys a price for doing a chore and it made them more willing to do it. "Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not abliged to do." With this concept in mind, Tom turns the Work of painting the fence into a Play, by making other boys who were not obliged to paint the fence, paint the fence.
Tom's treasure box seems to me, like it is full of junk; trash; things i would find in a garbage can. What made these stuff valuable was Tom's depth of creative imagination. What would you do with a handle of a knife or four pieces of orange peel?
Tom had fun turning work into play, but what makes play so much fun? Why is it that people behave when there are no rules to follow, but when rules are set, they are eager to break them? Why is it that when we have to do something, we don't want to, but when we don't have to do it, we want to? Tom's friends had fun doing his work, but could he have had fun painting the fence himself? Does it work to pretend not to be obliged?
With the power to make others do what he wants for a price, what will Tom grow up to be like in the future??

This page (pg13) has lead me to think of many questions.

-

The Good Earth ~ch 34

"It was Wang Lung's marriage day...'Rest assured, our father, rest assured. The land is not to be sold.' But over the old man's head they looked at each other and smiled."

These are the first and three last sentences of this book.

The Good Earth is about the life of a farmer in China who starts out very poor, earns a lot of money and raises himself and his family up to a high social status, and then misses his life as a poor farmer working in the fields when he is about to die. At the end of this book, Wang Lung is all ready to die. He even has his own coffin already. However, the book implies that with his death is the death of an entire generation of farmers. His sons plan to sell the precious land that was the center of Wang Lung's life. None of his three sons desire to become farmers.

This book is a very realistic, but fictional biography of a Chinese farmer named Wang Lung. This book is a story about one man's life. It tells the reader all about this Chinese farmer's from the age of around 18 when he gets married to around 70 when he dies. In this time of about fifty years, Wang Lung simply lives his life. And life, for him, is a search for peace. Sadly, he does not find it, even at the end.

I would not recommend this book to my friends, but i acknowledge that it is a good book and well written.

The Good Earth ~ch 27

O Lan is dead. She died. Wang Lung's first wife; his partner; his hardworking servant; his loyal, obedient companion is no longer living. Wang Lung is filled with remorse and as a reaction to this overwhelming emotion, he cries by himself.

What a jerk. Wang Lung is such an evil husband, a narrow minded farmer, who has difficulty seeing anything past the tip of his own nose.

What a humble servant. O Lan's entire life was little to be happy about, but she endured. O Lan did not only endure, but she was loyal to the end. She had nothing; everything she had was always taken away from her, but she learned to live with the little she did have, with the selfish love her husband offered.

This is a turning point. Someone very influential to Wang Lung's life has died and as Wang Lung admits, it is as if half of his land has gone missing and his life will never be the same.

Sometimes, people will never realize how blessed they are until the blessing is taken away from them.

The Good Earth ~ch 26

Pg 237 "Well, and every man has his troubles and I must make shift to live with mine as I can..."

I have my troubles and I must make change the way I live so that I can live to deal with it. Troubles are frustrating to have in my life, but I gotta admit they are pretty life changing. Troubles make me feel sad and mad but they make me overcome and the triumphant feeling of achievement when my troubles are blown away is one that lasts longer and is rooted deeper than the shallow and short trouble. Trouble is difficult to deal with; to live with. It demands for me to change in order to fit the trouble and each side of me that is altered in order to please this trouble hurts me. Sometimes, they are mere scratches that I forget about in an instant. However other times, they are deep gashes that leave a scar of the bad memory, but later, when I look at that scar, I know that I can see it with a smile on my face. This is because the trouble is gone, and the transformed "me" is even stronger than before.

The Good Earth ~ch 22

Pg 194 "Silver, then! Silver and gold! anything to the very price of my land!"

Wang Leng is crazy. All the way up until the 21st chapter (out of 34), Wang Leng's life revolves around "The Good Earth." He is a devoted farmer who is passionate about his work in the fields. Like all people, Wang Leng doesn't understand what it means to be a wealthy man until he becomes one. He does not understand

their foolish and lazy ways until he finds himself acting exactly the same way. The very land that motivated Wang Leng to live through the difficult times when his family members were beggars and was more precious and priceless to him than anything else in the whole world suddenly becomes worthless in this sentence. Wang Leng's eyes are suddenly opened to his wife O Lan's big feet, ugly, calloused hands, and unattractive features. The stack of silver and gold coins in the walls of his house lead him to wanting even more, making him become a greedy man. When Wang Leng did not own much and did not have much money, he was a very hard working, humble farmer. However, as his wealth increased and the land became flooded, Wang Leng became idle, not doing anything but wandering around the house and about the city, looking for ways to become like the wealthy men, and not a farmer. He goes into a tea shop that is only for rich men and is captivated by a painting of a woman with tiny feet, long, fragile hands carrying a lotus flower, and a small, pretty face. His family, especially his naive wife is very aware of his change in attitude and in actions (for he has become very harsh toward his wife, father, and even his children), but has no idea what has caused this change, or what Wang Leng has become.

However Wang Leng is still a farmer at heart. Even though he says these things and acts these ways, it is not the lifestyle he is accustomed to, and he knows that his life's purpose is in the land. He must at some point, realize that the calloused hands of his loyal wife O Lan are much more beautiful than the tainted ones of the Lotus. For every time O Lan confronts him, he breaks out in an outrage, but feels nothing but shame and is abashed by his actions.

The Good Earth ~ch 17

Pg 166

"... And he carried a blue kerchief flled with fresh eggs and these eggs he gave to the old teacher when he arrived... 'Sir, here are my two worthless sons. If anythingcan be driven into their thick brass skulls, it is only by eating them, and therfore if you wish to pelase me, beat them to make them learn.'"

OLan had cleverly taken some jewels from the rich man's house before coming back to her home land with Wang Leng. All of a sudden, after the poor life he had been living, Wang Lung became a rich man, and along with the riches, came fear. It was the fear that somebody will find out about the jewels he has in his house and will kill O Lan and himself to steal those jewels. Wang Leng's life style changed drastically with the wealth that he suddenly held. He owned so much land that he had to hire other men to help him work in his fields. He had the money to hire men to work his fields, so he did not permit O Lan to come work with him. O Lan bought cloth and made new clothes for each family member, including the newly arrived twins. Wang Leng also bought some pigs and foul for his farm and enlarged his house for his family and the workers. Wang Leng now no longer works the earth as much, being held busy with the marketing of his products. One day he learns that his illiteracy is a very big pull back for him, and decides to send his oldest son to school. Being farm boys, both sons are extremely excited about going to school and are eager to get started. Page 166 shows a lot of the culture in that area, with the school and the teacher. Wang Leng feels a new pride- the pride of being a father of two sons who are attending school. He compares his sons to the other students in the classroom and boasts (to himself) that "among all the lads in the room, there were none equal to his two lads for tallness and robustness and bright brown faces." Parents of students believe that a teacher is a good teacher if he beats his students. One surprising fact that is revealed in this page is that Wang Leng's sons did not have names. They were simply called "Older" and "Younger." After attending school, the teacher gives them new names, "Nung En" and "Nung Wen." (The word Nung signifies one whose wealth is from the earth.) Wang Leng's life seems to be going good, with his two oldest sons in school and land enough to produce grain that is more than enough for food. This leads the reader to think that some unlucky happening will take place soon.

The Good Earth ~ch 15

Pg 124

"They talked, these men, always and forever of money... every day the talk ended with this: 'And if I had the gold that he has and the silver in my hand that he wears every day in his girdle and if I had the pearls his concubines wear and the rubies his wife wears...' And listening to all these things they would do if they had these things, Wang Lung heard only of how much they would eat and sleep, and of what dainties they would eat that they had never yet tasted, and of how they would gamble in this great tea shop and in that, and of what pretty women they would buy for their lust, and above all, how none would ever work again, even as the rich man behind the wall never worked. Then Wang Lung cried out suddenly, ' If I had the gold and the silver and the jewels, I would buy land with it, good land, and I would bring forth harvests from the land!' At this they united in turning on him and in rebuking him..."

Wang Lung and his family traveled south in order to avoid starvation and found that the people in this region are very different from themselves. Wang Lung is willing to work. He is eager to get back to his land so that he could work. His entire purpose for working and begging to raise money in this place is in order to travel back north, buy an ox, some seeds, and other necessities for farming so that he could work on his own land again. However, on the other hand, the men who are living with the rich people and beg them for money are very much similar to them. They have the same desires, just not the money. These men believe that to be rich means that you do not have to work. They think that anyone who works is in a lower class than those who don't. In their dreams, working is not even an option. Both sides think the other is a fool for wanting to spend the money on such things, and that they are "more worthy to have the riches" (pg 124).

This shows the cultural and background differences between the two people from two regions, in the same country. It describes the dissimilarities between the factors that motivate the men to beg on the dirty streets and to haul those heavy carts, doing the jobs that are meant for the lowly.

The Good Earth ~ch 12

Pg 68

"It was true that all their lives depended upon the earth."

This book is about a hard working man named Wang Lung, a farmer in China. The story begins on his wedding day. The writer introduces the book by first introducing the reader to some Chinese culture. Similar to the book Things Fall Apart, the author paints the reader's mind with chinese colors through the life of the main character which in this case, is a farmer. To farmers, the earth/ soil is extremely important to their lives. It controls a farmer's life. Wang Lung who once had a stash of silver has now left his home to travel south to avoid starvation. His family has become beggars, all due to the dry earth.

In this book I really admire O Lan. Her life before marrying Wang Lung has not been revealed yet, but she was a slave at a wealthy house when she got married. O Lan is currently no more than twenty years old. Although the author does not directly mention what she has lived through, the character of O Lan shows that through her experiences, she has matured into a very selfless, dedicated, and strong woman. She is able to stay completely calm under confusion and she never shows frustration nor complaint. In the setting of this book, woman are very looked down upon. They have very little rights, especially in O Lan's case, a slave. The man is the strong, head of the household and the male over female belief. However, the author shows in several sections of the first twelve chapters that O Lan is in some ways, stronger than Wang Lung. For example, every time she gives birth to every child (so far three times), she does it all alone in her room, refusing anyone's presence. Also, in page 87, when Wang Lung is shrieking and weeping at the three men who have come to buy his land, O Lan comes and talks to the three men with "some calmness in her voice which carried more strength tahn all Wang Lung's anger..."

I am interested to find out how this story of Wang Lung's life will end.