My Family: My Greatest Allies

#8

If I were thrown into a situation like the Holocaust, I would most certainly be able to rely on my family; not only would I willingly, I would be forced to as well. In a like situation, without a family, it would be very hard to stay motivated and keep pressing on, while with a family, there would be cause to stay alive. This past week I went to South Carolina to visit my grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. This side of my family is a very southern, country group of people, and like many southerners, they are very religious. My grandfather is the head of a "Rescue Ministry" called the Help Out Guys, and on Thanksgiving Day, we delivered turkeys to families who were not going to have Thanksgiving. When we arrived at all of these houses, there were people sleeping on the floor, living in a pile of trash, and other awful and shocking things just so they could stay and live with the rest of their family. Through this, it is clear to me that I would rely on my family an extraordinary amount if I was thrown into an awful situation like the Holocaust.

image credit: westseattlefamilyzone.com

Love in a World of Sorrow Blog #1; #7

Terror: How does one Function?

The horror of an experience liken to the one the first chapter of the book conveys is not one that can be understood of conceived unless it was experienced previously. The terror of being hunted prey is sickening, but for this girl, and many others, it was a reality. If this was me, if I was the one hiding in a hole with 18 other people for days on end, I have no idea what I would do. I might get so anxious that I ran out of the hiding place early, condemning myself to death or worse. I may stay hidden with my family in the hole, but this is only a possibility. One terrifying possibility is that I may just leave and try to fight the Nazis, leading to my immediate death or torture. There is one thing that I do know; if I was given that awful experience of being the hunted prey, I would never be able to let that go for my entire life. The sheer sickening fear would forever linger somewhere small inside of me and I would never be able to be rid of that. 

sanfranciscosentinel.com (image credit)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime: Blog 3

What were your thoughts about Christopher giving his parents both a second chance?

I thought that Chris made the opposite decision that he should have made. He was completely oblivious to the rational side of life when he was able to give his mother another chance very easily, but completely shut out his father. I think that this is unfair and unjust, because Chris' father was not the one at fault for everything unraveling. It was actually his mother's fault. Unfortunately, Christopher was unable to reason with evidence from the past; seeing only that his father lied to him and killed the dog, Wellington. This is very interesting--Chris is terrified by change, and he is terrified by other people, yet he for some reason wants to live with his mother. For this to be the case, Christopher must rely on trust very much in order to function normally. Clearly, without trust, Chris would "feel sick", as he describes so often in his book. Though it was poorly thought out and very rashly decided, I believe that Chris made the right decision in forgiving his mother, and eventually trying to forgive his father.

image credit: starscolor.com

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime: Blog Post 2

Was it the right decision for Christopher to leave?

I believe that this was a very, very hard decision for Chris to make, even though he did it instantly and without hesitation. He had lived in that house for his entire life, and he was terrified at the thought of leaving it; however, he was also terrified of the notion of staying since he could no longer trust his dad, at least in his mind. Christopher had the right to leave. He was deeply wronged by his father, and beaten by him the night before. On the other hand, I understand the father's predicament. His son is severely autistic, and does not respond to normal human behavior. His mother leaves him, and dad does not know how to tell his son, so he decides to lie. This is the reasoning behind this. This decision was a very challenging and meaningful one, but Chris definitely was right to leave.

Image Credit: markhaddon.com