In chapter three, problems between Jack and Ralph begin. Jack is very enthusiastic about hunting. All he ever wants to do is hunt for pigs. Ralph, on the other hand, is very serious about building shelters-- it's important for all of them, and the job has been left to him. Ralph is upset with Jack because he won't help with the shelters.
I don't know about you guys, but a lot of my friends are 'fairweather friends.' When everything is good and all there is to do is have fun, they're great. As soon as something happens and I need some help, they're nowhere to be found. Nobody likes friends like that.
They continue to talk about the beastie. They tell themselves that it doesn't exist, that it can't hurt them, that nothing is wrong-- yet they don't believe themselves. We know they don't because if they did, they wouldn't keep talking about it.
I do this. Everyone else probably does too, to a certain extent. "Don't worry about the math, it will get easier. It will. It will..." or "It won't hurt to get my wisdom teeth out. It won't! I'll get to eat lots of ice cream, and... um... eat ice cream... it won't hurt...". I do it all the time. It doesn't work though, because I know that the math is not going to get easier, and it will hurt to get my wisdom teeth out. Lying to myself doesn't get me anywhere-- it only leaves me unprepared.
One thing that strikes me over and over again in this book is how much this scenario would totally suck. It would suck to be Ralph because he's responsible for a group of chaotic boys who don't want to listen to him when he's only a chaotic boy himself. It would suck even more to be one of the littluns because the poor things are terrified out of their minds and nobody cares. It would suck to be one of the boys in the choir because they're constantly being bossed around by Jack. It would suck to be Jack because Ralph tries to make him more responsible but he doesn't want to be.
Do you ever get into those situations that aren't anyone's fault, but they're absolutely terrible? For example, grade ten science is extremely difficult. I know for a fact that we have all struggled through it, and although we were all successful, it was a struggle. It was very stressful at times, it had a way of consuming your life for entire evenings, it was often boring, and although the teacher was very nice, she could be scary at times, especially at the beginning. It wasn't our fault that we were in grade ten science. It wasn't our teacher's fault that she had to teach us grade ten science-- after all, it was her job. It wasn't the board's fault for making us learn grade ten science-- we have to be educated. It wasn't anyone's fault, but that didn't mean it was pleasant.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I hate stress. Sometimes, at certain times of the year, I get consumed by it. I suffer from insomnia and certain things drive me insane--some being my friends. There, I'm afraid, I can be found guilty for being a 'fairweather friend'. If I'm stressed out, and my friend is too, I tend not to care. Yes, it's sad, but I sometimes put myself first. I feel terrible afterwards, but the stress really does consume me.
Lying to myself also happens, just like you, Heather. It usually happens before a test I haven't studied for (mainly French), or a sports game I'm not ready for (like a track meet). I, too, tell myself that I'll do fine, and after it's over, I tell myself I've done fine. Sometimes that's the case, sometimes not. I believe that we all lie to ourselves because we live in a society that teaches us to optimistic, not pesimistic. There are people of both categories, but when people lie to themselves, they are usually an optimist.
Really? When I'm stressed and stuff is going on with my friends I still care and it stresses me out even more.
That's really interesting... I never thought of it that way before, but now that I think about it I guess you're right.
Post a Comment