And the Shadows took him
I really liked this book. I can only imagine how hard it would be for a teenage boy to leave the only home that he has known. He is already having enough trouble at home and is insecure about the relationship that he has with his father. The move is only putting stress on Joey. I also think that the relationship that Joey has with his father is going to be the demise of Joey. I can see a lot of Joey in William (William in Joey?). How addicted to sex this sixteen-year-old child is tells me that he is lacking in a secure relationship at home. He needs attention and through sex Joey is getting the attention that he needs. What really saddened me about this book was not necessarily the used of LSD (even though I was disappointed with his choice) but was when he got in the car with Karla. All that he wanted to do was have meaningless sex with her. Even though I am a little confused about William really raping Amy, Joey’s sex action ultimately reminded me of William.
I think that William is a very selfish man who doesn’t take anyone’s feelings into consideration. The only time that he is nice to his family is when Rachael is mad at him or if it benefits William directly. He has no respect for the people that he is supposed to love most of all. I also think that the lack of respect from William is also Rachel’s fault. I think that she gives in to his violent tendencies way too much. In the beginning of the book when the family is still so poor she had nothing to loose if she was to leave him. I know that she loved William when they were first together but after a while when he wasn’t moldable and his temper was out of control she lost respect for him as well as their children.
I really connected with the characters. With the details of their personalities you can imagine how they were like. I found this novel to be fast reading just because it draws you in. I couldn’t put it down in the second half because I was always wondering what Joey was going to do next. I think that I have a stronger connection with the younger Joey only because I work with children. I know which children have a rough home like Joey’s and which have safe homes. The children I work with are much younger but I can imagine what my preschool children will be like in 10 years if their families do not get help that they need.
I am learning about the Hispanic culture where I work but what I learned in the book is somewhat of a surprise. I know that Hispanic fathers work hard and that for the mothers they stay home with the children (they try to as much as possible). I don’t think that the way William is portrayed in the book is a typical Latino trait. I think that abuse from a father is a trait that all nationalities have in many different cultures. My father was raised in an abusive home and was not a part of my life until I was older. My grandfather is Native American but I am a “mutt”. So maybe I don’t see racism and abuse like other people do. I take people for people and how they treat me is how I will treat them back. Besides my best friend is Hispanic and she is the sweetest person in the whole world!! Who you are on the outside doesn’t make you who you are in the inside. I think that is what Daniel Chacon is trying to teach his readers.
Shawnii
I think that William is a very selfish man who doesn’t take anyone’s feelings into consideration. The only time that he is nice to his family is when Rachael is mad at him or if it benefits William directly. He has no respect for the people that he is supposed to love most of all. I also think that the lack of respect from William is also Rachel’s fault. I think that she gives in to his violent tendencies way too much. In the beginning of the book when the family is still so poor she had nothing to loose if she was to leave him. I know that she loved William when they were first together but after a while when he wasn’t moldable and his temper was out of control she lost respect for him as well as their children.
I really connected with the characters. With the details of their personalities you can imagine how they were like. I found this novel to be fast reading just because it draws you in. I couldn’t put it down in the second half because I was always wondering what Joey was going to do next. I think that I have a stronger connection with the younger Joey only because I work with children. I know which children have a rough home like Joey’s and which have safe homes. The children I work with are much younger but I can imagine what my preschool children will be like in 10 years if their families do not get help that they need.
I am learning about the Hispanic culture where I work but what I learned in the book is somewhat of a surprise. I know that Hispanic fathers work hard and that for the mothers they stay home with the children (they try to as much as possible). I don’t think that the way William is portrayed in the book is a typical Latino trait. I think that abuse from a father is a trait that all nationalities have in many different cultures. My father was raised in an abusive home and was not a part of my life until I was older. My grandfather is Native American but I am a “mutt”. So maybe I don’t see racism and abuse like other people do. I take people for people and how they treat me is how I will treat them back. Besides my best friend is Hispanic and she is the sweetest person in the whole world!! Who you are on the outside doesn’t make you who you are in the inside. I think that is what Daniel Chacon is trying to teach his readers.
Shawnii
4 Comments:
To be honest, this would not be a book that I would normally pick up to read. Not that I'm not interested in reading about a Chicano family and its trials and tribulations - it's just that I have other genres that I prefer. Having said that, I did find the book very interesting. I enjoyed the window into a dysfunctional family and how each member dealt with the issues. With each passing occurrence, Joey tries on different masks to deal with a family that does not work. Through the theater, the attempt at forming a gang in Oregon, and his relationships with Leah and Amy, among other incidents, he shows us that he isn't quite sure who he is. The many blockages he faces to fit in, both at school and at home, are evocative of the struggles we all face. His attempt to fill up his emptiness is shown through his love of eating.
William is portrayed as a monster who is so unhappy that he takes out his frustrations on his family. He just wanted to marry the prettiest girl he knew, but he finds it difficult to deal with the "baggage" of children. The rape of Amy was, in my opinion, unnecessary and gratuitous. We already know that William is physically, emotionally, and verbally abusive - what more did the author hope to prove by adding sexually abusive to the mix? Perhaps he wanted to show Joey (and not the reader) that his dad was past the point of redemption and that Joey needed to stop trying to get his dad to love him. It's no use trying to decipher why Rachel stayed with William for so long. Her family was very slow to warm up to him and she did not want to prove them right. She also felt an obligation to stay and make sure her children were going to be alright, although I feel leaving Vero in Fresno was out of character. Billy does okay, which is perplexing given that Vero and Joey struggled to find a place in which they find comfort. They all grew up in the same toxic home, perhaps all they lack is Joey's imagination.
All in all, the book was compelling (I read it in a week), provocative, and ultimately satisfying. While the ending was ambiguious, I cared and knew enough about Joey to know that he was going to be okay. At times I wondered if the story was semi-autobiographical; then I wondered if that was because of the authors surname. Writers include a little something about people they know or that they have seen and Chacon has so clearly defined the Molina family, you wonder if any is based on personal experience.
Yes, and Chacon revealed at the reading that much of this text is based on his personal life. With that said, there is certainly much fiction intertwined with non-fiction autobiography. Glad you found the text interesting, albeit outside of your typical reading schedule.
Those are some interesting points you bring up in regards to how the author tries to make Joey resemble William. Sex addiction wasn't really talked about in William until the end when He raped Amy although the author hinted at William flirting with other Women the night He took Rachael to the party. In my opinion all that Joey was looking for in Amy,Leah and Karla was sex. He would stay with one girl until another attracted him then leave have a good time with the other then find another etc... When in the end He thought the right thing to do was stay with Amy because of what his father had done would probably turn out like what William does when he messes up bad be forgiving then wham turn back to bad habits. The author does a real good job in showing the resemblance between Father and son and just like the book implies I think Joey is falling into the Shadows.
I really like the shadow imagery in the text: the shadow of the deer in the headlights, the shadows of his father in the garage, the shadows of past experiences...a nice connection to the title and to the legacy he may inherit.
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