Assignment #6

After reading the whole book and the shadows took him by Daniel Chacon, I really came out enjoying it. It was a hard story to follow at first with all the mixed emotions coming from the family, but as time went by it all made sense. After reading just the first few pages I was hooked and I was already trying to figure out what was going to happen before I got to the ending. With every page I turned I was surprised at what I was reading and realized that it was going to be a great novel from the start.

Another thing I really liked about this book was reading about all the different characters and how they all influenced each others' lives. The relationships between everyone were so interesting and everyone’s characteristics were full of detail. I also really enjoyed reading this book because it explains the story about a dysfunctional family that in some instances a lot of people can relate to. Chacon did a great job at relating the readers to what he was writing about as well as sending out positive messages through using Joey as his main character.

From this story, Joey seems like an insecure but intelligent young boy who grows up in this family where all the kids are neglected, but he is the one who is mostly affected by it. I think his father treats Joey as his punching bag to release his frustration or anger. Joey’s often being used by his father to take out aggression and I think because of this, Joey keeps all his emotions towards his family to himself which causes him to become confused about who he is.

Reading the first part of this book I was able to acknowledge the characters and what they were about, but during the second part of the book it seems as if a lot of their attitudes changed. William became more of a darker person than before. I never would have guessed he would have harmed one of Joey’s girlfriends like that. And Rachel became less passive and finally decided to do something about the way William treated her by packing up and leaving. And Joey seemed to have stayed kind of the same, but with a somewhat more isolated personality. He never really seemed to change his ways and seemed like he still had trouble figuring out who he was.

The ending of this story really surprised me because it was left up in the air. I would have liked to figure out what happened to Joey, but it was nice to read about him finally having a much needed breakdown by letting go of some of his pent up aggression and destroying his father’s carved head collection. I still would have liked to find out whether he stayed in Oregon to pursue his acting or if he went back to Fresno with his mom Rachel. But I guess that’s what our imaginations are for; to pick up the remaining pieces of the story and create our own conclusions.