1/11/11
The Crying Tree Plot- In the novel The Crying Tree Naseem Rakha A family goes through one of the hardest things ever, when their son Shep was found murdered. Nate, Shep's father insisted on the family moving to Oregon. Sheps death caused Irene and Nate to fall apart Bliss was too young to truly understand her brother being gone. The family moved back to Illinois, they continued their lives in a sort of trance, never discussing Shep or mentioning his name. Bliss was a forgotten child until she made her mother see that her life was bring wasted. Bliss went off to college defying the standards of her town. Irene struggled with living so she tried to take her own life, after this fail Irene decided that forgiveness of her sons killer was the only way for her to keep living. Daniel was on death row when Nate found out about the letters Irene and Daniel had been writing to each other, the two got into a huge fight that uncovered some secrets about Sheps death that only Daniel and Nate knew of. While finding out about the family you also learn about Superintendent Mason and his struggles of life and dealing with someone on Death row. In the end Irene, the family, Daniel and Mason find their peace. Point of View-The information is received through dialogue mainly and the way these people go through life. The perspective used was effective for this novel because it really gave the feel of the main character Irene and I do not personally connect to Irene because I do not know what it is like to lose a child but the perspective lets me get into her head and learn what she is feeling and what it is like. “My son is dead, and you want to tell me about justice? There’s no justice for this kind of thing” (Rakha 69). This dialogue really showed what Irene is going through. The novel also shows her husband but mainly through his actions and how he goes through life. Protagonist- The protagonist in this book “The Crying Tree” is Irene