The women is a foil to Helene because through the conversation they have, it creates growth for Helene as a human and makes her realize how life really is in the south. On the other side, the conversation also reveals Helene’s insecurities as a black woman. Because of the confusion the women causes over the restroom, Helene is forced to concentrate and think about what is really going on. When she leaves the train, she is hit harshly with reality. With the help of the woman, she now sees the truth that lies in front of her, even if she desires not to.…
She constantly hears the mother and daughter in the adjacent apartment yelling, fighting, and even throwing things. She is shocked by the difference between these noisy confrontations and her own relationship with her mother, which is marked by silences and avoidance of conflict. Yet, when she realizes that the shouting and weeping she hears through the wall in fact express a kind of deep love between mother and daughter, she realizes the importance of expressing one’s feelings, even at the cost of peace and harmony. Although the neighboring family lives a life of conflict and sometimes even chaos, they possess a certainty of their love for each other that Lena feels to be lacking in her own home. Reflecting back on this episode of her life, Lena begins to realize how she might apply the lesson she learned then to her married life with…
“…It’s as if she’s been walking on a wire, trying to keep her balance, and now, for the first time, she is on solid ground.“ (259). As Molly learns Vivian's stories can help her on how she can handle difficult situations in her life, Molly understands that she and Vivian may be orphans and both have been moved from place to place, it wasn’t always their faults. Molly takes on the job at Vivian's to fulfill 50 hours of community service. She gains so much more than what she thought she would through the experience. Molly sees the comparisons between her life and Vivian's. Vivian’s story helps Molly; the story gives Molly hope. It allows her not to look at the past and have it defines her as a…
Art class is the only class she feels safe in she has no enemy’s and actually wants to learn what is beefing taught. Mr. Freeman is Melinda’s favorite teacher, he is the only teacher that doesn't have to stick to a lesson plan he plays by his own rules. After Melinda’s egregious thanksgiving she brings some turkey bones into class to make whatever she can think of she has a hard time at first but accomplishes something,”Mr. Freeman taps his chin. He looks way too serious to be an art teacher. he's making me nervous Mr. Freeman “This has to mean, Pain.” (88) Melinda's thanksgiving was terrible it was boring and full of terrible experiences. She is expressing her feelings of thanksgiving her art. Mr. Freeman can clearly see that there is a pain in the art and he is trying to understand as you can tell as it describes him tapping his chin. Mr. Freeman sees the pain it represents Melinda’s terrible experience over thanksgiving and also what she had been going through all year. She is communicating to Mr. Freeman through her art about the pain she is going…
As the story opens, Evelyn Couch exudes depression and hopelessness when she meets Ninny at the Rose Terrace Nursing Home. A strange and slightly eccentric old woman, Ninny marks the beginning of Evelyn’s journey for a better life when, on the first visit, Ninny starts to tell Evelyn all the stories of the small training town of Whistle Stop – of Buddy Threadgoode and the train, of young Idgie, a strong willed girl by nature with her head in the clouds who had a rebellious nature from the start, and of all of the Threadgoode family in their generous Southern hospitality. As time passes, Ninny and Evelyn get to understand each other better, and Ninny seems to be almost guiding Evelyn through her life with the tales, and even gives her advice on Evelyn’s…
In the story, Miles has a burden. He doesn’t know how to express what he’s going through. One day at the lake, he saw a bee follow this girl into the water. No one else saw her, just Miles. He tried explaining it to people, but they never really believed him. He always felt like that girl was watching him, telling him what to do. Daisy tells a story one night about how she practiced with her parents at the lake to see how long she could swim under water. Miles is relieved that she is okay, but mad that she never told anyone. On page 352, Miles says, “I was on the boat. The one Daisy swam under. Only I didn’t see her. All this time I thought the girl-I mean Daisy-had drowned and I hadn’t been able to save her.” That statement helped me understand how he felt and how he thought she was dead.…
She is rationalizing and making up reasons for why her boyfriend and grandmother left her. She is convincing herself that he is still somewhere she can find him. She wants to believe that if she can just find her grandmother’s handbag she will find him inside and everything will be okay. Her grandmother may be gone, but maybe she can find him. She is trying to find someone or something to blame. So, she makes up this whole story about the people in her grandmother’s handbag. It’s a happy place with strange people who love popcorn. Why wouldn’t someone to go there? She convinces herself that he didn’t really leave her. He’s just gone for a bit. He’ll be back. This poor girl is just trying to cope with her loss by making up something makes it not seem so…
When she moves on and broadens the issue, the reader is forced to be reminded of Shannon, enforcing compassion and pity onto the reader, while also making the reader more receptive to the point she is trying to make.…
Lena does not want to be different anymore. She decides to go to the city and there she goes to school. Hoping for a new life and no more standing out, Lena easily gets disappointed. She learns that even if you move to a place with a higher population, you can still be alone. After coming to terms with herself and realizing that the city is not what she expected, Lena goes back to the reserve. She was happy to return to her roots. They are the one place you are always welcome to come back to. As she was coming home she was glad to see the dogs running freely in the reserve and the blue door that she despised all her life had now shown her a sign of home and safety.…
While imprisoned in their cold, crowed, train cars, Lina has to associate with strangers. Lack of food, spirit, patience, and warmth keeps stress tensions high. Lina is trapped with over 10 people in a train car, one man has an injured leg who needs a lot of attention. They are very limited on food, almost a loaf of bread to feed the whole cart. If one were to get an illness that is deadly, the whole cart has a greater possibility of getting it…
Sarah Turnbull, an Australian working as a freelance writer, meets a man named Frederic while in Bucharest. It was here where Sarah took him up on his offer to visit him in Paris. She never returns home because she discovered a new love not only for Frederic, but her new surroundings too. Sarah finally has a deeper understanding of the people around her. Throughout the novel, she continues to adapt to the French culture as best as she can. She comes to realize she is different due to how and where she was raised, but improves and adjusts gradually while she has continuous lessons in everyday life. I believe the main idea of her novel is her current state of being almost French, but never completely or fully there.…
2. Once she reaches the train station in which she has to get off at, she finds it overwhelming as the people get up out of their seats while the train is still slowing down to get their suitcases, plus the fact that it is like a bee-hive and that everyone around her is so crazy trying to get through to the customs. She however feels like she fits in with the crowd and begins to push and shove with the crowd as well. It reminds her of the 30 Stockton bus in San Francisco. It has been years since she has been to China and she feels the need to understand why her mom was so set on the fact that one day she too would be Chinese as well. At the beginning of the trip she expresses her initial repulsiveness with the fact the she would “become like her mom.” But as she visits China for another time she has the chance to reflect. Remembering where she grew up and where her heritage comes from.…
All her life, Mrs Foster had had an almost pathological* fear of missing a train, a plane, a boat, or even a theatre curtain. In other respects, she was not a particularly nervous woman, but the mere thought of being late on occasions like these would throw her into such a state of nerves that she would begin to twitch.* It was nothing much - just a tiny vellicating muscle in the corner of the left eye, like a secret wink - but the annoying thing was that it refused to disappear until an hour or so after the train or plane or whatever it was had been safely caught. It was really extraordinary how in certain people a simple apprehension* about a thing like catching a train can grow into a serious obsession. At least half an hour before it was time to leave the house for the station, Mrs Foster would step out of the elevator* all ready to go, with hat and coat and gloves, and then, being quite unable to sit down, she would flutter and fidget* about…
Gerald's ride in the morning train to work becomes very interesting for Mollie. She is present through his body and mind. One man remarks how women don't know limits and how they keep requesting new, better things, all of it just for showing off. In return, the man on the train says women don't want to go to work and earn the money. Gerald feels offended by this statement but doesn't know why. It's because Mollie influences his thinking without his knowledge. He reminds the man that women actually just do men a favor, as they would feel embarrassed if their wives were to go to work. As the day goes on, Gerald is still surprised about his new views, and Mollie gets a very close insight on her husbands mind.…
The train came to a sudden halt. The lights in the cabin started flickering portentously, darkness threatened to take over. Thick columns of smoke were invading the cabin! Children started crying and screaming. Some adults became hysterical and started banging their fists on the windows in a bid to break out of the cabin. The crowd was gettting out of control. People were going amok! An acrid smell of burning fumes stung their noses. George held his brother’s hand tightly and told him to bend as low as he could. The outrageous scene of pandemonium petrified them. At that defining moment, a voice came through the public announcement system, “All passengers please remain calm. We are evacuating the train for emergency reasons. For your own safety, please follow the officers and move in an orderly manner out of the tunnel.” The announcement comfirmed their worst…