In a family everybody loves each other and gets along right? But why? Why does it have to be that way? And why is it considered to be a “messed up" family when people don’t get along. Just because we are related does mean I have to like you and it sure doesn’t mean you have to like me too. This is the same situation that is going on with Randall and his cousin Savon.
Savon is a real tuff guy with a bad attitude. Hakeem is more lay back and follows every direction his family tells him to do. Hakeem feels that he is being pressured by his family to be a good role model for Savon. But Savon is more independent and thinks he doesn’t need anybody to set him straight. You can see how these two totally different people can clash.
Savon is a real tuff guy with a bad attitude. Hakeem is more lay back and follows every direction his family tells him to do. Hakeem feels that he is being pressured by his family to be a good role model for Savon. But Savon is more independent and thinks he doesn’t need anybody to set him straight. You can see how these two totally different people can clash.
The characters in this book remind me of what I go through in my family. Sometimes I feel like I go through “family pressures”, especially since I’m the youngest. I have two older brothers and every single time I may get a get a bad grade in school or do something wrong like for instance not clean my room, my mom would say “I never went through that with your brothers” or” I never did that when I was your age”. Don’t get me wrong I understand where she’s coming from but I just can’t stand when you compare me to someone. I feel like I’m my own person and I don’t need you to judge what I do compared to another person because that person is not me. I know how it feels to be in Randall’s shoes, the one that is being compared that thinks he has to prove something and rebel against people.
Although I understand how Savon feels/thinks, I never really thought about how Hakeem might feel. How does Hakeem feel about being the role model? Does he feel pressured? Does he not like being a role because his family members envy him? In the book Hakeem was never a hot head and never looked down at Savon. Instead he always tried to help him become a better person. Hakeem in this case would be my brother. The one I look up to, the role models. I wonder how they feel about playing that role. Do they feel pressured into not making mistakes? Do they feel like they have something to prove? I wonder how it feels to be in there shoes…
I feel the same way about being compared to people. Especially since I have a sister, and mostly boys in my family, so sometimes my family feels like thats how girls are supposed to be. But I really like your connections and your opinions on this book!
ReplyDeleteAmanda,
ReplyDeleteI love that you explore "family pressures"- a social issue that can be easily overlooked/ignored because it may not seem as bad as other issues, but as you mentioned it really can be. Great job!
I love the way you used your voice so good in this post. You made very good connections to your family. You had a very strong attitude voice in this blog post. Which makes the post sound so interesting.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kayla as well because joanna thinks she's bigger than me when shes not. :) but really this blog explains alot
ReplyDeleteAmanda,
ReplyDeleteI have no words for your post but i am just gonna come out and say it was AWESOME!
I really loved how you connected yourself to the book.
Amanda, your blog really spoke to me. First I love how it started of with a question,When I read that question it did get me really digging deeper in thought of how I felt about it. I'm sure every one can relate to this blog post in general about being compared to someone older or younger than you. While thinking I did have the interesting thought of
ReplyDelete"if you are your own person, do you really need a role model as an expamle of how you should live your life?" That was a very interesting question i came up with i would love to hear your thought on it some more.
Love,Taylor J