by Alanna King 6 years ago
526
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In my opinion, I really liked the book, but I found that the book didn’t end very good. The novel didn’t tell us what happened to Hector, it didn’t say if at some point Hector got saved or if anyone ever came to find the people in the tank. The theme portrayed in this book, I think, is to always tell the people you care about that you love them and care about them, because you never know when it's going to be the last time you talk to them.
I think that the author wanted the reader to end the book themselves, I think he wanted us to ask questions to ourselves like, what happened to Hector? Did Hector ever get saved? Did he die too? Did anyone ever find the truck? Did the messages ever send to Annimac? In a way I think this makes you want to re-read the book because you want to see if there was anything throughout the book that would answer these questions we have.
A way I might've changed the ending is by getting bars on Hectors phone and getting the messages to send to Annimac, and then Annimac messaging him back. Then, Annimac could've sent help, even though I know that Hector must have died because he was the narrator of the story, and the story eventually ended, but I think if the messages ended up sending and Annimac being able to message him back, maybe Hector would've had more hope and maybe he would've stayed alive in the end because he had something to look forward to, then he could've got out and been able to see his family again.
The theme I think that was portrayed in this novel is maybe to always tell the people you care about that you love them and that you do care about them because you never know when it’s the last time you talk to them, I think this because all throughout the novel hector was talking about his family and remembering about the stories he was told when he was younger, and as he was growing up. He also talked about his mom a lot, before he left to go to El Norte he didn’t get to say goodbye to him mother, because he was in such a rush to get out of Oaxaca away from the police and into safety.
So, in conclusion the book was very good, in some spots I would get confused but then I would start to understand what was happening and get back into it. I didn’t feel like the author ended the book in a good way, he didn’t tell us about what happened after all of that happened. I think the theme throughout the novel is to always tell the people you care about you love them and you care about them, because you never know when it could be the last time you talk to them.
In my novel, The Jaguar's Children, I feel like the issues being portrayed are very realistic. The main issue, I feel, that’s being portrayed is poverty. In the novel Hector talks about how it was hard growing up without lots of money, and how if you were one of the lower-class people, and you did something wrong you would be punished, but the people that had money were the ones who hurt people and took from the poor people. Another thing I found was portrayed very well in this novel is the fact that when you get in a situation like Hector is in, you will do anything to survive.
As Hector was growing up his family didn’t have very much money, this meant that their family had to work harder and longer for more money. Throughout the time that Hector was growing up, his dad would always tell him that he wanted Hector to go to El Norte, so he could make money, then come back to Oaxaca and be able to have a nice house and a nice life, not having to worry about anything (p.160). This is portrayed in a very realistic way I think, because in some different places these are big issues, having to leave a country so they can make money to support themselves would, in my opinion, be extremely hard, and in the novel its somewhat showing how hard that situation might be.
When Hector got in trouble with the police he decided to go to El Norte because he didn’t have the money to keep himself out of trouble (p.159), but him having to go to El Norte he had to get a lot of money, so he could pay people for the travel there. Hector had money saved up just in case anything happened to him. This I think is portrayed in a very realistic way as well, I think this because I think people would sometimes have to do this, and save money, because of the poverty where they live.
The last thing I think was portrayed in a very realistic way was how people would do anything to survive, at first everything was okay, there was some fights between Hector and the others for Cesar's money that Hector didn’t want to steal from him, but other than that everyone had their own water and their own stuff. As everything got worse, like there being no more food or water (p.231), people were starting to hallucinate as Hector said (p.226), he knew that people would have to start taking very dramatic measures, like having to drink their own pee (p.396). I feel like if we were in a situation like that, even though you wouldn’t want to, you would have to take these types of measures to stay alive.
I think all these things throughout the story make everything a lot more realistic and makes you think that it is a true story and that someone, somewhere might have went through this or something like this in their lifetime.
Hector Maria de la Soledad Lazaro Gonzalez, I find is a very complex and round character. He has many different sides to him. He has a scared side, he is very considerate of people and wants to help all the time. Last thing, is his back story, Hector has had a hard life, this I think makes him have more of a complex side to him.
One of the things that make me think Hector is a very complex character is that he fears lots of stuff. At the beginning of the story, Hector was very scared to go to El Norte, but later when he gets in trouble he thinks about going to El Norte (p.158), so he can get out of trouble back in his own country. He then ends up going, but when he goes they end up getting stuck inside the water truck in the middle of nowhere (p.14). Hector is then scared that he is going to die in there with everyone else and won't be able to talk to his family ever again. Also, at the beginning of the story when there was the storm (p.15) Hector was very worried and was trying his hardest to get the texts through to Annimac so maybe this person would be able to go save them.
Another thing that makes Hector a very complex character is he is very considerate of others, when Hectors friend Cesar fell and his hit head, and was bleeding (p.55), Hector made sure Cesar was well cared for. Hector tried to stop the bleeding and laid Cesar over him (p.59), making sure Cesar was warm at night and cool in the middle of the day (p.79). Hector would also give Cesar a cap full of water occasionally, so Cesar didn’t get dehydrated (p.34). Later in the story when Hector and Cesar were getting chased, Hector said that he could ask his dad to help him get a good coyote (p.160), so they could both go to El Norte, Hector could've just left Cesar and made him find his own way out of this problem but instead Hector helped him.
The last thing that makes Hector a complex character is that he has had a hard life but a good family when he was younger, and as he was growing up. I feel like this makes him more complex because it helps us learn more about who he is as a person and tells us about how everything was before all this happened. When Hector was younger his father always wanted him to go to El Norte, so he could make money, then when he had enough money he could come back and have a nice like back in Oaxaca (p.158), so when he finally decided to go Hectors dad was surprised and nervous, but happy that he was going (p.168).
I feel like Hector is a very complex character and I feel like there is still more things to learn about him going on in the book.
In the beginning of the novel, The Jaguar's Children, Hector, the narrator (p.14), tells us how he and all the others came to be stuck inside the water truck in the middle of nowhere (p.18), without anyone knowing where they are other than the coyotes, he is taking to a phone, making a sound file so when he gets enough bars he will send them all to a person named Anni-mac (p.15). As the story goes on we learn about all the little things leading up to all these people being in the tank (p.22). Hector helps a guy named Cesar, that we find out they have been friends since school, Cesar hit his head and passed out and was bleeding a lot (p.14). Hector tells the story from his point of view, he tells us what he sees, hears and smells inside the tank.
I feel like Hector is a very reliable narrator because he tells the story with confidence, he doesn’t go back and forth on himself. Even though we only know the one side of the story about Cesar and Hector. I feel like everything Hector is saying is true. Hector tells us sometimes what he thinks Cesar is thinking, "I can tell by the way he whistles and waves it down that he knows the driver" (p.137) Hector says this as they are getting inside the taxi together, Hector really doesn’t know if Cesar know the taxi driver or not, he just assumed. This I think, is the only thing that makes Hector seem a little less reliable, I think this because he really doesn’t know what Cesar is thinking and can't tell us exactly what he thinks is going on.
Later, Hector tells us how there is fighting in the front of the tank (p.140). Hector doesn’t really know what is happening at the front of the tank because it is dark, and he can only go by what he can hear. "I heard grunting and swearing, and I think the baby-face man, or his friend caught the Nica's arm and did something to it" (p.141). So, this tells us that he really doesn’t know what is happening and we cannot trust Hector's word of what's all going on currently. These are the only two things that I find make Hector unreliable throughout the story so far.
I feel that if I know the narrator is reliable, it makes me get into the story line more and it helps explain the story. Having a reliable narrator in the novel makes the story easier to read because you understand what they are saying, and you believe what is happening, you really don’t think there's any other sides of the story because you trust them. If a narrator isn't reliable, you don’t understand what is going on all the time, the narrator will sometimes contradict themselves by saying one thing but later they change their thoughts of what's happening, and this will sometimes make the story confusing.
In my opinion, a line graph is one of the most effective graphics that you can use. A line graph shows an exact number of whatever you are looking up, also the line graph will show you how much the information has variated throughout the time it has been researched. They will also show you how much that thing has changed over time, so this means it's easier for you to see the main highs and the main lows throughout that time frame.
Hector Maria de la Soledad Gonzalez
Oaxaca
68000
(222) 222-2222
hector.gonzalez@gmail.com
April 24, 2018
Don Serafin
Oaxaca
68000
Dear Don Serafin:
You and my dad have been friends for a long time, we asked you to take me to El Norte, so we thought you would be able to get me a good coyote, but now I am stuck in the middle of nowhere not knowing where I am.
I gave you a lot of money to take me into a new country, trusting that you would be able to get me to El Norte, but the coyotes have failed to do that. I am very upset and disappointed that your services and workers have not provided me with a good service. When we asked the coyotes how long they would be when they left they never told us, and we asked them where we were located, we also never got an answer for that either.
To resolve this type of problem I would like a refund, because I did not get into the new country and your coyotes took all our money and left us stranded. I would appreciate you to reply back to me and get me a full refund for what it cost for me to get in the truck, and whatever the coyotes took from me when they left.
Sincerely,
Signature
Hector.
Explanation for Comic Strip
In this comic, the three main characters are Louis, Eddie and Nicole. The archetypal location is in an old cabin in the woods. The three characters are going on a weekend trip to the old cabin that they have never been to before. The archetypal character in this comic is Nicole, she is the one who represents the person who goes to see what is happening even though it might be something bad, she doesn’t think anything bad is going to happen to her. The other archetypal character that is in this comic is the police officer, in most scary movies or stories, the cops are always called, but they either don’t get there in time or they say that they can't help and leave. The last archetypal character in this comic is louis, she is the person who tries to help and figure everything out. She comes up with ideas to get out of a situation and she is there for all the other characters who needs help. The archetypal plot in this story is that there's a happy ending. In movies, at the end, everything goes back to normal like none of the awful stuff happened, and no one ever speaks about it again.
