As we were questioned in class, how are the chapters in The Mole People arranged and why were they arranged in such a manner. As I looked at the chapters and reviewed what was shared in class about the certain chapters that we were assigned, I was able to see a pattern in the chapters. When I am looking at the chapters from chapter 1 to 24, I see that pattern of a roller coaster. How I have come to this conclusion is that looking throughout the chapters and how classmates summarized their chapters we see a pattern of good and bad and hope and hopelessness. It starts with chapter 2, Seville’s Story, as it was explained in class, this chapter can be seen as a bad chapter because it is about a kid that runs away but no one tries to help the family get their soon back. As we go further into the novel, I would consider chapter 7, about Henry as a hopeful chapter because he sheds some light in what he has done and is doing for the tunnels. In chapter 9 and 10, I would consider these hope chapters because the children still have connections with the life above ground and they do not consider themselves “houseless”. Chapter 11 is a good chapter because Bernard’s Tunnel is educated and has great pasts before there came to the tunnels. Chapter 14 and 15 are hopeful chapter because the many characters had a lot of street smarts and they knew they would survive and having outreach programs that help people in the tunnels. In chapter 20 and 21, I consider these chapters good because we see that they are about community and that the people within the tunnel have a system and it works well for them. In chapter 22, the women seem hopeless, as Josh explained because they are unhappy and “done” with life. In chapter 24 I conclude my analysis of chapters with this chapter being a bad chapter. In this chapter, Jennifer Toth, fears for her life and leaves the tunnels forever.
As we can see, the chapters go from bad to good then bad again. We always see that some chapters are hopeful and others have hopelessness. I see this roller coaster of chapters as a way to explain the tunnels in a mixed way because we see good and bad intermixed within the novel. I think the Toth does this well and that the novel is presented well. I like that The Mole People ends on a bad chapter because it keeps us reminded that, no matter how much you try to understand a sub-culture, sometimes it never works. It also reminds us that not every situation is great and sometimes when you try, you end up having a roller coaster experience.
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I think that Lyndsay makes an interesting point. The chapters of Toth's book can be analyzed by the outlook they describe and when we use this method to examine the composite book, the effect is quite like that of a rollercoster. I think that this can be applied in another way to each individual character. The life cycle of a human often has its ups and downs, although not all are comparable.
ReplyDeleteToth uses many characters to build up her rollercoster sort style. The characters that she uses vary in many way -- sex, age, ethnicity, and others. Placing such different characters next to one another in and between chapters, Toth not only uses the transition from good to bad and back again to imitate "the roller coaster experience" but also uses the more subtle differences to influence her audience. Toth's roller coaster structure can be found in the not only the personal experience stories but also the different sorts of people she encounters.
Cora and Lyndsay, I think by saying that the arrangement is much like the experience of a rollercoster is an excellent comparison. Toth describes numerous characters and their lives.
ReplyDeleteAs Cora pointed out, they are all of various demographics. However, her characters are also from different backgrounds. Toth groups her chapters by people with similar pasts and have similar attitudes toward their pasts. For example, she discusses Bernards tunnel and how it is mostly occupied by people who used to be successful in the workplace and each still maintain a great deal of pride. Additionally, she discusses the "Runaways" in chapter 14, each character had a brutal past that involved some sort of abuse wether it be verbal, physical, mental, or sexual.
Therefore, Toth may have arranged this book in a particular to group people with similar backgrounds. That way, the reader could easily understand and relate the characters personalities and situations to each other.