Inequality in Looking for Alaska by John Green

Looking for Alaska, by John Green, is centered around main character, Pudge, and his group of friends at Culver Creek boarding school. Though the book isn't focused on inequality, two of the characters, Alaska and the Colonel, are very affected by it.

Alaska's character comes off as a strong feminist, who has many opinions. I noticed, surprisingly, that her actions aren't true to her stated opinions, and she instead reacts hypocritically. For example, at Thanksgiving (perfect timing, right?), Alaska points out that it's really stereotypical for the women to be preparing the meal. However, she cooks anyway, stating that she wouldn't want "crappy boy-prepared food." This reveals that Alaska is very aware of gender inequality but does no more than verbalize her opinion. 

The Colonel, whose real name is Chip, grew up with his mother in a trailer park with close to nothing. He never needed more than he had, but he started a completely different lifestyle when he enrolled at Culver Creek.  Culver Creek is divided into two groups: half of the kids have scholarships, and half are wealthy kids who pay full tuition. The wealthy kids, nicknamed Weekday Warriors (because they go home over the weekend), are despised by the Colonel. The Colonel hates the Weekday Warriors because they are wealthy, and they typically don't respect anyone economically below them. This situation represents two forms of inequality. One is the huge difference between the Colonel's economic stature compared to a Weekday Warrior's, and another is the fact that the Colonel hates all rich people, even beyond the Weekday Warriors, due to his specific past. It is unfair for Chip to judge people by their wealth and not their personalities. 

This book showed me that inequality appears in ways that I had not previously noticed, and I am motivated to act on my opinions. I find it interesting that many people talk about social injustice, yet change is slow in coming. Being true in our actions to our opinions is a solid first step to making changes. 

Social Justice in Wintergirls

Have you ever felt unhappy with your body image? The book Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson is about what happens when you become too caught up with your weight.  Unsatisfied with their figures, Lia and Cassie decide to have a competition for who can loose the most weight. This conflict really shows how affected people are by what the media portrays as right or good.

As the competition endured, the girls developed anorexia and bulimia, drinking problems, and got in huge fights. They completely forgot about their strong friendship and the reason they even started the competition. They were constantly depressed, all because they thought they weren't good enough for the media's image of a women. This is really upsetting to me because it is common in our current society for people to focus on what is wrong about themselves because they think they aren't good enough.

This is an important issue of social justice because what the media puts out is a negative influence on confidence and overall happiness. How can we be happy if, like Lia, we are too busy counting calories to notice how much our friends and family love us? I hope that one day, body image won't be an issue of social justice.

Darkness Too Visible

Megan Cox Gurdon’s article Darkness Too Visible, published in the Wall Street Journal, discusses what the author considers to be the overly gruesome and inappropriate nature of young adult literature. After introducing the topic, Gurdon writes about how Y.A. lit affects teenagers emotions and spreads the likelihood “self-destructive adolescent behaviors.” She proves her point by mentioning many Y.A. books, such as Rage and Scars and how they may negatively impact teenagers.

There are many craft moves used throughout the article. It starts out with a small moment to make the reader relate to the cause and simultaneously tries to put an opinion in their head – Y.A. lit is too dark. The author addresses the counterclaim, that Y.A. lit “validate[s] the teen experience.” She immediately makes the counterclaim seem foolish by using a situation that is obviously unreasonable. Gurdon also uses many big words such as “acquiesce” and uses a sophisticated and domineering tone to make the reader agree with her point.

I disagree with the author’s claim that Y.A. lit is too harsh for teenagers. Gurdon argues that Y.A. lit books with violent and dark issues make these topics more plausible. In my opinion, Y.A. lit reflects our teenage generation, not the other way around. Changing the content of Y.A. lit wouldn’t change the behavior of teenagers. You would have to change them.

Identity

“[Irene] slowly ran her pointer finger along the stripe. It made my arms and legs goose-bump…liking the feel of that finger but afraid of what it meant…Irene kissed me again. And I hadn’t dared her to do it, but I was glad that she did.”

Have you ever questioned or tried to change your identity? In The Miseducation of Cameron Post, by Emily M. Danforth, the 7^th grade protagonist, Cameron, began questioning her sexual identity after she kissed her best friend, Irene. Cameron wasn’t sure if she was a lesbian. This is an important topic because a lot of teenagers think about their identity and try to change who they are.

           

In the book, Cameron was worried that people would find out that she kissed Irene and tried to convince herself that she wasn’t a lesbian. Cameron was afraid of other people judging her. Let alone other people’s thoughts, I think that Cameron was also afraid of what this meant for how she looked at herself. She was in complete denial. Cameron thought that she wouldn’t be a lesbian if she didn’t admit it to herself. This connects to the real world when people, especially teenagers, try to hide their true selves because they feel insecure.

I can relate to Cameron because, in the past, I have tried to change myself for other people. I was afraid that other people wouldn’t like me and that I wouldn’t even like myself. Because of this, I adjusted myself to other people’s wants. By reading this book, I realized that if I have to change myself to please people, they aren’t worth pleasing. I like myself and I’m proud of who I am. Cameron needs to be herself and not feel intimidated by judgment.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

My favorite book that I read over the summer was The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. The book starts with the male main character, whose name is never mentioned, returning to his hometown in England for a funeral. Wanting to avoid contact with his family, the main character ends up visiting the farm at the end of the lane, which he vaguely remembers from growing up. After sitting down and looking into the small pond, the main character's childhood suddenly comes back to him, and he is reminded of all the magic and evil he used to know--and hold inside of himself.

This book is filled with excitement and has so much room for a reader's imagination to take over and live inside the book. I would recommend this book to all fantasy fans and readers looking for a fun and mysterious read.