One of the narrators threw me off completely as a reader in terms of his attitude. But when paying attention to him and how he treated others and his own choppy thought process he began to unfold and make more and more sense. Despite being disabled himself, born with no legs, Adonis still lacks sympathy for those who aren't physically disabled. He also judges people on their mental capacity, including the girl he likes, which is quite ableist of him. He continually calls the other students at his school dumb, while praising only the ones he deems as smart. And he prides himself on being an exception student, despite not being able to come to grips with his own emotions. He doesn't see the value in emotional development which you could argue is pretty dumb of him.
Adonis also lacks basic communication skills on a personal level, rather than breaking up with a girl he went on a date with he ignored her for weeks on end until she got the hint. Completely mature behavior for someone who prides himself on being mature and ready for college at fifteen, right?
The other narrator, Autumn is completely different. Though she falls behind in school she has a drive behind her completely at her own will. Not just what her outer image is and looking good for colleges, unlike Adonis. She also happens to be disabled, although the author never explicitly said what made reading hard for her I think Autumn had dyslexia. She also happens to be a perfect example of physical strength being the star of their school's wrestling team. Not only that but she speaks her mind, even if it is bordering on too much. She doesn't hold her tongue on anything.
She and Adonis are complete foils and the author did this totally on purpose. I'm still figuring out all of the reasons behind why she made them such polar opposites though. But one of the most obvious ones is to highlight the contrast between struggles that go with physical and mental disabilities. Autumn is shown often getting frustrated because she believes something is wrong with her since her problems are beneath the surface.While Adonis has accepted his lack of legs, partially since he was born without them and since he cant be "fixed"the way everyone seems to think Autumn can be just by studying more.
They both over compensate for their disabilities in other realms of their lives though. Since Autumn is 'no good' at school she pours all she has into cooking and wrestling. Adonis throws himself into academics...and also judging able bodied people of whom he refers to as the 'regulars'. The author made it a point to make it so that their disabilities were apparent in nearly every action they made in the book. Especially in the ways that each of them narrate. While Adonis speaks properly, saying flat out that he hates the word 'a'int', Autumn narrates with slang and 'improper' English and even lets the reader know that 'a'int' is her favorite word.
I think it is interesting the way that you explained the way the two characters balanced each other out. One of the things that I am confused about is the way that this is written, do they switch off narrating each chapter or is it like an omniscient narrator going into both their heads? I liked how you go into both of their disabilities and the different struggles they face. This book reminds me of other young adult fiction books I have read such as Looking for Alaska by John Green or Spud by Jon Van De Ruit. These books also deal with kids in high school dealing with their problems. The first about a boy hows best friend dies half way through the school year. The second about a boy from South Africa who goes to a boarding school on a singing scholarship because he cannot afford to attend.
ReplyDeleteAnother question I have about your book is when you say the character Autumn doesn't hold her tongue, what do you mean by this? Some examples from the text would be a good way to elaborate on her character. This book seems to be very relate-able with high school students because of the way that it focuses on the struggles these students have rather then an easy time that the minority of high schoolers have.
Great post! I thought the way you prove the juxtaposition of the two characters through inductive reasoning was awesome. Your voice is also very strong. You present concrete conclusions and concise observations in a friendly tone which totally goes in line with your audience, as this is a blog post, and makes the text easy to read. I also like how you talk through issues. When you wrote, “ I'm still figuring out all of the reasons behind why she made them such polar opposites though”, I could totally see the gears moving in your head.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I think there are a couple of things you could do to make this post stronger. Providing a brief summary of the book could be helpful. I am not familiar with the book, so I was a bit confused at first. Similarly, adding direct textual quotes to support your claims would totally help strengthen your arguments and add context for those who haven’t read the book. Finally, there are also a few points that I think could use more exploring. The characters’ disabilities seem like a really important part of the book with a lot to dig into. Also, although you mention that the characters are complete opposites, they both have names starting with “A”. Maybe some kind of message from the author? And the name Adonis itself seems to just reek of symbolism.
Thanks for letting me read!