If Gretchen was a close friend of mine, I would definitely do everything I could to help her out. I would feel like it was up to me to save her life, especially if I was the only one that she told. I would try to comfort her and make her feel loved. I think Gretchen should try to come up with some hard evidence of her dad abusing her, and take it to the police. That way her father would be put in jail and could not harm her any more. With hard evidence, the police would have to do something about it, and they could not just "keep an eye out". There really is not another option for Gretchen at this point. She can not stand up to her father, she can not tell her teachers about it, and she can not try to run away, because if her father found out about any of this he would hurt her very badly and might even kill her. She has to take the right steps to do something permanent and drastic.
a. I learned that streetcars were replaced with buses.
I did not really know what happened to streetcars before reading this novel. b. I rediscovered that even a very long time ago, those teenagers are really the same as us. The teens in this book all poses the same feelings and desires that we do today. c. I was surprised that the kids in this novel "pulled" streetcars. I have never heard of doing this before and I was surprised to learn that this was a common activity. d. During tennis season, Mack Paine puts together a team dinner. The first time I attended a dinner, I was hesitant on how to act. Some of the kids were acting wild, and others were sitting around silently. I realized that the wild kids were Mack's friends, and by the way they knew where the things belonged, it was obvious that they had been here before, numerous times. Mack made mac and cheese for dinner (lol) and everyone ate together. Dinner was very fun because everyone was calm and talkative, which is more of my way of acting. Dinner did not last very long however, and soon everyone was screaming and running around Mack's basement. Brooke and I just sat on the couches watching everyone act like hooligans; we couldn't help but feel like outcasts.
This experience I had not too long ago reminds me of Until They Bring the Streetcars Back because of the way that Cal and Gretchen feels in this novel. Gretchen is obviously out of place in school and other places because of the way she acts, dresses and things she does. However, Cal fits in with his friends and around school, but he still feels out of place because of his family and not being the owner of a car. During my time at Mack's, I felt more like Gretchen, however I couldn't help but feel a little self conscious like Cal. I was part of the team on paper, but did not feel like it in my own mind. |
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