Reading through Rachel Simon's Riding the Bus with My Sister, I consistently felt that Beth fit the mold of a secondary character rather than a primary one. I initially thought I had interpreted it this way considering I was expecting Beth to be the focal point of the text, what with the disability-based memoirs we have been reading, but my hesitation regarding such an assumption faded as I continued reading. As the text progresses, it becomes more and more clear that Beth’s presence is meant to bolster Rachel’s personal development. To my disappointment, Beth spends a great deal of time in the margins of the narrative, losing focus during long stories and fading away as Rachel gains various pieces of lifestyle advice. Granted, I am only a third into the memoir, but, as far as I can tell, this pattern doesn’t seem to be fading. I cannot speak for Rachel Simon’s intentions regarding this text, but, among the episodes she outlines, there are a number which may give away her priorities. I particularly honed in on the events leading up to Beth’s sterilization.
Prior to speaking with Beth directly, Rachel and her family discuss the potential of pregnancy, all the family members present deciding that its possibility
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It should be assumed that Beth was led through an in-depth explanation of what sterilization could possibly mean for her, but this isn’t included in the text. Had Beth been the focal point of the book, Rachel would have clarified what certainly could be perceived as an ethical and moral blunder. Up until this point in the text, though, even Rachel’s love life has received more attention to detail than Beth’s interactions with forms of birth control. Rachel doesn’t attend to events to Beth’s life in the way she attends to events in her own, and that is one of many reasons why I’m struggling to see Beth as anything but a secondary
Rachel and Elizabeth are both very strong women. Elizabeth stands up to the challenge of helping her new husband Randy in running the town. She makes sure everyone is doing well and that they are happy. She also is strong in the fact that she befriended other women who appear to be infatuated with Randy instead of getting jealous. Rachel is also a very strong woman because she was put through all the madness of being transported all over the place and almost dying because of the huge deception. It takes a strong woman to be able to go through all the things these two women had to
Rachel is first introduced into the play at the very beginning where we see she has gone to the jail to visit her boyfriend Bert Cates. Rachel is very desperate to try and get Bert to just throw himself at the mercy of the court and admit that what he did was wrong. She just wants to be with him. As she enters the jail she speaks to Meeker saying “Mr Meeker, don’t let my father know I came here”, This quote portrays Rachel’s character very well. She is shy and lacks confidence, obviously worried of what would happen if her father found out she was visiting Cates, the enemy to her father at this point. She has lived her life in fear of her father and because of she followed everything
I think Rachel was looking for the ways for her independence and willing to protect Bert during the trial. Rachel believed that Bert was innocent.
“Orphan Train” is a gripping story of second chance and companionships from author Christina Baker Kline. A life of loneliness and hardships bring a distressed seventeen year old girl, Molly Ayer, looking for acceptance in the world she can’t seem to escape and a ninety-one year old woman, Vivian. With a secret past that they have both yet to discover, they have more in common than just organizing the attic. Molly is on probation for stealing a book from the public library. Her foster parents is starting to have enough of her attitude. Molly’s friend, and only friend, Jack plans to put her in for community service so she won’t be sent to a juvenile facility. This woman, Vivian, has a huge house on the bay that has an attic full of junk, collectables, and boxes from her past. Vivian believes Molly is there for a school project, but she is really there so she will not be sent away.
Rachel is a generally nervous person throughout the course of the story. She constantly worries about what the town, and more specifically her father, might think. Lawrence and Lee establish this when Rachel goes to the jail to visit
I believe that Christina Baker Kline wrote Orphan Train to give insight on the little known fact that, from 1854 to 1929, orphans were placed onto a train and shipped around the United States to prospective parents. Kline was trying to bring upon the point of social injustice and welfare that humans endured during that time. “You’re not allowed to bring keepsakes with you on the train.’ ‘It’s- It’s the only thing I have left” (27). During the process of Niamh being adopted; “I’ll be honest with you.
The Bridge by Karen Kingsbury is an inspirational novel about second chances. The storyline is about a young couple, Ryan and Molly, who never confess their true love for each other. Seven years later, Molly and Ryan are separated by hundreds of miles, yet not a day goes by that they don’t think of one another. Meanwhile, the bookstore which houses all of Ryan and Molly’s precious memories of when they were together is at the edge of closing down because the owners, Donna and Charlie, are having financial problems. As a result, Molly and Ryan must work together to prevent The Bridge from closing forever.
Beth is every superficial worries about what people thinks of her. Calvin every caring and concern for his son
The classic Australian prison drama series should be pinning its fifth season right now. However, Wentworth season 5 is not moving along as planned. Around this time, the shooting of the film should already be starting. But it seems that the studio and the network are standing still.
Christina Baker Kline, a very accomplished writer, produced the work of Orphan Train which quickly rose to the top of the New York Times bestseller list, and there is no question why. This was a novel about adventure, discovery, persevering, and learning to love life. It was based between a series of two different time periods one being during 2011, which is Molly’s story. She meets a 90 year old woman who has had many identities during her time. She tells Molly about her travels as an orphan during the 1930’s. These stories are very similar in their type, even though they were many years apart. Molly and Vivian are both orphans, they have both encountered tragedies, hope, and most of all loss. They have come to feel at times as if the world were to fall apart, and the ground might break from beneath their feet, however they found ways to move past the mournfulness and frightening times. Kline has written a page turning masterpiece that paints a picture for the audience, the lives of orphans and how they persevered through the unbearable times. Molly and Vivian both encountered times, where they were mistreated as a child, lacking the education or food they needed, yet
Rachel is the protagonist and her own antagonist in the story. If the author had not of wrote rachel to be such an introvert she would've spoken up for herself when Mrs. Price gave her her sweater. If Rachel did stick up for herself then their would be no conflict. And if their is no conflict there would be no resolution, and if thier is no reslotuition their would be no
Rachel very much distanced herself from Beth after having to take care of her throughout her
This book reminds me of Christmas at my grandparents house. They always had a big train set that would go around the Christmas tree.
In the book “Breaking Night” by Liz Murray, it is about a girl who broke thru varying trying times to become a major success even when the odds and everything was against her, she could have easily just given up
I will be exploring the character of Rachel Cooper in comparison to John’s mother, and Icey Spoon. To begin it is clearly Miss Cooper that is much more intelligent and more of a mother then John’s mom can ever be. Miss Cooper has this unique distinction about her dominant female presence. She is a very strong and smart woman not only the way she handles and raises the adopted children but because she runs a farm and maintains all the housework that comes with that. On top of that she has some one on one time with each kid. If you have one child, making sure you have solo time with that child, too. When the oldest child went off to out on the night in town to meet a boy but she wanted a man. A wolf was the term but that wasn’t the type of man she needed. And when she ran into Harry she had ice cream and it seemed like a date for her. Harry asked her a question about young John and wanted to see if she knew where he was and she told him he stayed with us at the house. And that is how it all begin.