Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Finding a cure

In Chapter 20 Spaz gets to see Bean. During his trip to visit her he has been thinking that it will have one sort of outcome. When he actually sees her he realizes the outcome will be something different. What does actually seeing Bean make him understand?

He also learns something interesting from Bean about the runner. What is that?

(It might be a good time to look back at what we know so far about why Spaz was forced to leave the latch. I think the real reason he was exiled must be more complicated and tied in with what Lanaya said after they survived the initial Vandals/Furies battle. Any ideas?)

I am interested to learn more about Eden. In Chapter 21 they are off to find some help for Bean but Lanaya does not seem aware of what actual help is available. This means to me that Proovs do not need medical care. I guess they don’t get sick. (Do they die?)

3 Comments:

Ben said...

When going to see Bean, Spaz thinks that he will see Bean dead. When he actually gets to her house, he is surprised to see she is still alive. Bean gets into a long talk with Lanaya, and doesn’t seem to mind Spaz listening in. Eventually, the healer comes, and basically says that Bean fell into a coma.

Spaz learned about the latch runner. Bean told him that even though he wasn’t allowed to come back, two of the family members, Charley and Kay, paid for the latch runner to deliver the message. I think they sent the message so bean would be happy, but I can’t tell the real reason why they did.

I don’t think that the reason he had to leave the latch was because he was different. In fact, I know he didn’t leave because of that. He left because of how he acted once. His parents thought it wasn’t safe to have him there, and told him to leave.

I am also very interested in learning about Eden. What is it like? It is like a paradise, or is it like a city? Why it is everyone there is genetically improved? And, how do they find information? That is what I am most interested in learning about.

Also, I like the new word, Deef.

Mr. Z said...

I see Spaz’s thinking differently. I think that he had the hope that somehow his presence would magically heal her but as he got closer – even before he saw her – he realized that would not be the case. (P146 “ I knew when we left the latch that Bean didn’t have much of a chance if the blood sickness came back strong. So what was I thinking? That she’d get better just because I showed up? Like I was her personal cure or something? Huh? What a mope! What a googan! What a spaz!) He was not “thinking”, just “hoping”.

What does it mean that his Step Dad – the one that kicked him out of the house in the first place – sent a runner to get Spaz the message about Bean? He must have known that it would be dangerous for Spaz to come. More important, he must have known that it would be dangerous for his family if Spaz was there. Did he have some reason to think that Spaz would be able to help Bean?

Anonymous said...

I'm in agreement that Charley sent the runner for Spaz because of Bean, whether it was to be able to tell her that he did it or because he hoped Spaz might help cure her I don't know. Sometimes to make yourself feel better you want to be able to tell someone you love that you did all that you could, because it is the only comfort that you can provide. Clearly Charley did not expect Spaz to arrive at his door and there was no joy in welcoming him back.
Can we go back to my early thinking about Spaz? Billy has protected Spaz and had an interest in him since we met Spaz, even if he did not treat him well. He certainly has kept track of him. Wouldn't you think that Spaz would just be easy pickings for the likes of Billy and the Bully Bangers, a kid alone struggling with epilepsy? Instead, he's like a junior member of the gang. And go back to my question about Lotti and Billy being "luvmates" where it is explained how Lotti with her long nails is said to use them as weapons and Billy has these pale scars on his neck from scratches. Are either of you suspicious how all this could come together?