It seems like a long time since we did any reading! (Vacations are great!) Before we read chapters 13 & 14, can you summarize in one paragraph what has happened so far? (Yes Ben, I want you to do that.)
In Chapter 13 we learn of Moose’s mother’s latest plan for helping Natalie. How does Moose feel about the plan? How will the plan affect him? Based on what we know about Natalie, how would you predict that she would react?
We know that Alcatraz is a prison. It could also be said that Moose is a prisoner of Alcatraz. Do you agree or disagree?
Sunday, November 25, 2007
The Latest Plan
Posted by Mr. Z at 9:27 PM
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3 Comments:
I'm not sure if Moose is a prisoner of Alcatraz or a prisoner of his circumstances. On page 74 Moose describes Piper as having "pretty brown eyes" and says "There's something true in those eyes and something false too." He makes these comments while getting Piper to agree to be nice to Natalie from now on but to extract this promise he has to agree to help with Piper's laundry project. So here it's as if he's trapped himself for the good of his sister.
However when he talks to his mom about how the Flanagans must change for Natalie's sake he seems really put out by the need for him to cooperate. On page 85 his mom says "I need you. Your dad needs you and Natalie needs you most of all. Let's just give this a try, shall we? Let's just see how it goes?" Moose's reply to his mother comes under his breath but I think it show a growing frustration with his circumstances when he responds "What if I don't want to see how it goes? What if I've been seeing how it goes my whole life?"
If not for Nat, the family wouldn't be on Alcatraz but I have to think that there would be another Piper who would use Nat against her brother no matter where they were. So when does Moose lose his patience with being a prisoner, whether on Alcatraz or in his old neighborhood?
When most people think of prisoners, they think of people in black striped uniforms in a cell. But in this case, being a prisoner means not physically trapped.
I would say that moose is imprisoned in between a girl and her father. One aspect of his imprisonment is him being stuck with helping piper. She forced him to help her with her schoolwork, and he cant stop. Otherwise, he will go to the other aspect of the problem. That aspect is breaking the rules. If he breaks the rules, he will get in a lot of trouble. So piper made moose break a rule, and is holding it over his head. So I would say he is a prisoner of Alkatraz.
I like ‘prisoner of his circumstance’. Moose always wants to do the right thing. He also is very sensitive to how other people are feeling. He does not want to ‘rock the boat’ or ‘make waves’ – both good metaphors considering his daily trips to San Francisco on a ferry. I think Kris is right – those qualities (and the way they make his life difficult) would follow him wherever he lived.
Moose seems like a smart kid to me. His ‘gut tightens’ (p 81) as soon as he hears his mother’s latest plan for ‘helping’ Natalie. It is interesting that he is able to see through the plan immediately but his mom cannot. (It might be easier to be a brother then a mother when it comes to helping Natalie because a brother can just see things as they are but mother also sees things as she wishes they could be.)
I hope Scout is able to arrange Tuesday baseball because losing that refuge will make things even harder for Moose.
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