What is The What?
Author:Dave Eggers
Pages Read: 1-108
Hours Read: 2
Quote Uno (1#) From “Powder” Page 9: “Don't you know you shouldn't open you're door to strangers?”
Significance: This is a quote coming from “Powder” the black man who is currently robbing Valentino achak Deng, the protagonist. Powder is saying this, because he thinks its funny how he so easily obtained access to Valentino's house. Since he's already in, he sees no harm in teaching his “brother” something. This demonstrates that although Valentino suffered so much in Africa, when he arrives in the U.S, He is faced with a lot more trouble. Since Valentino has newly arrived in America, he is ill-prepared to face robberies.
Connection: It's a little difficult to connect to scenes like this one, because I don't live in the “ghetto”. However, I once was scared when this homeless person was prowling around my house (no lie!) and I wonder what would have happened if I had opened the door for him. So far I'm enjoying this book, even though it seems a bit weird and confusing.
Question: My question is.........
If you opened the door for strangers, and they began to rob you're house what would you do?
Quote Dos (#2) From “A soldier” Page 65: “Are you wealthy enough to be choosy?”
Significance: This quote tells a little about Valentino's life. Previously he had been the son of a very wealthy man (his father), before everything went downhill. His role was basically an average kid, he was educated, and got a lot of free time to hang around. So the soldier must have thought he was rich, because he didn't lunge blindly for the candy.
Connection: I would say that I'm upper middle class, as in I'm not rich, but I'm not poor at all. If somebody offered me food, I would eat it, but my parents tell me not to eat Halloween candy, because it might have food poisoning. I guess I could relate to Valentino.
Question: My question is..........
If a random stranger offered you candy, would you eat it?
TKAM post #8
14 years ago
Quote Response #1 - I agree that Valentino opened the door because he was ill-prepared and didn't know who to trust. I noticed that he experiences many new experiences when Powder and Tonya rob him. One example is when Valentino says that he has never been hit with the back of a gun before.
ReplyDeleteQuestion Response #1 - If I opened the door to a stranger, only to be robbed, I would feel pretty foolish. If I were in Valentino's same position, I probably wouldn't have stood up to them. Instead, I would have remembered all of the information I could about the robbers so that later I could tell the police who robbed me.
Quote Response #2 - I think that the soldier might have misunderstood Valentino. I think that he was just being cautious of a stranger offering him candy, not being choosey about candy.
Question Response #2 - If a random stranger offered me candy I would definitely not eat it. That person could have poisoned it or drugged it, and every parent tells their kids, "Don't take candy from strangers!"