This book had beautiful descriptions, but they were often
difficult to understand. The book
changed narrators with each chapter and was told mostly through
flashbacks. The switching of
narrators and time periods made it difficult to follow. The story was character-driven because
it is told through stories of the characters. We think that Anwell/Gabriel has a mental disorder, which
seems like Dissociative Identity Disorder or Schizophrenia. He has an alternate personality, which
falls under Dissociative Identity Disorder, but he also interacts with his
alternate personality, which is a characteristic of Schizophrenia. We felt that this text might be
confusing and a little disturbing for young adult readers. We think that Hartnett was trying to
show that the trauma of Gabriel’s abusive parents and accidentally killing his
brother caused him to develop a mental disorder. His friendship with Finegan, his alternate personality, was
strong, but very unhealthy. We
think that this could show young adults the effects of being in an unhealthy
friendship like Gabriel and Finegan.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Sonya Hartnett Biography
Sonya Harnett is a native of Melbourne, Australia where she
began writing novels at the young age of thirteen. In 1984, when Sonya was fifteen her first novel Trouble All the Way was published. Since
Sonya met success at such a young age she was called a teenage novelty, a label
that took years to erase. Her work
is now taken seriously and although her novels are targeted at a young adult
audience, adults enjoy them as well.
She has written nineteen young adult books since her first
publication. She has been praised
as one of the best Australian writers of her generation and has won countless
awards both in and out of Australia, most notably being the prestigious Astrid
Lindgren Prize for Children's and Young People's Literature.
Sources:
"Sonya Hartnett." Britishcouncil.org. British Counsil, 2011. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
"About Sonya." Sonya
Hartnett. Penguin Group, 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
Personal Thoughts
The book is somewhat confusing because of the flashbacks that happened throughout the book. We assumed that Finnigan was Gabriel second personality but I was not clear throughout the book. The ending did not explain everything together as well as we thought it would either. We liked how descriptive the author was but we were confused the majority of the book.
Quotes from first page
-
“I am dying; it’s a beautiful word. Like the
long slow sigh of a cello; dying. But the sound of it is the only beautiful
thing about it” -Gabriel
Quote from page 98
“ You lit fires as much as I did. You told me,
go out and burn. Besides, we’re reflections, blood brothers, remember? What I
do, you do.” (98) - Finnigan
Plot Points
-In hospital whole time – uses flashbacks to
tell story of his life.
-Gabriel’s home life
o Parents
abusive
o Thinks
its aunt is his caretaker, but it’s a nurse from the hospital.
o Vernon-
brother, older, mental disability. Gabriel accidently kills by putting him in
the refrigerator to stop his screaming
o Surrender-
dog, Finnigan and Gabriel’s both own him. Gabriel father makes him shoot him
because Surrender kills another animal.
Flashbacks
o Finnigan
and Gabriel meet
o Make
a deal- That Finnigan can do bad things
as long as Gabriel does good things.
o Setting
fires – Finnigan sets fire all over the town. No one can figure out who it is. The Dad starts a group to
find the arsonist, but does not.
o Family
issues- tells Finnigan about how he killed his brother by putting him in the
fridge to stop crying.
o Gabriel
meets this Evangeline
o Thinks
that Finnigan wants to kill Evangeline
§
Finnigan thinks that Evangeline is using Gabriel
and will get rid of him when she wants too.
o Mom
embarrasses him
o Dad
makes him kill Surrender
§
Surrender killed another animal
o Kills
parents
o Gets
taken away to Hospital
§
Find out that nurse is not aunt
§
That he has been in hospital whole time
o Lying
in hospital bed sees Vernon at window and flies away with him, symbolizing that
he died.
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