My impressions of the Boy and the Children, in the poem, "The Loner"

Boy:
He is emotionally insecure, and has very low self confidence. From the fact that he is always leaning against the wall while watching the children play, he is really insecure that he has to lean on something literally for support. He is on the defensive, not wanting to make any changes to the current situation.

He desperately wants to have friends, but is unwilling to step out from his comfort zone. He “never plays”, tells us that he always returns to the playground, and that he might be envious of the children who are playing and desperately wants to join in and have friends. But he might not have the courage to do so as the children all seem to have very close friends, and their “familiar clique” and he might feel unwelcomed. He might also be overwhelmed by the fact that he is the only one that is lonely. His “loneness is his shell and shield”, and “neither he nor we will yield” tells us that they are both very stubborn, and are unwilling to break out from their emotional shield and comfort zone.

He is also really bored. From the fact that he actually “smacks his hands against the bricks” and “scuffs to make the tarmac squeak” while leaning on the playground wall tells us that he is so bored without friends that he does not even feel the pain when smacking his hands and does random “boredom-beating” tricks such as wanting to make the floor squeak.

Overall, my impressions of the boy are that he is an introvert and is really stubborn, to actually not wanting to take the initiative and step out and face the world.



Children:
They are unwilling to step out of their comfort zone. Though everyday they see him “back against the wall he stays”, clearly lonely and bored, they still do not take the initiative and go and get to know him. The children too are unwilling to step out of their comfort zone as all of them have their own “familiar clique”. Being in such a big group, they should take the initiative.

They are also very mean. They actually pass him countless times, but each time they pass, they are in ”slow huddled groups” , and “low talking”, clearly talking and gossiping about the boy, and making him feel even more uncomfortable. The boy is already very emotionally insecure, leaning against the wall all the time, and they should put themselves in his shoes to find out the actual reason why he does not have friends and not talk behind his back so noticeably.

They are also very narrow-minded. All of them only want to be in their own familiar clique, and none of them actually bothers to go and talk to him and find out why he is always all by himself, lonely and miserable. Since they are in such a big group, they should be more open-minded and take the initiative and talk to him, as the boy might be overwhelmed by the huge group of close playmates.

They also are rather childish and have a lot of pride in themselves and are afraid to have humiliation. In the story the boy is already characterized by the other children to be someone who belongs somewhere else, and they might have the mindset that like the loner, and belongs to another world, “for who don’t belong”, and anyone who talks to him are like him, and thus afraid to do so. They do not want to talk to the boy as if they do, as it might seem like they are like him, loners.

Overall, my impressions of the children are that they are rather childish and mean. They should care more for one another, and make the world a better place to live in.

Jack and the Beanstalk

Write a paragraph each on why both Jack and the Ogre both deserve our sympathy.

A reason why I sympathize with Jack:
Jack only lives with his mother, and they are both very poor. They only lived on “the milk the cow gave every morning”, but unexpectedly, the cow didn’t produce any milk and they were very worried. Without money, their source of food and other supplies would be gone, and they might have to live under even harsher conditions. Thus, this explains the greed he had when he exchanged the cow for just a few beans. Although Jack stole a great deal from the giant’s house; the bag of gold, the hen that lays golden eggs and the golden harp, he is still a hero as he killed the cold-blooded ogre who loves to eat boys for breakfast. Another reason why he stole was because he was in a difficult situation and still has to support his mother who might be getting on with age. Not wanting to let his mother continue worrying and wanting to have a much better life from then onwards might be his desire to have those riches and the motivation to steal. Then, after getting all the riches from the giant, he and his mother would have no more worries on how they are going to live their days, and would live a happy and comfortable life. Thus, Jack deserves our sympathy.

A reason why i sympathize with the Ogre:
Although the ogre eats Englishman as food, “I’ll have his bones to grind my bread”, showing that he is very cold-blooded, he is not evil at heart and does not harm anyone without a particular reason. It also might be the ogre's nature to be harsh and would be very difficult to change. It is really unfair to the ogre, whose riches were stolen by another man, Jack. In the end, Jack “lived happily ever after” but the ogre died horribly. Although he eats human as food, the riches still belong to him and it is definitely Jack’s fault to steal it just because he wanted a more comfortable life. He should work and earn money for himself and not take another’s. The ogre deserves our sympathy as he died when chasing someone who stole his stuff, just wanting to justify his rights and ownership, however, in the end, had a very horrible ending.

Literature! (=

Do you symphathize with The Joker?

I do not sympathize with the Joker as he is a coldblooded sociopath and a homicidal maniac, killing lives as he wishes, without even hesitating, treating his notorious tricks all as jokes for Batman.

Firstly, he kills with no qualms, and even “announced the name and exact time of death of his next victim over the radio” which is really cruel. He even “leaves his victims a permanent death grin”, which further proves his ruthless character.

Next, he even issued an ultimatum to the people living in the city of Gotham that a soul from Gotham would be gone each day until the day Batman reveals his identity. He treats all his “crime, infliction of pain, and murder as a joke-to mock Batman”. It is really unnerving to know that he takes away lives without any form of guilt, and treats it as a game. This further shows that he is really cruel, and deserves none of my sympathy.

However, I do sympathize him because he had a bad childhood, which his father abused him and caused the permanent revolting smile on his face, but that does not mean that he should revenge all his hatred on the innocent. Those are just excuses. I also feel sorry for him as he has a pregnant wife, and being “desperate to support her”, he agrees to help two criminals break into a plant. But, only to be informed that his wife and unborn child had died in a household accident. Overcame by anguish, he tries to back out, but to no avail. Once they entered the plant, they were caught immediately and in his panic to escape from Batman, he jumps into a vat of chemicals, only to find out that it caused his skin to be permanently bleached white, hair dyed fluorescent green, and a permanent hideous red lips on his face. All these events drived him completely insane, resulting to the birth of the Joker.

He must have really hated Batman, if it was not for escaping him that he looked unsightly. However, he should not blame him as he was the one at fault in the first place. For all his wrong-doings, I think that he should not be forgived at all, not to say, to the extend of being symphathized.

Blue here! =) `Heyyos(: