Green Grass Running Water

In the novel Green Grass Running Water, Thomas King uses biblical and historical allusions to help build the plot of the story. As Babo searches for the four Indians with Dr. Hovaugh, she notices a bright star in the sky. The star represents the Star of Bethlehem, which is referred to in the New Testament, with the birth of Jesus Christ. In the distance, at the edge of the horizon, Babo could see a point of light, a star in the morning sky. (235).

On the morning of Lionel Stands Alone’s fortieth birthday, he comes to a revelation, and realizes that he must turn his life around. He begins to plan his future: going back to school and getting a degree; settling down with Alberta; becoming a new man. Lionel bases his new personality around his childhood role model John Wayne, who was a prevalent American actor in the mid-1900s. The actor’s iconic personality is the inspiration for Lionel’s determination to become successful in life.
In Part 3 of the novel, Thought Woman arrives on an island and meets a man named A.A. Gabriel, who tells her that she is going to have a baby. This alludes to the annunciation of Mary, where Thought Woman represents Mary, and A.A. Gabriel is the Archangel Gabriel, who comes to Mary in a dream. This helps build the plot of the novel, because it coincides with the miraculous pregnancy of Alberta.

In Part 4 of the novel, Old Woman comes across Young Man Walking On Water, who claims that he must save a group of men on a boat. He tells Old Woman that she cannot help him because it will go against the Christian rules. His character represents Jesus Christ as a man. This section is included in the novel to portray Jesus as arrogant, which emphasizes King’s dislike for Christian theories. And the first rule is that no one can help me. The second rule is that no one can tell me anything. Third, no one is allowed to be in two places at once. Except me. (350).

Near the end of the novel, we see three cars at the top of the dam on Parliament Lake. There is a Pinto, a Nissan, and a Karmman-Ghia. These three cars represent the ships that Christopher Columbus sailed through the Atlantic Ocean: La Pinta, La Niña, and Santa Maria. The symbolism contributes to the novel, because the breaking of the dam represents a new beginning for Lionel, and for the Blackfoot community. Likewise, the expedition of Christopher Columbus in the Western World created a new beginning for European-American relations.


2)

a.
Eli had to admit that after all the years of arguments and threats and injunctions, he had won very little… Eli and the house would be washed out onto the prairies.
But not now. Not tomorrow.
And in a rather perverse way, Eli had come to enjoy the small pleasures of resistance, knowing that each time Duplessis opened the gates a little too much or turned on the light a little too late, it was because he was there. (260)

This reveals that Eli has a stubborn personality. He knows that he will not be able to win the battle over the construction of the dam, but he still persists, and refuses to leave his mother’s cabin.

b.
“Today,” he shouted at the mirror, “Today things change.” And he whacked himself in the stomach and grabbed his saggy chest for good measure. He stood there naked, glaring into the mirror, pleased with the fire that burned in his eyes. Just above his left nipple, Lionel spotted the mole with the single long hair growing out of it. (240)

This passage shows that Lionel is aware of his inability to fulfill his goals in life, and that he wants to improve on his personality and his career, despite his prior failures in doing so.

c.
“Okay,” said the Lone Ranger. “Whose turn is it now?”
“Well, who went last?” said Ishmael.
“You did.”
“Then it’s Robinson Crusoe’s turn.”
“What about me?” says Coyote. “I’d like a turn.”
“That doesn’t sound like a good idea,” said Hawkeye.
“No,” said Robinson Crusoe. “That sounds like a Coyote idea.”
“Anyway,” said Ishmael, “it’s Robinson Crusoe’s turn.”
“Maybe Coyote can turn on the light,” said Robinson Crusoe.
“Yes,” says Coyote. “I can do that.”
“Okay,” said Hawkeye. “Let’s get going.”
“Watch me,” says Coyote. “Watch me turn on the light.” (230)

This quotation shows how desperate Coyote is to be included in the telling of the story and to be a part of the group. He tries to give his opinion on everything, even though nobody else trusts his thoughts or actions. His character is portrayed much like an over-enthusiastic dog.

"The Law Of Dreams" by Peter Behrens

The Law of Dreams is the story of Fergus O’Brien, a farm boy from Ireland, who struggles through the Great Famine of 1847. Fergus and his family live and work on a potato farm and have been for many years before. Fergus’s family are tenants who make a living on their landlord, Mr. Carmichael’s land. Phoebe Carmichael, Mr. Carmichael’s daughter is Fergus’s friend and, unbeknownst to Phoebe, the apple of his eye. Everything seemed to be going fine for the with the exception of Fergus’s cousin and his friends bullying Fergus on occasion. Then the mold came followed by the famine. Since the Carmichael family relied on either potatoes or money from their tenants when the mold came no one could pay for their land so the Carmichaels went from door to door either kicking the families out or burning them out of house and home. Fergus's siblings and parents are burned alive in their beds, too weak with hunger to escape. Only Fergus survives, and, in what's considered a great act of charity, he's deposited in a workhouse, where he's immediately stripped, shaved and sprayed with acid to kill the lice. From now on Fergus’s life turns dire. He realizes that everyone at the workhouse will either starve or die of the fever. Fergus is forced to steal pennies and coins from recently deceased friends just to get by. In a daring escape Fergus manages to flee from the workhouse and join a band of thieves who’s base of operation is a whorehouse. From there he moves on to work on the rail roads and dreams of leaving Ireland for America, which he still only dreams of.


Some themes in The Law Of Dreams were hunger, power, fear, and loneliness. Hunger from the famine at the time, power from the constant power struggle between characters and people of the time, fear from Fergus’s constant confrontation of things that would scare or scar any normal human but Fergus stays strong, and loneliness from Fergus’s perpetual moving around and not having time to have friends. The author, Peter Behrens (who is a family friend), uses the third person in his novel and it works quite effectively. He also uses language that really is just perfect for what he’s trying to convey. Eg "The world, latent; a gun loaded with chance and mistakes.", “You could eat pain and come out alive. It was a silent meal. You could eat pain even find a relish. You ate unhurried. You made certain to taste every bite. You could eat pain; it wouldn’t kill you.” Every chapter works perfectly with each other with no overlap or thoughts like, “wait shouldn’t this have happened?” The book was similar to Great Expectations. It was a story about a young boy who is in love with a better off girl and who goes through a hard time only to be a taken in by a gentle care taker. I would absolutely recommend this book to others if they like a sad tale. It is a fairly easy read but its heavy, heavy material. "The world, latent; a gun loaded with chance and mistakes." Is a metaphor saying the hidden world is always a dangerous place to be. “You could eat pain and come out alive. It was a silent meal. You could eat pain even find a relish. You ate unhurried. You made certain to taste every bite. You could eat pain; it wouldn’t kill you.” Is a metaphor saying pain is a meal that we all at one point have to eat and it’s never fun to take down.

Gonzo: The Life Of Hunter S. Thompson (Jann Wenner and Corey Seymour)

Gonzo is an oral biography about Hunter Stockton Thompson, the journalist and author. The book is a collection of quotes by friends, family, editors, fellow journalists, former presidents, hells angles members, actors and artist who knew Thompson from his childhood up until his suicide in 2005. This is by far one of the best books available, and I'm sure anyone reading this had heard that in almost every book review ever written, but this is honestly an amazing book. The oral biography format is far superior to any one person sitting down, collecting information, and writing because it gives the reader different views into who Hunter S. Thompson really was. It follows him in every step of his life giving in depth detail on the personality of one of America's most influential journalists of all time. From a somewhat troublesome young boy in Louisville, Kentucky to a freelance journalist for the, at the time, small "Rolling Stone" Magazine in New York, to the heart of the Hells Angles biker gang, to Las Vegas, Aspen (or Fat City) Colorado, the Nixon vs. McGovern campaign trail, Zaire, Vietnam, Hawaii and the Florida Keys Hunter S. Thompson was known, loved, feared and loathed by everyone he met. Through this book we can follow Thompson through 3 marriages and 67 years of drug and alcohol use and abuse and see the controversial writer evolve from a man on the edge to the full blown Gonzo version of Thompson, Raoul Duke.

Since the book was an Oral Biography the type of language used changes from speaker to speaker and is very casual but informative. It is very much like an interview transcript with hundreds of people proving to be extremely effective. Hunter S. Thompson was a user of almost every drug except for heroin seeing as he "didn't like needles", so the issue of drug and alcohol use is mentioned in almost every speakers paragraph or paragraphs. There really isn't anything that the authors could have done to improve the book because it is the most accurate, informative biography I have ever read. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. You don't even have to know anything about Hunter S. Thompson to enjoy this book. There really are no rhetorical devices in this book because it wasn't written it was spoken BUT! After much searching I have found one in the introduction to the book by Johnny Depp. "I have millions of visions of him seared into my brain..." This adds to the book by giving an impression that Hunter S. Thompson is an undying creature that will live forever, seared into Johnny Depp's Brain.

Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

“We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine and a whole galaxy of multicoloured uppers, downers, screamers, laughers…also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls… But the only thing that worried me was the ether.” Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the true story of Hunter .S. Thompson and his attorney Oscar Zeta Acosta and their journey through America’s nocturnal city with nothing more than a red convertible and what’s listed above. It follows Thompson and Zeta Acosta (under the names Raul Duke and Dr. Gonzo) to Las Vegas, where Duke is supposed to be covering the famous “Mint 400” An annual car race across the salt flats outside of Vegas. The story evolves from what was supposed to be good fun into, though it may be fun, an all out path of destruction from hotel to hotel constantly on one or more drug of choice. Though the two main characters are constantly in their own world the conversations that are had are what make this story keep moving. Yes it is fun to hear about all the different news stories that Raul Duke has to cover but what’s more interesting is his conversations with complete strangers or just managing to function in a human orderly run world when the people involved are melting into butter and having dinosaurs and bats attack them constantly. It all makes for a very interesting read. And Duke should have been afraid of using the ether. That, or using it in a circus/casino.

Drugs and drug use play a major key in Fear and Loathing and arguably the story wouldn’t be around if the drugs hadn’t been around. Drugs as a way of escaping the world is probably the major theme in the book. Thompson uses Samuel Johnson’s quote, “he who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man” which is a really good way of summing up the whole book because that’s pretty much all the story is; Escaping the pain of being a man. Since Hunter. S. Thompson is a journalist the book is very similar to reading a news paper or magazine in the way its written. It has the feel that it was written for a purpose and that it is always trying to get or getting to a point. It was in first person most of the time with the occasional transition. The issues that were raised were perhaps a bit out of date seeing as the book was written in 1971 but the idea’s and morals of the book are interesting. The books brings up the question of drug use from a fairly biased point of view; that of a user. But it is still very interesting. I would certainly recommend this book to others who have a taste for out there books. Its not a light sit down and read kind of book. It’s more of a social commentator than JUST a story. Once you get into it you really get into it. Rhetorical devices. Simile is used quite often when comparing people and their surroundings. E.G. “A thing like that could send a drug person careening around the room like a ping pong ball.” (referring to a giant tv screen in downtown Las Vegas). And symbolism. On the outskirts of Las Vegas there is a sign that says “DON’T GAMBLE WITH MARIJUANA! IN NEVADA POSSESION -20 YEARS SALE – LIFE!” this sign represents the risk that Raul Duke and Dr. Gonzo are taking in going to Las Vegas with their suitcase full of drugs.

Dearly Devoted Dexter Blog.

Dexter Morgan is the ever trusted, smiling blood splatter analyst for the Miami-Dade Metro PD. And he takes life. Seriously. The thing is he only kills bad people. Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay is the second book in the Dexter series. In this volume the main character, Dexter, is be followed and watched by Sergeant James Doakes, one of the heads of staff at his job. He’s following him because of the recent death of Detective Maria LaGuerta, which Dexter is partially responsible for. Since Dexter has to keep a very low profile he is forced to act like any other “normal” human would. He spends time with his girlfriend Rita and her two kids Astor and Cody and starts to realize that he has fallen out of the serial killer loop. He hasn’t given into the urge in almost a month and is becoming in Dexter’s words, “a couch potato.” After weeks of no killing and being followed by Srgt. Doakes the police discover one of the most horrific crime scenes they have ever come across. The victim has had all of his limbs removed. Along with his lips, nose, eyelids, teeth and ears and he’s still alive. The victim turns out to be linked to Srgt. Doakes past and so is the FBI agent that comes to Miami to investigate the crime, Kyle Chutsky. Dexter’s foster sister Deborah stars working with and dating Chutsky, which causes more problems when he is abducted by the villain who we only know as Dr. Danco. Dexter now has to save his sisters boyfriend from a killer he knows next to nothing about and to make it all better he has to work with Srgt. Doakes on the case who would rather have him dead than anywhere near him.

In Dearly Devoted Dexter the one major theme that arguably is Dexter Morgan is one or morality. Is Dexter a good person doing bad things or a bad person doing good things? It is really up to the readers to decide if it is morally right to kill someone if that someone is a killer themselves. Dexter is written in first person and since the person in question is extremely clever the book follows suit. It is filled with puns, word play and alliteration always using the letter “D”. The way it is written is almost in thought form and really gets the reader interested in the book because it feels like they have an emotional connection with Dexter. There isn’t really any thing that someone could relate to with Dexter except the characters unless you are a serial killer with a lovely charm. That’s not to say that readers won’t get attached to the book. They absolutely do but there isn’t really any heartwarming message in the book. I think Dexter is too different from any other books we have or are going to read to have anything in common with them. The only thing that Jeff Lindsay could have done to make Dexter better is to make it longer. There is nothing I would change about it at all. This book is for anyone who likes crime fiction but I wouldn’t suggest it to people younger than fourteen just because some of the content is a little bit on the graphic side. In Dexter there is a lot of alliteration with the word “D” and that always has Dexter’s name in it. I.e. Dashing Dexter, Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Dexter’s Dark Dance ect. ect. This is very effective because it keeps everything light hearted and fun even though most of it pertains to killing people. Metaphor is also used a couple of times in the book. “That rascal moon slung itself so fat and low in the sky…”. It just gives the reader a better idea of what Dexter is really seeing or feeling at the time. Since Dexter is now a TV show I’d like to take a moment to just talk about the short falling of the show. Dexter is supposed to be a mildly out of control person with a monster inside of him and the show portrays him as in control all the time. I feel they could do a much better job with that but the show is still one of my favorites.