Reggie ends up getting Jackson's help to find Dr. Hunter and her baby. They were kidnapped by the man that murdered her mother. In this last section, Reggie hits the worst point in her investigation. She feels there is no one she can turn to, "Where did a person go when they had no one to turn to and nowhere left to run"(281)? This quote makes the reader pity Reggie and it feels like there is no hope for her. It feels as though this is where her life will end, she will never find Dr. Hunter. Then she goes to visit Jackson in the hospital and learns that he used to be a detective, Reggie asks him, "So you used to find people"(284)? This is when the reader starts to have faith in Reggie. She may have found a way to find Dr. Hunter. Maybe someone will start to believe in her. She doesn't have any support so when Jackson seems to know something about finding people, she is overjoyed.
Reggie believes that everyone she knows is dead. Many people that she loved and cared about had died recently and she felt alone in the world. However when Jackson ends up living and Dr. Hunter and her baby are saved, Reggie is beginning to think otherwise. Reggie says to Jackson, "Everyones dead"(307). And then Jackson replies, "I'm not, you're not"(307). Jackson is always giving Reggie hope. He acts as her father figure. Reggie is basically an orphan because her mother died three years ago. When Jackson comes along he treats her like a daughter and supports her in her search for Dr. Hunter. Reggie exclaims to Jackson, "We are a family"(309). This is about the end of the book when Reggie finally isn't so alone in the world. They have retrieved Dr. Hunter, her baby and Jackson is not a part of her family. I was very pleased with the ending of the book. Everything seems to turn out okay. Throughout the book Reggie is so overwhelmed with everything going on in her life that it is hard to be happy. The book is titled, "when will there be good news." This is another hint that the book is a sad book. Finally at the end of the book there is good news and everyone seems to be happy. Throughout the book I was always wondering what was going to happen next. This was a very good book because it was interesting, yet very complex.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
When Will There Be Good News 5
Reggie realizes that she is sure something happened to Dr. Hunter. Reggie is the only person that really knows Dr. Hunter. Of course Mr. Hunter knows her but not in the same way Reggie does. Reggie and Dr. Hunter spend so much time together, she knows just about everything about Dr. Hunter. When Reggie talks to Inspector Monroe, she thinks Reggie is lying about everything. Reggie brings up that she saved a man at the train crash, and Inspector Monroe thinks she is crazy. After Reggie tells her about everything, saving the man and Dr. Hunter, Inspector Monroe replies, " 'Oh?'...Reggie might as well have played the alien abduction card, because Inspector Monroe couldn't have looked more skeptical if she'd tried"(214). Inspector Monroe doesn't believe a word that Reggie says, and throughout the story she was yawning and being very rude. On the other hand if a grown adult came and told her this she would most likely believe it in an instant. This also proves that Monroe isn't a very trusting person. Monroe doesn't believe her only because Reggie is a young girl (sixteen). She doesn't even give Reggie a chance.
Later, Jackson wakes up in his hospital bed and is suddenly struck with a sense of loneliness. Still, no one had showed up to say they knew him, or wish him well. Judging by the way Jackson was willing to let go of life easily at the train crash, we can tell that he doesn't value life that much. It says that he just wanted to fade away and die. Later he wakes up and Reggie is sitting on his bed talking to him. When he realizes that this girl had saved his life. He starts to value life more. Someone was willing to save his life, that made him think that he was worth it. He then thinks, "He would look at everything differently from now on. The re-born bit had finally kicked in. He was a new Jackson. Alleluia"(248). Jackson is now going to live life. He feels like a new person now that he has been saved. He felt as though he had been reborn. At the train crash he felt as though he had died and then come back to life when this young girl saved him. He has a whole new look at life. Reggie says she will come back to visit him. When Reggie says this, Jackson is happy, she is like the daughter he never had. For Reggie, Jackson is like her father figure she never really had.
Later, Jackson wakes up in his hospital bed and is suddenly struck with a sense of loneliness. Still, no one had showed up to say they knew him, or wish him well. Judging by the way Jackson was willing to let go of life easily at the train crash, we can tell that he doesn't value life that much. It says that he just wanted to fade away and die. Later he wakes up and Reggie is sitting on his bed talking to him. When he realizes that this girl had saved his life. He starts to value life more. Someone was willing to save his life, that made him think that he was worth it. He then thinks, "He would look at everything differently from now on. The re-born bit had finally kicked in. He was a new Jackson. Alleluia"(248). Jackson is now going to live life. He feels like a new person now that he has been saved. He felt as though he had been reborn. At the train crash he felt as though he had died and then come back to life when this young girl saved him. He has a whole new look at life. Reggie says she will come back to visit him. When Reggie says this, Jackson is happy, she is like the daughter he never had. For Reggie, Jackson is like her father figure she never really had.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
When Will There Be Good News 4
In this section, we find out that the reason that the train fell off the tracks was because Ms. MacDonald parked her car in front of the train. It is unknown whether it was suicide or an accident. We also find out that it was Reggie that saved Jackson's life. While in the hospital, Jackson is wrongly accused of being Andrew Decker, because he can't remember everything. After a while in the hospital however he confirms that he is Jackson Brodie. Along with all of this, Dr. Hunter has gone missing and no one seems to know the truth except Mr. Hunter. I believe that Ms. MacDonald's death was neither suicide or an accident. Although she does believe that there is a better life after death, I still don't think she would die without her dog, Banjo, dead first. She love her dog dearly and wouldn't leave her. Although Ms. MacDonald was dying, and may have wanted to die faster than slowly, she would never leave her dog. Reggie thinks to herself, "Ms. MacDonald was dying, after all and might have decided to go quickly rather than slowly -- until she remembered Banjo. She would never leave the dog on his own"(148). This proves that is most likely wasn't suicide that killed Ms. MacDonald. It is confusing that Reggie isn't sad when she finds out about Ms. MacDonald's death. While the policemen are asking her questions she is more focused on the cute policeman than her mentor's death.
One day when Reggie arrives at her door coming from Dr. Hunter's house, she finds that her house is trashed. It describes the mess as, "Drawers were upended, and mums' clothes, strewn around on the floor, had had a knife or a pair of scissors taken to them. something that looked like chocolate was smeared on the pink broderie-anglaise sheets. Reggie was pretty sure it wasn't chocolate. It certainly didn't smell like chocolate...In the shower room, which was just a hall closet that had been tiled and plumbed, the walls had been spray-painted rather ineptly with the words, 'your dead.' Reggie felt bile rising up, making her nauseous"(174). Immediately after seeing the mess she thought of Billy, her reckless brother. She just assumed it was his enemies after him. By wrecking Reggie's house, these people had wrecked her life. Her house was all she really had left at this point. I think that Reggie jumped to the conclusion of Billy too fast. I think that Billy's enemies would destroy Billy's sister's house. I believe that this all is indeed meant for Reggie. Her house was wrecked right after she started questioning Mr. Hunter about where Dr. Hunter is. I know for a fact that Dr. Hunter isn't at her Aunt Aguie's house like Mr. Hunter said. She left to flee from the murderer of her mother that just got let out of jail. Reggie, however doesn't know this. When the reader knows something that the character in the book doesn't know, it creates a dramatic effect that has kept me interested in what will happen next!
One day when Reggie arrives at her door coming from Dr. Hunter's house, she finds that her house is trashed. It describes the mess as, "Drawers were upended, and mums' clothes, strewn around on the floor, had had a knife or a pair of scissors taken to them. something that looked like chocolate was smeared on the pink broderie-anglaise sheets. Reggie was pretty sure it wasn't chocolate. It certainly didn't smell like chocolate...In the shower room, which was just a hall closet that had been tiled and plumbed, the walls had been spray-painted rather ineptly with the words, 'your dead.' Reggie felt bile rising up, making her nauseous"(174). Immediately after seeing the mess she thought of Billy, her reckless brother. She just assumed it was his enemies after him. By wrecking Reggie's house, these people had wrecked her life. Her house was all she really had left at this point. I think that Reggie jumped to the conclusion of Billy too fast. I think that Billy's enemies would destroy Billy's sister's house. I believe that this all is indeed meant for Reggie. Her house was wrecked right after she started questioning Mr. Hunter about where Dr. Hunter is. I know for a fact that Dr. Hunter isn't at her Aunt Aguie's house like Mr. Hunter said. She left to flee from the murderer of her mother that just got let out of jail. Reggie, however doesn't know this. When the reader knows something that the character in the book doesn't know, it creates a dramatic effect that has kept me interested in what will happen next!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
When Will There Be Good News 4
In this section, the book returns to Jackson's story. He is now on a train heading to Waverly and the train starts to rock. After a few minutes of the train tipping it finally tips totally over and everyone is in danger. Jackson we learn was part of the army so he is trained and wants to help everyone. He starts to someone out of the train. Jackson seems to care more about others than himself. Before thinking of his own danger, he was worried about everyone else. When he finds out he is wounded it says, "He had to get more people out of the train. . . He got about halfway up and had to stop, as weak as a kitten. There was something wrong, he'd been injured in some way but he wasn't sure how. It dawned on him suddenly unexpectedly that it was bad"(114). This shows that he saved someone from the crash without even thinking about his own pain. After a while however he realizes that this injury could be fatal. Jackson is very brave, I can tell that he was probably a good fighter in the war and he probably saved many people. I think that Jackson was Johanna's dad that left her mom to fight in the war. At the end of the section as Jackson feels as though he is about to die it says, "A nagging little voice in his head was trying to remind him that if he went to sleep now, it would be the gig one, the last one. He debated this idea briefly and decided he didn't mind if he never woke up again"(115). It is surprising that he wouldn't fight to the end. Jackson seems like a courageous warrior so when he decides not to fight off death it is very surprising. It makes me mad to think that Jackson would just give up on life.
In this section I also read more about Reggie and Ms. MacDonald. Ms. MacDonald is dying of a brain tumor and tutors Reggie. This book describes Ms. MacDonald as, "In her fifties, but she had never been young. . . not only had she embraced a crazy religion but she dressed as if she were one step away from being a bag lady, and her house was two steps beyond squalid. She was, she said, preparing for the end of the world"(97). This description makes the reader think that this woman is crazy. Because Ms. MacDonald is nearing the end of her life, I think that she is only focused on things that matter. She doesn't care about her image and what others think of her. She is starting to take advantage of her life while she has it. I think she is a good influence on Reggie, because Reggie seems to only really pay attention to important things in life. Later Reggie starts to talk about the death of her mom. She explains that her mother went on a vacation with her boyfriend, Gary, to Spain. In Spain she was swimming in the pool and her hair got caught on the drain and she drowned. After her mother had died the only time Reggie saw her father was, "in the supermarket, where he was browsing the tinned soup aisle in the company of a woman. . . it was the same supermarket Mum used to work in, and it seemed disrespectful to be in it with another woman"(106). Gary seems to be a sleaze because a few weeks after her death he is already with another woman. Reggie seems to have a hunch that Gary is somehow guilty. Sometimes it is easier to handle with a death if you can blame it on someone. In this case Reggie thinks that Gary is guilty even though police reports say that she died accidentally. I think that this book is going to get very interesting soon.
In this section I also read more about Reggie and Ms. MacDonald. Ms. MacDonald is dying of a brain tumor and tutors Reggie. This book describes Ms. MacDonald as, "In her fifties, but she had never been young. . . not only had she embraced a crazy religion but she dressed as if she were one step away from being a bag lady, and her house was two steps beyond squalid. She was, she said, preparing for the end of the world"(97). This description makes the reader think that this woman is crazy. Because Ms. MacDonald is nearing the end of her life, I think that she is only focused on things that matter. She doesn't care about her image and what others think of her. She is starting to take advantage of her life while she has it. I think she is a good influence on Reggie, because Reggie seems to only really pay attention to important things in life. Later Reggie starts to talk about the death of her mom. She explains that her mother went on a vacation with her boyfriend, Gary, to Spain. In Spain she was swimming in the pool and her hair got caught on the drain and she drowned. After her mother had died the only time Reggie saw her father was, "in the supermarket, where he was browsing the tinned soup aisle in the company of a woman. . . it was the same supermarket Mum used to work in, and it seemed disrespectful to be in it with another woman"(106). Gary seems to be a sleaze because a few weeks after her death he is already with another woman. Reggie seems to have a hunch that Gary is somehow guilty. Sometimes it is easier to handle with a death if you can blame it on someone. In this case Reggie thinks that Gary is guilty even though police reports say that she died accidentally. I think that this book is going to get very interesting soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)