The Tree of Red Stars

"He was to speak at the University, and I was determined to go. My parents forbade it. Che Guevara was a revolutionary terrorist, they said, and trouble followed wherever he went. I pleaded with Marco to escort me, but he was equally adamant" (101).

Magdalena is fit to be a revolutionist; she wants to be active in the political issues her home is currently facing. She hates it that everyone thinks she can't take part. They think she is too little, that she doesn't know what really goes on at the rallies she wants to attend. She later finds out, though.

" ' Officer, I-' I stopped, a cry of surprise caught in my throat. His hands were under my skirt, groping between my legs. The sting of his fingers penetrating me made me turn and hit him with all my strength with the brass buckle of my handbag. He reeled in surprise and fell, a hand to his bleeding mouth. Before he could recover, I kicked him in the stomach, discarded my high-heeled shoes, and ran along the broken pavement toward the lights ahead.

Magdalena was naive for thinking that the rally she attends will be all fun and games. She goes because she wants to see Che Guevara speak, but her going puts her in a great amount of danger. Not only herself, but also her friends. Cora ends up needing stitches because she had been pushed down in the street, cracking her head open. Emilia had not wanted to go in the first place, and she should have gone with her instincts. The rally turns into a riot, and many people were hurt. One even shot. Magdalena will forever be scarred for the way the police man touched her, she will remember this day forever.

"We hugged one another, wanting to reach the warmth and comfort of our homes, but in need of one another" (112).

Cora, Magdalena and Emilia are very close friends. They feel as if they are each other's family, because they each have a lack-there-of.

Ethereal- Characterized by lightness and insubstantiality; intangible.
"There was an ethereal quality to Lilita's room" (116). Her room looked very delicate to Magdalena; simple.

The Tree of Red Stars

In these tough times, Magdalena wants friendship.

"I did not like being teased about the elephant. I had never been able to make Emilia understand the special bond I felt with him. He had been born here in the Montevideo zoo and all the schoolchildren has been invited to participate in a contest to name him. I had just started school then, and the birth of the little elephant and thanking of a name for him had been the only things that made school bearable" (76).

As she grows older, Magdalena is becoming more insightful. She believes that each person is their own destiny. Each person is their own "God".

" 'Oh, but I am,' I said, and Cora gasped. 'I know it sounds like blasphemy, but I don't mean it that way. That's why I love the elephant. Because he knows he's God too, like I am' " (79).

This quote made me feel kind of connected to the book. I also believe that each person is their own "God", like Magdalena. I thought that was kind of cool.

Magdalena experiences her first crush in this chapter. She has never liked a boy before, so she doesn't even really know what the emotions that she is feeling means.

"At the time, I was too young to understand the hunger evoked in me. I knew only that in Marco Aurelio Pereira's presence I felt inadequate and plain. Sometimes, if he was absorbed in a task, I would find myself staring at him, wondering how anyone could be so perfectly beautiful as he and so unaware of it" (87).

This could possibly be some foreshadowing? Maybe something happens with these two once Magdalena gets a little older.

"There was a moment of silence. The word Tupamaro was usually spoken in quiet and careful tones. No one quite knew who the Tupamaros were, but their crisscrossed star with a T in its center was seen more and more frequently emblazoned on walls and underpasses. It was rumored that the Tupamaros were some of the most ruthless and well educated men and women in Uruguay and that their numbers were growing daily. Their aim was to take over the government" (88).

The Tupamaros are obviously a significant group of people in this book. They have caused the people of Uruguay to live in fear, fear of them taking over the government.

Cacophony- an unpleasant combination of sounds.
"My mother's resistance was weakened by a recent fight with Carmen, and Pepita was soon installed in the house, adding to the general cacophony by barking at Caramba and anything else that moved" (82). When Magdalena's family got Pepita, she was a bit hard to live with. She made an already stressed house, a bit more hectic.

Augmenting- To make (something already developed or well under way) greater, as in size, extent, or quantity.
"She was a poet and a playwright who wrote soap operas as a means of augmenting the meager allowance given to her by her husband"(85). Marta was a woman of art, and released her emotions in this way.

Equanimity- composure: steadiness of mind under stress.
"Her equanimity was unshaken even by her husband, who, in a parody of old-fashioned lord-of-the-manor behavior, forbade her soon after their marriage to leave the house unless in the company of relatives" (85). She was able to keep her head, even with the amount of stress on her shoulders that everyone seems to have.

The Tree of Red Stars

Magdanela has trouble sleeping one night, and goes on a walk to clear her head. She finds out something she had never even heard of before,

"For the first time in my life, I was conscious of feeling afraid. I could not have expressed why exactly. I suspected that if Lilita's sorrow was really despair and senora Francisca's pride really secrecy, then a door was opening into a world I did not want to enter. The tias often hinted their knowledge of such a world, but the tias were safe and predictable, their talk as airy as Josefa's meringues" (67).

Magdalena had brought Emilia along to Francisca's house once she saw Lilita with her, and she had heard it all. Emilia is in utter shock as to figure out this is the reason for her mother leaving her alone at night. This caused worry in her mind.

" 'It's time we stopped doing such stupid things,' she said. Unspoken between us has been the understanding that such acts of trivial naughtiness were necessary to keep at a distance the shadows that were a part of our lives. So long as we could laugh together, we could forget Lilita's moods and my mother's preoccupation with her teenage nieces"(68).

Emilia is afraid of what she has heard, and she wants to learn more about it to try and protect her mom. Magdalena is hurt by this, because Emilia is calling her childish for wanting to do things they did only weeks ago. The environment the girls are in are causing them to grow up quickly. It is also even putting Magdalena into a slight depression.

"I was silent for a long time. 'Emilia,' I said at last, 'is anyone you know happy' " (72).

With all the strange, stressful things happening in Magdalena and Emilia's family life, and with the current government, the girls have a slightly dimmer outlook on life; the persuit of happiness.

The Tree of Red Stars (5)

Not only are women treated differently than men in Uruguay in this book, but even the little girls are harassed. Emilia lived in an apartment building owen by a man named Basco. Basco was thought to have a secret life, and often scared Emilia with the strange looks and gestures he shot at her.

"We were warned, however, that under no circumstances werw we to be alone with Basco. Emilia needed no reminders of this warning. She avoided Basco, knowing instinctively that she was afraid of the way he moistened his heavy underlip whenever he saw her, rubbing his thighs with his hands. If her father was present, Basco did not even look at her" (45).

Being an only child, Emilia gets lonley.

"Emilia, I knew, would have liked to spend the money on a Great Dane" (46).

Could this possibly be foreshadowing...?

I think metaphores and similies add alot in describing an object. Magdalena's family accidently recieves a bouquet of flowers meant to be sent to Cora for her twelvth birthday. Magdalena and Emilia end up bringing them back to the Allenbergs, and the author uses a beautiful metaphore to describe the flowers.

"It was wrappedi n white paper with a design of pink flowers stamped on it, and from the partly open top, we could see twelve bird-of-paradise thrusting their flowery beaks out of the bed of white baby's breath" (47).

Cora's family was very reseved, one may even say a little scared, when we first met them in the book. In the end of this chapter, Emilia and Magdalena are invited into their house.

This chapter also mentions how Magdalena's father has left the family. She feels very disconnected from her dad.

"" 'It must be so wonderful to walk out with one's father looking so proud,' I said, remembering my father's disappointment that I had not been a boy. When Josefa telephonedhim in Buenos Aires with the news of my birth, he had exclaimed, ' A girl?' and gone back to sleep. My mother had laughed when she told me this story, not knowning that I would never forget it" (49).

Just like Magdalena, Emilia is starting to feel disconnected from her family. She has noticed her mom leaving her at night, and she feels abandoned, alone.

"She had oftened told me of Lilita's nighttime excurions, when she slipped out of the apartment thinking Emilia was asleep. Emilia would lie in her bed trying to sleep, but the night was not her friend, she said. . . She would stifle her cries in her pillow until her mother returned and then hate herself for being angry" (50).

The Tree of Red Stars (4)

"As the late afternoon sun shone through the delicate stained glass of the tall drawing-room windows, its rays touched their glowing curls and waves. Some were a glistening auburn, others a silky brown with the richness of a bird's wing, and the eldest a pearly gray, swept softly behind int oa tick French bun" (31).

I am an appreciator of when an author is able to describe such simple things so beautifully. I think this is a wonderful example of imagery, it really painted a picture of the setting of tea-time in my mind.

Just like Magdalena is a deep thinker, so is Lucia (the cook of the house).
"She was a bird of independent character and had long ago discovered how to undo any latch invented by the brain of more restrained beings" (34).
Magdalena most likely learned to think the way she does from Lucia. She has grown up with her, and as she grew up around her I am sure she was taught to ask the question of why.

Chapter four talks alot about how women are not respected in Uruguay. They are viewed as objects, not much more. They are constantly yelled (complimented? no, annoying and rude) at, and are viewed much differently than the men are.
" 'She maintains,' tia Aurora explained, 'that in Uruguay a woman can't walk down the street without every male ouf of diaspers feeling it his God-given right to comment on her appearance. Without, of course, her having the right to reciprocate' "(36).
This quote is talking about their American friend, Miss Newman. Miss Newman is a beautiful woman, and she is constantly getting harassed when walking down the street. She is known to react feriouscly to this. Women are obviously treated different in America than they are in Uruguay.

Effrontery- presumption: audacious (even arrogant) behavior that you have no right to.
"Miss Newman, it appeared, has once offered to donate the shavings from her armpits to the bald man who had the effrontery to comment that she should not appear in public in a sleeveless dress if she was not willing to comply with the standards they considreed basic to feminine grooming" (37). Sassy, isn't she?

Insolence- crust: the trait of being rude and impertinent; inclined to take liberties.
" ' You are so full of insolence. What if your mother heard you being so familiar?' " (40). This shows that politeness is very important in Uruguay. It is rude to call an elder by their first name (but that also applies to the U.S. to some families).

Odious- causing dislike, displeasure.
"Recently, I had made myself entirely odious to them by pouring water from the balcony onto their heads as they sat in the garden below necking with their boyfriends" (41). Magdalena likes to annoy her cousins when they are "necking" with their boyfriends, how typical for a little girl.

The Tree of Red Stars (3)

Magdalena and Emilia get a new neighbor, the Allenbergs. A little girl named Cora lives there. The Allenbergs are Jewish refugees, and the only person the girls have ever feared is Mrs. Allenberg. They fear her because she fears them. It is unknown to them. They have never seen someone like Mrs. Allenberg.

The poinsettia tree may be another significant location in this book. Magdalena has mentioned it several times in her memories from childhood. Emilia and Magdalena watch Cora and her family from the poinsettia tree.

" 'During the war, Madalena,' my father said, 'the Nazis did some terrible things to the Jews. A lot of Nazis escaped to South America. So did a lot of the Jews they had persecuted. Every so often, the Jews find the Nazis and revenge themselves'
Emilia's father, I discovered, was convened that Mr. Allenberg has been involved in the murder and looked at his small neighbor with increased respect " (25).

The children are introduced to the problems in government at an early age. Tensions are high with the current problems in their own government.

Myriads- Myriad is a classical Greek name for the number 104 = 10 000
"Every midsummer the tipa shed its myriads of tiny flowers, carpeting the street all around it in brilliant yellow and casting a golden glow onto the front of the house" (23). Beautiful imagery.

Immaculate- completely neat and clean
"She walked between them, eyes lowered, dress immaculate and starched, a perfect rose protected on both sides of her small parents with their half smile, afraid to offend" (24). This was describing Cora as she walked out of her house with her parents. This shows the Allenbergs are a very reserved, cautious family.

Gregarious- tending to form a group with others of the same species
"Josefa, the family cook, who had lived with us since my parents' marriage, was a most gregarious person, but refused to make a spectacle of herself before the grim Russians and made my mother go herself to retrieve the bird, leaving Josefa at the kitchen door, her thermos of hot water under her arm,and her gourd, packed full of green mate tea, steaming in her hand" (26). Josefa sounds like a very laid back, maybe "adjustable", friendly.

The Tree of Red Stars (2)

A characteristic one could use to describe Magdalena would be determined. When she see something she wants, she does what she can to get that object, or thing. When she met Emilia, she knew without even knowing her that she wanted her to be her best friend. All she had known was that her grandfather was Brazilian.

"Young as I was, I recognized in this gesture a tenderness toward others that drew me to Emilia" (13).

Another trait one could use to describe Magdalena would be insightful. Even at such a young age, she is already wanting to know the why behind things.

"Next day, I invited her to join me in the poinsettia tree to study the barrio together, for people had begun to fascinate me, and had I been able to, I would have taken them apart to see not how, but why, they worked" (13).

Obviously Magdalena will use her mind to help change things with the way the politics are changing in their home of Uruguay (and surrounding areas). Magdalena reminds me a bit of Minerva, they both use their cunning minds to their advantages. Perhaps she will also be a political leader against a communist reign in their home.

Corrugated- To shape into folds or parallel and alternating ridges and grooves.
"Shacks littered the hillside like a patchwork of dirty handkerchiefs woven from all the refuse of the city: cardboard walls, newspaper floors, roofs made of pieces of plastic and corrugated metal, an occasional wooden door, rags for curtains" (16). This was used describe Gabriela's home; it is in shambles.

Din- A jumble of loud, usually discordant sounds.
"The neighborhood dogs caught the excitement and joined in the din by barking joyously and scaring the horse" (20). An uproar was caused when Magdalena and Emilia hide in Gabriela's horse cart to the house.

The Tree of Red Stars

"The doors to my past appeared closed forever, and somewhere behind them, Marco lay in solitary confinement, not knowing that leaving him had been the most difficult decision I had ever faced" (3).

This book is about a time in history when Latin America's democracies are replaced by a military dictatorship. Marco Auerelio Pereira is a prisoner, and obviously a significant person to the main character in this book.

While reading The Odyssey, we have learned about epic similes. They are used to kind of "intensify" the view we get of the object or thing being compared. I found a passage in my book that might be classified as one (or similar to one).

"The Rio de la Plata was moody, rough, gentle, and wild, and to me, always beautiful. The river rejected unwanted offerings, harbored life, and took it. Marco, our friend Emilia, and I always brought our sorrows and our fears for an airing along its sandy shores. Something about the river's changeable colors and the music of its movement against sand and rocks soothed and comforted" (4).

I guess if anything, you would call this an "epic metaphor". The Rio de la Plata was also a significant place in the main character's life. Later on there is another metaphor about the river.

"As if to bring me back from this wishful thinking, the plane banked, and in the distance, the Rio de la Plata winked at me" (6).

Repetition is used in poetry to show significance; as is the same in writing.

Elusive- hard to comprehend or define
" ... , while I found sleep elusive and felt driven to walk the streets of London and Paris keeping the memories alive and the ghosts at bay" (4). Troubles in her past.

Anonymity- A condition in which an individual's true identity is unknown
" I could always turn around and return to the safety and anonymity of Europe, I told myself" (6). Europe is a possible safe-center.

Unimpeded- not slowed or prevented; "a time of unimpeded growth"
"We drove along the coastal road, our view unimpeded, as the sands, the rocks, and the gulls stretched for miles before us" (7). The coastal road (river?) has a beautiful view.

Post B

Alice finally gives into J.D. in this chapter. A twelve year old girl gets introduced to feelings she never knew were possible. I realize you're not an idiot reading this, Ms. Tholen, and yes, they did have sex. At first, Alice i still very oblivious and scared about everything that is going on. She really has no idea what to do.

"Alice looked up at J.D. The expression on his face was ugly. His eyes were slits. She half expected that he was going to push her head underneath the water until she drowned. He spoke of love, but he hated her. He'd gotten love and hate confused. Alice could see that plainly now, in his eyes, his face, his lips. She began to churn in the water, kicking her legs and paddling with her arms, swimming away from him, deeper into the water" (245).

She felt like he was doing terrible, unnatural things to her. At first she would do anything to simply get away. As time goes on, however, Alice becomes a tad bit different...

"She'd turned into something feral, a wild girl, hungry for this food, this drink, this feast that belonged on the grown-ups' banquet table. He led her out past the rocks, into the woods. Lying between the brambles and the scrub grass, they traded places. It was Alice who became predatory, a hunter wanting to feed. She threw herself upon him, wriggling against him- the demon Alice- nibbling on his grown man's mouth, desperate to get more of the terrible miracle feeling" (251).
As I said before, she just gives in, simples as that. She sees how much J.D. can pleasure her, and she goes with it.

Post A

Depravity- corruption: moral perversion; impairment of virtue and moral principles.

Altruistic- showing unselfish concern for the welfare of others.

In some of her wonderful examples of imagery, she compares things to adjectives and adverbs. She also uses very descriptive words:

"They had to walk through long slithering reeds that tickled her skin. Underfoot, the mud was warm and slimy. To Alice, it didn't feel like mud. It felt unspeakable. It felt obscene. She imagined that it was whispering to her to lie down in it. Come to me, the mud said, come to me Alice, like J.D. She kept going, through the mud, past it, and into the cool water. It grew colder as they walked out further, first up to Alice's knees, then to her hips, then to her waist. Her naked skin beneath the water had turned a yellowish green" (241).

I found another good example of similes in this chapter:

"He lifted his arms, stretching them far out on either side of his body, keeping his legs together, toes pointed, like Christ being crucified on His cross" (243).

"It would seem for many years afterward as if she'd raped herself" (251).
I think this may be foreshadowing. Maybe her and J.D.'s relationship will turn into something not good, something violent.

A theme I saw in this chapter was freedom. Alice basically said screw it to any rules she had known, and did what made her feel good.

Post B

"On the Rocks" is a chapter all about sexuality. Alice shows up at the lake and J.D. is naked laying on a rock. They eat lunch together, and J.D. persistently tries to coax Alice to take her clothes off. Alice refuses at first, infuriated by this question.

" 'Skinny-dipping prevents tan lines,' said J.D. 'I like a dark, smooth, even tan, hon.' He wiggled his rear end at her. 'How about you?' 'No,' Alice said. It was a cosmic no- loud and large. No, Alice thought, to your dark, smooth, even tan. To hell with you. To hell with everything" (228).

She makes it clear that she does not want to take her clothes off. But as time goes on, and as she "gazes at the image of perfection that is J.D's body", her mind changes.

"At it, at you, you're it. Alice felt her face get hot, ashamed that she knew what he wanted, everything he wanted, what he meant. She was filled with a sharper certainty that she was a freak of nature, a hideous monstrosity. Her knowledge seemed perverse. She did as he asked. She was horrible now, and so was he" (235).

It's really strange. She knows what she's doing is not right, but she can't seem to say no to him. She never seems able to say no.

Post A

Sinews- is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone and is built to withstand tension.

Preemptive- designed or having the power to deter or prevent an anticipated situation or occurrence; "a preemptive business offer".

One thing Lisa Dierbeck does with her writing, it paints a picture for the readers, and keeps them engaged. One good example of imagery I found in this chapter was:

"J.D. rolled over onto his back and put his arms behind his head. His armpits were black and bushy. From between his legs, out of a nest of hair, his penis was a purplish red, and swollen. It looked unrelated to the rest of him, Alice thought, like on of the plastic attachments- nose, ear, hand -that belonged to Mr. Potato Head. It extended into the air improbably, like a ruler. It was many things at once, Alice thought, regarding it observantly. It was impressive yet clownish. It was a threat, a joke, an exclamation point, a question mark. There was nothing to do in its presence, finally, except to quietly take notice" (225).

Now this quote may be extremely awkward to read, but tell me it doesn't draw out exactly what J.D's penis looks like. It does.

"Once, a boy in Fieldwood School- named Allan Jamison- had drawn a cartoon of himself in which his own penis had done that, springing forth in endless coils that stretched out like a Slinky" (227).

Again, awkward passage, very good simile.

Another thing Lisa Dierbeck does well with her writing is making metaphors. One example of a good metaphor I found in this chapter was:

"J.D's dimple was edible, she could taste it" (230).

A theme I noticed in this chapter was weakness. Alice talked about how she wouldn't ever let another person do sexual things to her again but she ends up letting J.D. take off her clothes just to "look" at her. This shows how easily Alice gives into pressure.

Post B

The chapter "four letter word" deals a lot with trust. J.D. had taken Alice into an area where no one was around to supposedly go swimming. While they were alone, the words "rape" and "sex" were brought up. This scared Alice.

"Alice sat on the grass eying J.D. warily and thinking about the meaning of the word "rape". She tried not to guess why he'd introduced this term in the first place, flashing it like a concealed knife, then studying her reaction to see what she would do. Does this scare you? he's asked. Are you afraid of me? Whatever trust she'd had in him had vanished. She felt he'd broken the rules- the delicate, fragile set of rules which had been established between them (216).

This paragraph talks about how just mentioning those unknown words to Alice, her whole perspective on how she viewed J.D. was changed. She is now terrified of him. She knows the word "rape" is something ugly and un-wanted. She also knows it happens to unsuspecting young girls who are in similar situations to herself. I think she realizes right then that it might not have been a good idea to get so close to J.D. Yet at the same time, she is still so trusting of him.

"Ahead of her was open space, no path at all, just a hope that if she put one foot in front of the other, it would lead her back to New York City. Alice planned it all out- her walk to the road, her discovery of the gas station, her contacting the police, her delivery to the bus station, her return home. And then she did the opposite. She let her feet take her wherever they led, and she went wherever they wanted her to go" (223).

Even though she gets frightened by J.D. saying these things, she still feels like there is something different about him. It may not say which way she is deciding to go, but it seems a bit obvious to me.

Post A

Infinitesimal- a variable that has zero as its limit.

Rudimentary- being in the earliest stages of development; "rudimentary plans".

I found the following to be a good metaphor:
"She'd seen an illustration someplace of an egg- round, vast, unassailable, as big and weighty as the moon" (217).

Again, lots of good loaded words in this book. A lot of good imagery. Here is another good example of just that:
A breeze rustled through the grass. The cicadas were humming in the high trees around her. A woodpecker, someplace, made his distinctive rap against a tree trunk." (223).

The author also uses a lot of smilies. I found this to be a good example:
"The new word- a word she'd heard before, but whose subtleties escaped her- floated in the air, like the smoke from J.D's pipe, between them" (220).

One theme I saw in this chapter was trust. Alice is having issues trusting J.D., and she learns to just go with her instincts. She learns that you must live for the day.

Post B

In this chapter, Alice was asked to do another dare to be a part of the sisterhood. The dare was this - steal a marionette doll from the "voodoo house". The voodoo house was thought to be haunted in some way; hence the name. Alice decided to do it because she wants to be accepted by Hope and Faith. When in the house, she meets an old man. The old man comes out of no where in a wheelchair, and Alice thinks it may be God.

" ' You can't walk or talk anymore,' Alice said, the words slipping out before she could stop them. He blinked. 'God, you're broken,' she said. 'God, you're sick' His gaze fell to his plaid blanket. 'You tore your puppet apart, didn't you?' said Alice. 'And then you tried to fix it.' His eyes searched hers. 'You don't take good care of your toys, God,' Alice said. 'So I'm going to have to take the puppet away from you.' Standing at his side, Alice touched the old man's shoulder. His shoulder blades were sharp. (180).

The man seems to have caring in his eyes when Alice is talking to him. She mentions how she has never seen a person look at her like the way he looked at her. I know the man will have some significance in the book. Maybe he's connected to her in some way. I found it interesting how she basically told her life story to this man, seconds after meeting him. She told him how she was twelve and how everyone thinks she's older. Maybe she was just looking for someone who cared.

A theme I see emerging in this book is hope. Hope for some miracle to come; regarding how Alice is basically alone in life.

Arsenal- a place where arms are manufactured.

Wainscoting- Decorative paneling covering the lower 3-4 feet of an interior wall. Usually wood in a plain design; may be painted or only varnished.

This book uses a lot of good word choice; which I know I've stated several times before. It uses a lot of good metaphor es and similes. Two examples I found were:

"A single bulb splashed light on the soccer field. Alice couldn't see the stones underfoot, but she could feel them beneath the cork soles of Aunt Esme's sandals. A few paces ahead of her, Faith's pigtails bounced against her shoulders. The platinum stripe in Hope's hair glimmered in the moonlight. A chorus of crickets whistled" (172).

"Beside them was emptiness, nothing but the road moving beneath them and the trees' monstrous outline" (174).

I think this is an example of repetition:

"Alice saw a polished wooden table, an armchair, and a couch. Two rocking chairs sat in front of the window. With their backs turned to Alice, they faced the glass. One chair was large. One chair was small. Beside each of the rocking chairs was a wooden easel, shaped like the letter A. One easel was large. One easel was small" (178).

The author uses repetition in this form to show boldness. The items she is describing sounds like they belonged to an adult and a child. This will obviously have some significance to it.

One theme I've noticed from the book is strength, or strength to be your own person. Alice doesn't seem to have much strength in this way. She basically does whatever others tell her to do.

Post B

Alice is just realizing how things seem to work in the real world. She realizes that she will always be suffering; weather that be unhappy at home, or doing things she might not be inclined to do. Hope and Faith are trying to make Alice a member of "the sisterhood". They are taking advantage of her looks in order for her to join their club. The sisters are trying to make Alice buy them alcohol from the liquor store, and its going to work because Alice looks so much older than she really is.

"Alice looked at the camera. A light flashed. The Polaroid ejected a black square of emultion-coated paper. The three of them buddled together, watching it become a photograph of a tall, curbaceous, glamorous lady. She has a painted face" (169).

This paragraph is in the chapter called A Good Shot. The chapter is but a meer half a page long. I think the author is trying to portray an awkwardness by making the chapter so short, only really describing the fake idea the sisters have made. It is trying to show significance, maybe that Alice gets taken advantage of.

I am also noticing alot of very good imagery in this book.

"Hope paraded in and plunged herseld into the chair by the sliding doors, throwing her two long legs over its arm. The skin on her calveswas the color of taffy. It contrasted dramatically with the hem of her bleached jeans. She wore white sneakers without socks. Instead of shoelaces, she'd threaded a satin ribbon through the grommets" (162).

I am very appreciative when authors write with words like this. It paints a picture. It makes the book interesting.