Nathan Beaton 1.10 – Reading Logs

Title: Holes 

Text type: Novel 

Author: Louis Sachar 

Holes is a novel about a young teenager Stanley Yelnats, Stanley is an overweight kid who comes from a poor family and has no friends in school he is also relentlessly bullied by another boy named Derrick Dunne, Stanley always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time which throughout his life has gotten him into a fair deal of trouble, but when this bad luck unfairly lands Stanley in a juvenile detention centre known as Camp Green Lake (an old dried up lake bed that is a hot barren wasteland), he and his campmates Zero, X-Ray, Armpit, Squid, Magnet and Zigzag are forced to dig holes in order to build character.   

I feel the town of Green Lake is in itself a physical representation of right vs wrong to both past and present characters in the novel. Green Lake plays a big role in this story because of how it ties characters and the decisions they have made right and wrong together into one community. For example, most of the boys in the correctional facility have all been brought there for a singular bad decision they had made in their past but that doesn’t mean they’re bad kids, in the words of the boy’s counsellor Mr Pendanski “I understand you’ve made some bad mistakes in your life. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here. But everyone makes mistakes. You may have done some bad things, but that doesn’t mean you’re a bad kid.” Right vs wrong is what fuels this novel – not only in its present but also in its past – such as in the town of Green lake 110 years ago when the young teacher Kate Barlow fell in love with a black onion picker named Sam. The men of the town saw this as a crime and one evening when Sam was rowing his boat back across the lake from his onion farm the men came up behind him in a steamboat and shot him. It was this singular action that transformed teacher Kate Barlow into the infamous outlaw ‘kissin Kate Barlow’. Green Lake is not only the setting for the entire novel but also a cluster of decisions right and wrong that brought crucial characters together over time.     

Holes as a story is a long chain of decisions that brings the main characters to Green Lake. I feel that this can be identified as fate as these decisions made in the past (110 years earlier) bring the direct blood relatives of those characters who made the choices in the past to the same place at the same time in the present. As readers we can trace this chain back to Elya Yelnats Stanley’s dirty pig stealing great-great-grandfather who doesn’t fulfil his promise to the gypsie Madame Zeroni before leaving on a ship for America. It is this exact event that brings Stanley’s 110-year-old curse of bad luck, but maybe it was fate all along because this singular mistake brings Zero, Stanley and the warden to Green Lake exactly 110 years into the future, this is no coincidence. 

When Stanley first arrives at camp Green lake he is a fat and socially awkward loser and I think throughout the book Stanley grows as an individual and learns the meaning of true friendship with the unlikeliest of people – his quiet camp mate zero. He also learns the hard way that his actions have direct consequences and whatever his choice is – right or wrong – he will have to own up to the consequences and be responsible for himself and his friends. In the first couple of months of being at camp Stanley does anything to be apart of X-ray’s crew, he even gives him his day off for finding the golden lipstick canister in his hole. But when Stanley meets Zero his morals kick in and makes a deal to teach Zero to read and write. This is a crucial moment in the book for Stanley as a character because this when they become good friends and Stanley risks his own life to save him in the desert.    

Holes is a must-read novel for any teenager. It teaches you the true meaning of friendship, hard work and that everyone makes decisions – some of them are right and others are wrong. The trick is to learn from them so you can grow as a person.

Title: The wonderful tale of Henry Sugar 

Text type: Short Story 

Author: Roald Dahl 

The Wonderful Tale of Henry Sugar is a short story written by Roald Dahl that centres around a rich man named Henry Sugar. Henry finds a thin exercise book in one of his rich friend’s library. In this exercise book Henry reads about the incredible story of an Indian man who gains the ability to see through any object. Henry learns that like this man, he too can gain mystical powers through becoming a yogi, but unlike the Indian man in the story who spent weeks finding a teacher, Henry had the exercise book to teach him. The man in the story seeks the powers as proof to himself and others that real magic and extraordinary abilities exist around us, but henry sees these abilities as a way of staying rich. He gains these abilities and hits up the casinos looking through the backs of playing cards to know what cards to play. 

The Wonderful Tale of Henry Sugar made me appreciate my upbringing as I was taught to put others before myself. For henry, it takes a very long amount of time to realise this. He is sad for a very long time and doesn’t know why he then throws $100 bills off his balcony into the square below just to feel something. To his surprise, a large crowd soon gathers below and starts making a ruckus. for the first time Henry feels truly alive as he is putting others first. From this point on, he decides he will use his powers for good and use the funds to open orphanages worldwide. 

I feel that throughout the book Henry realises that his morals have changed. This can be seen in the story when he decides that he never cared about the money, he loved the thrill. He decides with his “extraordinary gifts” he can make a real difference in the world. Henry can be referenced to great characters such as Robin Hood because he steals from the rich and gives to the poor (which technically is stealing) but here is where morality comes into play as these stolen funds are then sent to his friend in a swiss bank account and distributed worldwide to create homes for orphans in need. Henry is doing the wrong things for the right reasons to benefit the greater good. 

I think Roald Dahl is trying to tell us that money is just paper and that doing something meaningful with our short time on earth is what we are remembered for, not how many bits of paper we collected. We all have light and dark within us. It’s what we choose to show to others around us. It’s the legacy we leave behind that counts, and for Henry in this story, I think he realized this before his time was up and used the remainder of his time doing some good for the world. Henry’s legacy will live on in the eyes of the lives of the orphans he changed forever. 

I would recommend this book to children of all ages as it shows the importance of finding one’s purpose and then sharing it as a gift to the world.  

Title: The dark knight 

Text type: Movie 

Director: Christopher Nolan

When the elusive criminal known as The Joker emerges from his mysterious past, he wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham City. Batman must use his unwavering moral fibres to serve the greater good of the people of Gotham City no matter what the cost.  

The Dark Knight is centred around the conflict of two opposing forces creating conflict throughout the entire film. One of these forces being Batman the other The Joker. I feel that this conflict is the physical representation of right vs wrong. Batman represents right as he believes heavily upon his morals, the justice system and the good people of Gotham City. The Joker represents wrong as he believes that society is one push away from chaos. He believes in fear, crime, corruption and the downfall of organised society. Each side cancels one another out making it an endless cycle, like yin and yang, the joker describes this as “they are destined to do this forever.” Together these opposing forces bring the conflict that is necessary to create a real sense of suspense and excitement that Christopher Nolan has capitalised on throughout the entirety of the film. 

An event that is key to the plot is when Rachel Dawes is murdered by the joker. I feel this is such an important part of the entire right vs the wrong theme in the movie because Batman had to choose whether to save Rachel or Harvey Dent. Rachel is one of Bruce’s oldest friends or Harvey Dent the district attorney that had just put 1000 criminals into prison and was the shining figure of justice to the people of Gotham City. The joker had created this attack very strategically as he knew whoever Batman chose to save would still destroy Dent as he was deeply in love with Rachel. This worked beyond The Jokers expectation as Harvey is driven mad with grief from Rachel’s death, he goes on a rampage leaving men’s lives to a flip of a coin, giving him the nickname “two-face” and half of his face being scarred with severe burns. This singular act proving that even the best of us can be brought down as low as The Joker. 

Finally, I think that in the conclusion of the movie when Batman takes the blame for all the terrible things that Harvey did to preserve the image of justice that he was to the people – this was the ultimate act of right vs wrong. Batman was doing the wrong things for the right reasons. This way Harvey’s image could inspire good within the people of Gotham City and keep the criminals in Black Gate under the “Dent Act”. Batman knew that right now he was the hero Gotham City deserves but wasn’t needed, so he would run from the police and watch from afar. He would be a silent protector of Gotham City. 

Title: Unbreakable

Text type: Movie 

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

In Unbreakable we follow the story of a security guard named David Dunn after he is the sole survivor of a horrific train-crash that claimed the lives of 131 passengers as he walks away unscathed. David finds himself at the centre of a mysterious theory that explains his consistent physical good fortune. When news of his survival is made public, a man whose own body is excessively weak tracks him down in an attempt to explain his unique unbreakable nature.  

I feel that within the film there are many underlying themes such as justice and heroism, but above all else right vs wrong is a key theme that the movie centres around and relates directly to the majority of the characters. Such as the main protagonist, David Dunn, on his journey to discover his ability and the truth about the antagonist Elijah Price. This is shown through cinematography techniques that such as lightning and especially dialogue these two techniques are vital to the development of not only the theme of right vs wrong but also the character development of both David and Elijah and the relationship between them throughout the film.   

Personally, this film for me lent me a perspective of the consequences of Elijah’s actions on the lives of so many around him just so selfishly he could have peace of mind that he was not alone living with his condition. The thought that he was alone driving him mad to the point where he found no value in innocent people’s lives. He sacrificed hundreds of lives so he could find those among us who had abilities. His actions were the definition of wrong as his intention was to kill selfishly stealing the lives of others.    

I feel that the internal conflict within Elijah to commit such a crime, like murder to innocent citizens on his quest to find his place on the spectrum and the world through David and his abilities, in itself is a conflict of right and wrong where his impulse to find someone with “special abilities” has outweighed his sense of morals. But where there is bad, good will always rise to combat it. This is seen within the film as David earns a reputation as a hero named ‘The Overseer’ as he takes down common criminals in the street which eventually brings him to realise it was Elijah who had taken so many innocent lives.     

Unbreakable is a movie that manipulates emotions and showcases right vs wrong in its purest form by using it as a central theme for characters decisions and outcomes to situations. This is why I would recommend this movie for young teens as it is a thrilling film which builds up towards the end and ends with a killer of a twist that I’m sure plenty of audience members will find as a good way to end the film with a bang.  

Title: Small Steps

Text type: Novel 

Author: Louis Sachar 

The novel Small Steps follows on after Louis Sachar’s first novel Holes and centres around Theodore Johnson aka Armpit as he attempts to reintegrate back into society after serving time in camp Green Lake juvenile detention facility. Theodore sets small achievable goals or small steps (as the novel is named after) for himself to help get himself back on his feet and make something of himself. For example, get a job and save a certain amount of money. Theodore’s life is going well for once until his old friend X-ray shows up and tries to get Theodore in on one of his dodgy schemes to scalp tickets and split the profit. Little did Theodore know, but this scheme was about to take a turn for the worse. 

I feel that this book shows the importance of putting others before yourself. Throughout this novel, Theodore puts the wellbeing of others before his own. For example, his neighbour, a young ten-year-old disabled girl named Ginny Macdonald who suffers from cerebral palsy disease and of course his friend X-ray who means well but always pulls Theodore back into trouble with his plots and schemes to make a quick buck. Furthermore, Armpit possesses this rare quality to put others first and in the novel, I felt that he not only did this but he also put them before his own goals he had set for himself which I felt like was a pretty selfless thing to do.  

This book made me realise the importance of taking life one step at a time. I know that sounds cheesy as this is the name of the book but I truly felt this is the way to achieve a better life, just like Theodore. Because setting small achievable goals sets you up to succeed and the more you achieve the more goals you set and before you know it you have a stable job, a house and a family of your own. Look at what Theodore achieved when he stuck to his goals. He met a famous singer and saved a girl’s life just by taking small steps towards a goal on a bit of paper. I think if we all had small goals to work towards the world would not only be a more successful, better world it would be a happier world because you never know where life will take you on your way to achieving your goals. You might just meet a rock star along the way! here’s a quote I found from the author that I feel sums the point quite nicely “But I’m taking small steps, ‘Cause I don’t know where I’m going. I’m taking small steps and I don’t know what to say. Small steps, trying to pull myself together, and maybe I’ll discover a clue along the way”

I would personally recommend this book to any reader of Holes (the prequel to small steps) as references are made to the characters and the story ties together with the previous book. I also would recommend this book to any teenager who is looking for a good read. I enjoyed this book as it got me back into reading after I found no joy in other books. It captured me in the story and held me in it from beginning to end. The author Louis Sachar has created a book that I think could be appreciated by older kids like myself. I enjoyed how he so cleverly made characters and the story relatable to teenagers so we could connect on a personal level. I feel that this technique made readers more immersed in the story and the characters he created. 

Title: The Hitchhiker

Text type: Short Story 

Director: Roald Dahl  

In this story, we follow the first-person perspective of a driver who is driving down the highway in his new BMW and decides to pick up a hitchhiker on the side of the road as he was feeling quite chuffed with his new car and decided he would show it off to a stranger. The strange man enters the vehicle and after chatting for a while they talk about professions the driver being a writer asked the man some questions, the driver then apologises for being a nosy writer. The man then agrees that writing is a skilled profession. After chatting for a while the stranger makes a bet that the new BMW will not exceed 129 miles per hour. They are then pulled up by the police for speeding. Little did the policeman know that this stranger was an expert finger smith (a fingersmith as the man reveals is an expert pickpocket) much like a gold smith or a silver smith (experts with gold or silver) a fingersmith is an expert with his fingers. 

This story made me think about how – when you look at a person you never know – what they could be capable of. For example: you could walk past any random stranger on the street and they could be a professional sportsman or a celebrity, but if you don’t know who they are they are just another face passing you by. When the driver describes the hitchhiker as “A small ratty-faced man with grey teeth. His eyes were dark and quick and clever, like rat’s eyes, and his ears were slightly pointed at the top.”, he paints an image of a lowly hitchhiker who isn’t out of the ordinary and probably is poor. You wouldn’t think you had just let a master pickpocket onto your car now would you? What I’m trying to say is that everyone has something truly special to offer to the world and you cannot just look at someone and assume that they are a boring person just from the way they look. It’s as they say “you can’t judge a book by its cover”.   

I feel the way that the story is told through the driver’s eyes offers greater perspective to the drivers feelings throughout the story. For example: when he is pulled over by the police, I could see the scene in my head. It was as if I were there and I could feel the stress he was feeling. When he finds out the hitchhiker’s talent is as a fingersmith, his character is so thrilled by his talent, for me I found that his helped me to establish a strong connection with him as a character because much like the driver if I found myself in a situation such as this I too would be encouraging the hitchhiker to take my belt and having a good time along the way.

I found this story too be very amusing as most of Roald Dahl’s stories are. I would recommend this to any child as Dahl has a gift of creating truly creative stories that I think children find especially entertaining but can be enjoyed by an audience of any age.