Reading Response 2.2

Prompt: 2.2 due Thursday November 12, 2015 Your character must’ve made some decision by now.  What was that decision?  What was the purpose of that decision?  In a well-crafted paragraph with at least one quote, explain what decision your main character made and explain the reasoning, the purpose as to why he/she made the decision.  Finally, what were the consequences or if you haven’t read that far, what will the consequences be. 

Your response formatting should look exactly like mine (except the period & Date).  It is quarter two.  If the heading is not correct, I will return it to you so you can revise it.  

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Corey Ryan

RR: 2.2

Period 0

November 3, 2015

Background

            At the moment, I am on page 49 of Janne Teller’s Nothing.  This book is about a boy, Pierre Anthon, who one day after coming back from summer break, decides that nothing matters.  When he declares this to the class he walks out of the class room and climbs a plum tree.  Pierre sits in the tree telling people basically that nothing matters, that all we do is pretend that something matters, that we only have, if we live to 80, 9 years of living and that he is going to get started on that now.

            The other students don’t know what to think about this.  They throw stones at him.  They want to believe that everything they are doing and where they will be going in life matters.  Now, with Jon-Johan as their kind-of-leader, they have decided to collect items that mean the most to them, that give life a meaning, and store those items in an old mill.  The pile is growing.

Prompt

            One important decision that the narrator, Agnes, makes is to befriend Gerda for no other purpose than to get revenge by finding out and exposing what Gerda cares most about so that she will have to add that item to the pile.  All of the students decided to bring whatever it is that means the most to them and store them in an old mill.  These items are going to be used to show Pierre Anthon that something matters.  Gerda has not brought her item yet.

            Agnes makes that decision because Gerda forced her to give up her green wedge sandals.  Agnes loved those sandals more than anything.  Her mom saved up a lot of money to buy them (they didn’t have a lot of money) and even had to wait to the summer was almost over and they were one sale.  So Agnes found the one thing that Gerda cares about:  A hamster.  “No the thing that made Gerda’s room at her father’s place special was that in the corner stood a very large cage with a very small hamster inside” (page 43).  Agnes then tells the group of children Gerda’s “secret.”  Agnes and Ursula-Marie walked to Gerda’s house and got the hamster, Oscarlittle, and put the hamster in an old rusty cage on top of the growing pile of things that give meaning to life. 

The consequences of Agnes’ actions are that first, Gerda hates Agnes.  Gerda cries, begs, pleas.  Will she get revenge?  The second consequence is that there is a living thing on top of the pile.  Up until now there has been nothing but inanimate objects.  This little hamster on top of the pile in the rusty cage seems to be what they were looking for.  But the true consequences for Agnes have yet to be determined. 

My Thinking

            This is the kind of book I love and the kind of book I would hope to write one day: A sort of simple premise with a deep meaning.  What is the meaning of life?  Do these items that the kids are collecting actually prove meaning or are they simply “stuff.” 

            I am making a prediction because that’s what good readers do and that’s what would get you full credit for this section: I think that the students will not prove to Pierre Anthon that there is a reason to live and that something does matter.  But that sounds really depressing and I don’t know what kind of message that would send to the author’s audience so I’m changing my prediction.  The meaning of life will be whatever memories are inside of you.  Whatever good you have done for others even though you might not have realized it at the time.  The meaning of life is to not think about the meaning of life, but to just live it. 

            Pierre Anthon will climb down from the tree. 

***Oh man, I was so wrong on my prediction.  But that's okay.