Corey
Ryan
Reading
Response 4.1
Period
1567
March
23, 2016
Summary
I
am on page 109 of 438 of Don’t Worry Baby
by Benjamin Hale. Miles and Odelia were
part of the Obscure Record Collective’s plot to firebomb the New York Stock
Exchange and had to flee the country or go to jail forever. They had been
staying in Tangiers but are now ready to move to Mexico City. Where I am in the book right now they have
landed in Miami, the last connecting flight before Mexico.
The Prompt
Everything in a book, in a film is there for a
reason. Pick out two objects that seem
to be important in the book you are reading. Explain why these objects are
important, when they appear and what they might symbolize.
Breastfeeding, and therefore breast
milk is important in the story I am reading.
Breast milk is what calms the baby, Abraxas, down on the long flight
from Paris to Miami. It is also,
obviously, nourishment. But it is also
the reason the main conflict comes into play.
Miles, Odelia’s husband, gives her a candy bar that contains some sort
of psychedelic drug. As Odelia begins
hallucinating, Abraxas continues to feed.
The drug passes from the mother’s milk to the baby, causing the baby to
also hallucinate. “Miles pries open one of Abraxas’ eyes with a thumb and
forefinger and the baby recoils and howls louder”(32). The
breast milk in this situation symbolizes innocence. The baby, innocent about all life’s dangers,
loses her innocence from the mistakes of her mother. We never find out what the repercussions are
for Abraxas later in life, but we can assume they could be horrific.
Another object that appears and
reappears in the story is the airplane.
It is important for the simple reason that it gives the main characters
freedom. Without the airplane, they
would not have been able to leave Tangier.
But it is also a sort of prison.
There is nowhere to go once the plane is in the air. The plane is loud and increases the paranoia
brought on by the drugs. Therefore, this airplane symbolizes not freedom, but
the lack of it. Once the plane
lands, Odelia gives herself up to the police in order to receive help for the
baby. “I am a wanted criminal. My child is sick. I am turning myself in”(39). This will surely cause Odelia to be separated
from her baby, separated from her husband and eventually separated from the
free world.
My Thinking
Phew,
I have read a lot of stories where drug use takes place, but I wasn’t expecting
this! I suppose beign a father to a
daughter who still breast feeds really caused me to connect with the mother and
feel for the baby. That must be so
horrible. Almost like a date rape drug
or eating something that you did not expect to contain some mind altering
substance. Crazy.
