Alex McCormick's English Blog

Welp at last it is the moment that at least most of the characters have been waiting for in my book and that is that Jolene is coming home. Lets just say that it doesn’t take a psychologist to know that she is not excited about the fact that she is on her way home. I truly think it is because she does not want those past memories back with her of what she used to be able to do. For example like run around with her daughters and go on day trips to the near-by beach.

As soon as Michael got home a couple of weeks prior although he came home to a multitude of reminders of what type of state his wife was in. But more importantly how large of a community was behind him and his family as they prepared for her to come home. One of the big programs that reached out was the VA. Or the Department of veteran affairs. Since it is not easy to explain I am going to actually just have the program explain themselves and what they do for people.

Here is the link: https://www.ruralhealth.va.gov/aboutus/structure.asp#:~:text=The%20United%20States%20Department%20of,and%20consent%20of%20the%20Senate.

They helped Michael find a rehabilitation center close to home so that way Jolene can be easily visited by friends and family. Not only that but helped build a new bedroom in replace of Michaels office so she doesn’t have to go through the troubles of walking up and down stairs. Yes, this is a fictional story, however, they truly still fo all of this stuff in real life which is pretty neat.

I chose the red cross logo as well because just like the Veteran Affairs they also do a lot for the U.S. Military and much more to help aide weakened soldiers.

Over half-way in this book has been amazing to read and I am so glad I picked it off of the Target shelf. But also has presented multiple lessons to be learned within it. One big one being that no matter really how hard the future gets for you it is always harder for someone else, so care for them and not yourself. Yes that contradicts what people say about how “you should worry about yourself.” But Jolene was always doing just that and as the war progressed and she got thrown into a hospital bed with one less leg it really just took a piece of her life away, because she is the one getting helped and not doing the helping. Plus the author is so good at showing that emotion by her being able to flip the perspective between her and Michael so easily. By her being able to do that it helps with the understanding aspect of the book by making us still read between the lines and find that meaning earlier mentioned.

Holy smokes I thought a lot was going on in the last section but a tons more, and I mean a tons more just happened in this section. I should probably skip over the “boring” parts of this section and really get into the juicy parts. Trust me the “boring” parts weren’t actually boring. A little background info for my new readers here, there is this woman (a mother) who gets deployed to war specifically Iraq. Leaving behind at home she has a pre-teen and a 6 year-old both daughters so you can imagine the hassle there. But also her husband who before she left notified her that he does not love her anymore. Which now all that is just BS. Not having her back at home he has been presented with many challenges of parenting that he did not know about before because Jolene mainly took over those roles.

Now to get into the juices of this section. Jolene was just shot down in her Blackhawk helicopter. She lost a crewmate. Also!!! My previous prediction from the last blogpost was almost right. Her best-friend who flies right beside her in the cockpit did not die but she fell into a coma. So yes good but still not good because of the pain that her husband has to deal with. This might bad of me to say but I am so glad this crash happened because it brought Michael emotionally closer to her. Although Jolene in my eyes I am sad, she has not forgotten what he said before she left. He flew to Germany where she was placed into a hospital and she was not appreciative that he was there. I feel so bad for Michael because his love is coming back just Jolene is still holding a hefty grudge against him.

^I chose a airplane to represent Michael right now. Obviously he is using it for travel reason and he is constantly on the road. But more importantly because his mind is always moving with new thoughts. He is always being told to do new things whether by his mom or Jolene. Sometimes even Betsy has a word about his parenting skills. I’d like to say my heart goes out to him, man, not many people can jump into a role that a mother has so quickly. At this point shout out to those mothers, jeez they are some absolute dawgs.

Jolene is now in Iraq and lets say she is not okay but who would be okay in this scenario? Absolutely nobody. Not only that but her children are telling her through email that her dad is not keeping up with household chores and not being able to keep with his own job also. It is so bad he has to feel terrible. In my eyes it is like Betsy and Lulu (the daughters) are actually doing the parenting. Also I get that Michael is doing a terrible job at true fatherhood but not only is he going against all of Jolene’s parenting rules but he even got Betsy a cell phone. This story is set in early 2000’s so having a phone in 6th grade was not really the norm.

The pic of the broken house is supposed to show how the Zarkades house is barely standing with everyone exhausted and not knowing what to do to move forward and not knowing what to do.

Jolene is having a difficult time in Iran because she is in “mortarville” because that is how often they are getting bombed and how scary war really is. Her mind is spinning at how different war has aged since she was last on the frontlines with equipment and such as IEDs. She is not used to them and having to be so careful on how often a bomb can just go off beneath their vehicle or feet. I am positive it’ll get better as time goes on and she grows custom to everything. But a little foreshadowing based on my idea and how many books I’ve read I have a gut feeling that her best friend Tami will end up getting blown up or shot and killed. And after that happens Betsy and her ex-friend will become friends once again.

Good evening!!! Hopefully, I never post this late again because man is it cutting close and to be blunt and honest this is not me. But boy did tons happen in this section of my book and to be fair it was fun to read but it was definitely catchy.

It was very eye-opening to say the least I not only read but was able to diagnose both marital sides of the relationship and see through both of their lenses. I understand that I was very disappointed with Michael in the last post. But I don’t think I feel that anymore. Looking at the way he holds himself when he walks around and the reason I think he is always at work late is the avoidance of Jolene’s behavior in the house. He can’t handle the pressure that she puts on him is something he can not handle. Truthfully it is not a broken heart it is a burnt-out mind. He sees how much she does for their family as a mom and as a soldier and he knows he can not fulfill those standards. I know this is some summarization but I love that he is trying at least, for example, he tried to understand her military side her and how to prepare for her being deployed by going to a meeting for spouses of deployed soldiers. In the end, he is trying his best and I totally support that.

On the other side of the spectrum I want to focus more on the daughters because I see how much it is damaging them. I mean as a child how is it that your mother dying is not at the top of your mind. In Betsy and Lulu’s case it is there best friend and both of theri largest supporter. What sucks even more that Betsy being pre-puberty as they talk about in the book won’t have someone to guide her through her first period. It is something I definitely could not imagine. I am predicting now that her mom and her ex-best friends mom are going on deployment together that Betsy and her old friend Seth will actually become best friend and Betsy will embrace that maybe Seth is not like her but through all of this she will learn to appreciate was she has. Along with I am hoping her father does the exact same.

The first 50 or so pages of my book have been well interesting to say the least, I have been real upset with Michael (the dad). He has been so separated from the rest of the family recently blaming his job. I get it he is a lawyer but c’mon his daughters track meet started at 2 and he had plans to make it but then suddenly got caught up and wasn’t home until nine. Like what the heck is wrong with you to not even put forth an effort. But it is not only just that but oh my god he told Jolene (the mom) that he didn’t love her anymore. Like in a legit conversation told her that he no longer loved her anymore. Like I get it and to be completely honest I saw it coming the whole time because he wasn’t showing affection towards Jolene. But still c’mon be a dad for crying out loud.

Michael also does not appreciate how Jolene is in the military showing his emotions throughout their marriage. It has to definitely deal with how differently they grew up whereas Jolene’s parents were taken from her right before she graduated and Michael has had his parents in the duration of his whole life. Jolene is in the National Guard and prior to that was in the Army long before and flies the Blackhawk helicopter in both which is basically the most prestigious helicopter in the military that one can fly. She is so strong hearted which comes from her tough childhood once again and more than likely the military also which takes a toll on her kids also where she probably is not as soft or nice to them as she should be which sucks especially when their dad doesn’t do enough for them.

The next book that I chose is Home Front by Kristen Hannah, to be flat out I chose this book because I saw the cover with the helicopter and the yellow ribbon tied to the tree and instantly knew it was about war so I had to snag it off the Target shelves. I am reading this book alone and am so excited to share not only what is happening in the book but also share my opinions on the characters or ideas they pursue throughout the story. Not only that but to see how people react to the characters in my story and read and understand the ideas they gain. At the same time, it is almost like reading 20 books at the same time because you also get to read about what is happening in everyone else’s books and get to react to them. The most nerve-racking part about this whole project is forcing myself to read and not procrastinating on reading the book by the deadline, I know that sounds really goofy but it is very true. I am definitely going to hold myself highly accountable through this project which not only allows me to have as much success as possible but also fights my worries of how I may end up procrastinating. Which for sure will not happen.

This picture of this depressing home represents how war is tearing apart Jolene and Michael Zarkades’s home apart and is damaging the family’s emotional health.

The accounts from just one of them did not change the audience but after reading all of them and combining them together the audience is changed. It is converted to an audience of future readers like it was written for people to read in the future so people do not repeat it. That is the reason why De las Casas talks in a demeanor where he is not downplaying what was occurring and what actually can be done but can be stopped as long as we are aware of the history of what happened. As he gives his speech the college students of Cooper Union Red Cloud admits “we want peace and love” (Cloud 2). There is a difference between why he says wants instead of something like need because they are looking for it in the future and it does not matter when it happens. That is why he is speaking to college-level students because he knows that they have a hand in the future of America, but also why this exact speech is still being talked about in schools today. De las Casas was a part of the culture that did the harming but there’s nothing in the reading that says he did harm the Natives. He writes in a journal-type format where he is writing to bring it back to Spain and share with his fellow Spaniards what their people are doing to others in the New World. As he talks about in his book The Very Brief Relation of the Devastation of the Indies, there is a description where the voyaging Spaniards are not treating people like they are Christians. Instead, they are treating the Native people like they worship the devil. It is never a good thing for people to realize that their culture is mistreating people but it also is written for the children and the children of the children for not only the history, but instead like Red Cloud did to represent to the future what happened and prevent it from repeating. The authors both Red Cloud and de las Casas maybe did not intend to have their works read and studied in the twenty-first century. Maybe they never intended it to be published, but here we are and by all means the audience most definitely has changed as it their works aged but they were aimed for the future during their time without them knowing.

This reading on what de las Casas saw and eventually wrote down as he visited the New World explains what was happening at the time and how the travelers or the colonizers were acting toward the native people. It continuously demonstrates how the different cultures acted as they came across a new large land mass.

The foreigners acted in ways of being overcome with greed as soon as they arrived. They never treated the Native people as actual people they were just treated as animals from day one. For example, just being picked up and carried away from their homes without even being able to realize what is happening and having zero recollection of who these people are and where they are bringing them. On page 90 it states, the captives crowded into the holds of their ships, without food or water, or with very little.” Showing that the boat conditions were unbearable and the colonizers never treated them fairly. They also took large advantage of them with not only slave work as mentioned before but stealing their riches to keep as their own representing the greedy side of themselves coming out of them. De las Casas repeatedly talks about the pearl divers and how they were treated by the traveling people. On page 91 he talks about how when the native people even tried to take a slight break they are “showered with blows, his hair is pulled, and he is thrown back into the water.” They always worked the Natives like machines causing to make their greed shine like the sun it is so obvious. Forcing them to make long repeating dives into the water to go and get the oysters from the bottoms in the water. With that it just flat-out showed the ever-so-present greed that occurs when a superior or thought to be superior culture is put next to a new culture that is thought to be inferior. Along with how the “superior” group responds to that new frontier and how they take advantage of it.

“The Compound” I just recently finished actually today I did it is a really good book and definitely has not disappointed me. Eli the main character threw hands with his dad that encouraged him to let everyone trapped out of the compound. I don’t know if it is just me or not because I love reading through the epilogue and especially the end of this one was great because it really showed what happened with Eli’s parents and where they are all living now. I thought this book was a really great read and it is up close to my all-time favorite read. My favorite is The Raft who happens to be written by the same author S.A. Bodeen, and truly I just found out right now that it was written by the same author while trying to figure out who the author was for The Raft, amazing right. Anyways I guess now I have to look out for more S.A. Bodeen books. But now that I finished Compound I picked up a new book called The Living by Matt de la Peña.