Pygmalion - Journal Entry 2

Why was the hostess of the party so interested in Eliza? There had to be other people she didn’t know there. And Nepomummuck definitely seemed like a fraud to me. There’s no way he was that good. If Higgins taught him, he wouldn’t end up better than him. When he said Eliza was a princess, it really showed he really was a fake considering he was way off. The whole princess idea was kind of dropped after this point. They never mentioned it again in the book. Why? I thought it was significant since this is when Higgins reached his goal.

After the party, Eliza had the mental break down.  I knew this would happen sooner or later. I felt bad for her. She realized she was just a puppet and she was so naïve about it. The two men were oblivious to her being upset, probably because they were drunk. Once Higgins saw she was hurt, I think it hit a soft spot we hadn’t seen until this point but he put up a front to cover it up.

I absolutely HATED the ending of the book for three reasons. The first was that her father randomly came back because some dead guy left him in his will because of Higgins. This part confused me and was so random. The second reason was because Eliza and Freddy got together. We knew that Freddy liked Eliza because the author kept hinting at it but I didn’t think Eliza would like him back. It was so surprising. I think she was just desperate. The third reason is that it left tons of questions unanswered. Does Eliza actually get married to Freddy? Does she ever see Higgins again? Is her father more involved in her life after his wedding?  I need answers!

Pygmalion - Journal Entry 1

Higgins got on my nerves a lot. He obviously cares about no one but himself. The only reason that he agreed to help Eliza was because he would get bragging rights from doing the seemingly impossible. If he wasn’t trying to prove a point, he wouldn’t have even thought about changing Eliza. When Eliza first showed up, he was annoyed and told Ms. Pearce to send her off. Once he thought about how it would help his business if he made a poor girl appear like she was from the upper class, he insisted that she stayed with him. I really didn’t like his character because of how inconsiderate and selfish he was.

One thing I noticed about Eliza was that she was very stubborn. Once she had an opinion on something, nothing could change it. The author made sure that we knew she was stubborn first when she wouldn’t tell how she knew Freddy’s name. I really wanted to know how she knew this too especially because the author made it seem like a big deal from the way Freddy’s mother and Eliza kept bickering about it. She was also being stubborn when she wouldn’t stop crying over nothing and she wouldn’t adjust her old ways to be like the people Higgins was like. She didn’t want to get rid of her clothes or take a bath and she was being a little dramatic about it. Well very dramatic about it.

I wondered why Eliza was being so hesitant about bathing like rich people did. The author said that she had pictures of the high class life cut out from newspapers and magazines on her walls. She envied them in a way but yet she acted like she didn’t want to become like them. Why was this? Was this significant?

The Pearl - Journal Entry 2

When the pearl was being inspected by the buyers, it was on black felt. The contrast emphasized the brightness of the pearl which brings me back to my light/dark motif. Maybe the light symbolizes happiness or “happiness” since all the pearl has brought is trouble. Kino should have just listened to Juana and gotten rid of the pearl when she said. The author said the pearl had a strange color to it which I thought could have been hinting at its underlying evilness. The magnifying glass could be representing seeing the pearl for what it truly was: evil.

The author created good imagery when Juana was walking in the darkness after trying to throw out the pearl. The moon was creating light and dark spots on the ground because of the clouds. She was in and out of darkness. I interpreted this has her conflicting emotions of wanting to get rid of the pear because it brought evil in her family but yet wanting to obey her husband and keep it.

At first I liked Kino. He was a family based man and made his wife and child a priority. Now he was putting his wants in front of them and turning evil. After he hit Juana for trying to throw the pearl out, I hated him. I never thought it would go that far. He was turning into an animal; He was no longer a human on the inside. It freaked me out when he was killing the trackers. He was so wild! It was like he was hungry for human flesh. When he looked into the pearl at the end, he was seeing his visions gone wrong which gave me hope for him but I realized he was already destroyed and ruined.

The Pearl - Journal Entry 1

When the author began the book, he described the way Kino woke up and his morning routine. I found it strange when he pointed out that Kino looked at his wife last of all things.  Was this some kind of foreshadowing for further problems in their relationship? But family was obviously really important in this culture and society since Kino was always speaking of the song of the family. I knew something would disturb the peace of the song of the family because that’s just predictable. The scorpion is what disturbed this peace which is when we learned that Coyotito is a baby boy. I wondered why the author kept us guessing at what he was. I didn’t know if he was a child or a dog until this point.

I noticed the motif of light/dark. Light was mentioned three times in the beginning with sunrise, Juana’s morning fire, and the sun was compared to an explosion of fire. When the people were asking for help from the doctor and he rejected them, the author mentioned their shadows which are darkness. Is this a motif symbolizing good things and bad things or is it more of the emotion side like happiness and sadness, which don’t necessarily mean the same thing.

I liked when the author compared the town and the way it worked to an animal. Was this done for a reason or was it just to help the reader understand? News spread through the nervous system. When Kino became the enemy after finding the pearl, the town swelled up due to infection. The author also said humans are never satisfied. I figured this was foreshadowing for Kino wanting more and more after finding the pearl.

I couldn’t figure out what the coin the pearl buyer was playing with was a symbol for. I know he was smooth and fluid when tossing it around but when he saw the pearl, he dropped it. Why? Was this just supposed to show his shock? Was this showing how the pearl is uncontrollable like how he lost control of the coin? Whichever it was, I never figured it out and I guess it wasn’t important enough to change my understanding of the book.