Blog Question Miss Brill

The theme of Miss Brill is loneliness because she does not have anyone to talk to, "Only two people shared "her special" seat: a fine old man in a velvet coat, his hands clasped over a huge carved walking-stick, and a big woman, sitting upright, with a roll of knitting on her embroidered apron. They did not speak. This was disappointing , for Ms. Brill always looked forward to conversation." This shows how Ms. Brill so wanted to talk people but they were unwilling or couldn't talk to her.

The theme for Love in L.A. is lying and deception. This is shown through the actions of Jake and how he treats Mariana after hitting here car. "'You do have insurance?' she asked, suspicious, as she came around the back of the car. 'Oh yeah,' he lied." This is a prime example of the continued deception and lies that Jake tells Mariana throughout the story.

Kira Kira 10

Passage:
"My father felt bad for me and asked whether I wanted to take a vacation. 'Yeah!' I said. 'I mean, yes, yes, yes!' 'Would you like go to see the Okefenokee Swamp?' How about California? That's what Lynnie would have wanted.' 'Why do you think that?' 'Because that's where the she loved is. That's where she wanted to live when she got older.'"

Page:
239

Comments and Response:
I like how the family goes on the trip to honor the memory of Lynn. It really pulls on the heart strings because of how loving it is that the would do that for her. It truly shows how much the family loved her because they probably could not afford to make the trip under normal circumstances.

Kira Kira 9

Passage:

"Before Lynn died, my mother would have done anything for her own family, but she would not have done much for another family. I think it was a combination of Lynn dying and seeing the little girl in the blue dress that changed my mother's vote. It was a little late for my mother, but if she voted yes, she knew it would not be too late for the next family suffering grief."

Page:

238

Comments and Response:

I like how the mom changed from the begin of the book to near the end. At first she turned a blind eye to all the abuse that was happening to her as she worked at the company. Now after the death of her daughter she did an about face and she is now part of the Union and trying to help other families that might go through the same things.

Kira Kira 8

Passage:
"It made me sad that the girls from Lynn's class didn't show up for the funeral."

Page:
217

Comments and Response:
It was very sad how not one of the students in Lynn's came for her funeral. She might not have been liked very much in her class but at least one student could have come to her funeral. She even had a friend that she use to talk but they grew apart.

Kira Kira 7

Passage:
"Inside the living room my father laid me on my cot. 'She's gone,' he said."

Page:
200

Comments and Response:
I think that one scene when Katie's father is carrying her inside and Katie is just waking up and her dad tells her that Lynn has just died was just so powerful. It was powerful because it was not something that I expected to happen to her, I expected her to be awake when her sister finally died.

Kira Kira 6

Passage:
"At home I read the encyclopedia to Lynn or combed her hair or painted her nails. One day she looked very sad and told me she wished she had some glittery pink polish. I didn't have any money, but I walked down to the five-and-ten store. I'd decided to steal Lynn some polish. I'd never stolen anything before, but it couldn't be hard."

Pages:
170-171

Comment and Passage:
On one hand, I commend her for trying to help out her sick sister and find it very nice that she was willing to get her the nail polish. On the other she shouldn't have to steal to please her sister, even though her sister is dying. This then raises the question is it alright to steal if it is for a good reason or to help someone out?

Kira Kira 5

Passage:
"When our mother drove us home, we were tired from doing nothing all day in the hot car. My mother smelled funny. The factory workers weren't allowed to take unscheduled breaks, so they all wore pads in case they needed to use the bathroom. It smelled like mother had used her pad. I decided that someday when I was rich, I was going to buy the factory and let the workers use the bathroom whenever they wanted."

Page:
97

Comments and Response:
That is disgusting and absolutely horrible how they treated the workers then. I could not possibly imagine a work environment like that. I am so happy that unions came around when they did or we may have ended up how Katie's mom did, using the restroom in a pad because we were not allowed to take unscheduled breaks. This is a perfect example of the life before when businesses and companies were much more crueler and did not have to answer to anybody.