3053’s review :| Week: 8

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3053’s review :|   Week: 8 Date: 20/09/22 Chapter(s): 8

Summary of my reading:

    The story of chapter eight is about Ada and Ruby when winter was coming. Ruby brought apples to the town and exchanged them for many vegetables. Not only did she accept vegetables, but she also accepted an Inman letter to Ada. Ada read the letter and thought of the moment and promise between her and Inman before he went to the war. Then, Ruby met her father, Stobrod. Ruby gave him some food, and she drove him away after he finished eating. The next evening, he returned with his friend, Pangle. They escaped the Home Guard and asked for some accommodation and food, but Ruby refused and drove them away again because she was afraid of Teague's speech and angry with his actions in the past. Before they left, they played music for them. Ada listened to it, and she wrote the last line of the song in a letter and sent it to Inman before she went to sleep.

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My opinion:

This chapter clearly presents the main problems in Ruby and Ada's lives. Criticize by using the moralist and reader-response theory. Ruby was a grateful and circumspect woman because she gave some food and talked with her father uneventfully, although she was angry with his actions towards her in childhood. She always thought and evaluated the damage and usefulness of an event before she decided to do something, like the scene when Stobrod begged to stay at her barn and required some food from her. She thought of the prisoner's speech before he was arrested by the Home Guard and evaluated his actions because she was afraid that her decision could get Ada into trouble when she allowed him and his friend to stay with her and Ada. It teaches us to be grateful to our parents and to do logical thinking before doing anything. When we help someone, we should evaluate and think about the strengths and weaknesses of the event or people that we met before helping them, and we should be grateful to our parents all the time, although they do not want anything from us because they are a necessary person in our lives. They do anything for us as they nurture us from the day we were born until now without expecting anything in return. So, we should take care of them and not make them worry or sad. The little thing that we can do for them is improved ourselves to be great people in society. Furthermore, this chapter reflects the main problems in her mind of Ruby, which are the problems of her father. Ruby had this problem since Stobrod left her alone in childhood, so it was possible that she was so angry and did not open her heart to her father. Ada felt confused in her mind about Inman. She did everything to wait for him to come back to stay with her. After she read the letter, she did not know what she would think or do about Inman after she waited for him four years ago. Moreover, Ada was a kind and civilized woman because she helped everyone she had not met before, like in the scene when she did not drive her best friend's father away and left Ruby to solve her problems by herself, but she always gave advice to her when she wanted. We learn about civilized and confused humans. We should be civilized with everyone who is suitable to accept it, and we should decide our minds before we do anything, because it can make us easily live after we encounter trouble. Stobrod was ashamed of what he had done in the past because he had turned himself into a great person, and he knew playing music could lift his mind up. It teaches us that when we do something wrong, we should confess and correct what we have done, and we should have music in our lives because it can make us feel better when we are serious or sad. Next, Inman was a stubborn man because he did not tell Ada all of his feelings, although he had a few times to stay with her before he went to be a soldier in the Civil Wars. Moreover, he took care of Ada's mind. He told Ada to throw away his picture before he went to war because he wrote in the letters that he was worried when Ada saw his changed face from many wounds, and he did not forget the promise that he would come back to her after he finished the war. It teaches us that we should do anything that we need to do or tell everyone who we love, and we should take care of the lover's mind and promise. We often do not have time to do that when it is late, because time does not wait for anyone or sympathize with us. Finally, based on historical and feminist theory, Ada's action with Inman before he went to the Civil Wars. She was not the same as the general woman in the American Civil Wars of the 19th century. At that time, women did not have women's rights because women did not have the courage to protest and campaign for their authority during that century, so they had to follow men's orders and suggestions because men were the pillars of the country's progress. They could not do anything without the help of men. Women in that century needed to wait for men to order or do something before that, but Ada did anything by following her mind and suitability, like in the scene when she went to meet Inman and kissed him in public before he did.