During the discussion today with the Dream Team, I found that many other people were finding the same things and connections that I was finding in Animal Dreams. They also had some of the same confusions about the book. It was good to get clarification from both Mr. Cheng and the other members of the discussion group. It’s useful to do this because the book and Barbara Kingsolver’s writing are filled with symbolism, motifs, and because Doc Homer’s chapters are written so that he jumps back and forth between different scenes or moments. One of the things I got cleared up today is that I was confused on Doc Homer’s chapter in which he is developing a photograph of the river and the cactuses I think and he said something about how “the truth can’t be corrected in the photograph.” I was confused because I wasn’t sure what the picture was of at what time he was developing the photograph, more specifically if it was a flashback or the present. At this point in my reading, I don’t really enjoy the book that much. This is mostly for the reason that I dislike the main character, Codi. To me, she seems really sarcastic, especially toward the people that are just trying to help her or be nice. I find this a really annoying quality in people and so this translates over to the book and how I dislike Codi. Another reason why I dislike Codi is that she is very rude to her father, even though her father is losing his mind with his mental illness. Maybe she is rude because that is just how their dysfunctional, uncommunicative relationship has always been. However, I feel like she should be kinder to her father and be understanding of his illness. Having said that, I do think that Barbara Kingsolver is a good author and is skilled at implanting motifs and symbolism throughout the book. We have discussed some of these things in the discussion group.
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