Montana : 2008

The second half of Montana definitly had its ups and downs. One problem in general that I have with the novel is how much the narrator spells every single thing out for the reader. Sure this makes the novel easy to understand but it leaves basically no room for the reader to form their own analyzations of the characters. For example, when David and his father are talking about re-painting the house David says "was this another of his promises-like a trip to Yellowstone-to make me feel better?" I feel that those comments are unneccessary because it would be more valuable to the reader if we can draw our own conclusions from the text. This is also shown when the narrators' voice frequently cuts in and says things like "it was trivial, yet it bore out what a boy I was when all this was going on" (123). Let the reader see that obviously his want for chocolate cake proves how juvenille he was inside instead of litterally saying it. Furthermore, I thought the Epilogue was too detailed, sometimes I like to picture how the characters end up rather than have the story completely closed for me. It was almost too sweet to have both villians killed off when the grandpa died. I think if the Epilogue was more vague, or not there at all, the story would be more intruiging.
Also, the whole scene with the four men approaching the house seemed way too gimicky and "wild west" to actually be in the novel. It reminded me of West Side Story with the Jets approaching the Sharks snapping their fingers in the beat of the music. That entire part was not needed, and there were many other ways Watson could've shown how in danger the Hayden family was.
The fact that the Haydens were able to keep Frank in the basement for so long shows how corrupt the towns' government was. I, like Gail, was dumbfounded when Wes explained that Uncle Frank was being locked up underneath their feet. It was like they were giving a rapist hotel accomodations for commiting first degree murder. At the end of the novel for a second I thought Frank had killed Wes because of how Watson wrote that whole scene. This made the twist at the end enjoyable, in a sick, twisted way. David also feels a certain satisfaction when Uncle Frank kills himself, but his happiness was not a shock to me because earlier in the novel when David has his uncle in range of gunshot, his first thought is of the mechanics of the shot, not about the moral aspect of KILLING his uncle. I conclude from this that he felt to attatchment to his Uncle, but David also went on a rant about his connection to his uncle and how weird it was to think of him as a rapist and a murderer. Their relationship is not as clear as black and white, but either way his uncle has changed his life forever.
All in all I did like Montana 1948, but the simplicity of it at times made it a wee bit too bland.

First Post for Montana 1984

Hey group, I'm definitly enjoying this book =) I think it's mostly about David's forced journey out of childhood because of the events that took place during 1948. In the first chapter there is a lot of background information, but what I found most importand was that David's grandfather was the sheriff of the town because he wanted power. To keep this power, he gave the position as sheriff to his son. As we learn later in the novel, David's father, Wesley, is always in the shadow of his brother. He's not as good looking and is far from a war hero. Therefore, his job as sheriff is the only scrap of power he has left, and his job is the only way he can gain respect and recognition from his father. I think the relationship between Wesley, Uncle Frank, and the grandpa is very interesting. When David's mom and dad are talking about what Marie told them about Uncle Frank, Wesley says, "I don't want this getting back to my father" and then David goes into a narration about how his dad "declared absolute fealty" to his earthly father. This proposes that he is protecting his father from the information about his supposedly heroic son, but I am confused as to why he would want to do that? If he told his dad he would ruin the image his father has of Uncle Frank, making him the better son. But on the contrary, it seems as if the grandfather knows Uncle Frank is interested in Indian women and finds that acceptable and manly in some way. Ultimately, I think Wesley fears his brother will hate him if he tells their father, which shows how much he cares about his brothers' approval, and how much he is intimidated by him.
Moving on to David's character, I thought the scene after the dinner at his grandfathers' house was interesting. David gets to ride around with a gun and he basically shoots the gun just to hear it and get all of his aggression out. This shows how much tension there is building up inside of him because of the weight he is carrying. I thought the quote "looking in the dead birds eye, I realized that these strange unthought of connections-sex & death, lust & violence, desire & degradation- are there, deep in even a good hearts chambers" (82) shows how much David is maturing from the situation he is in. The quote also points out that no one is all good or all evil, but that everyone has weaknesses that they can either ignore or succumb to.
David's mom is also a huge part in this section of the novel. She obviously knows the truth and always reminds her husband in their conversations to look past the fact that Frank is her husbands brother, and see him for who he really is. She kind of gets annoying when she doesnt actually DO anything about Marie. At the end of chapter 2 you can see when she talks to Daisy that she regrets not doing something more, because she definitly could have. The way Watson portrays women in this novel is weak and passive. Once one woman actually takes charge, she meets the worst possible fate. The grandfathers' wife is a pansie and Gloria, Franks wife, seems like she is really nice but puts up with all of Franks B.S., making her a push over. The women are WET BLANKETSSSSS ;) and need to start sticking up for themselves.
I was really shocked and disappointed when Marie dies (hope I didn't give that away to anyone) because I liked her character and I wanted to learn more about her past. Anyhoo, I can't wait to read everyones blogzz and I hope you liked mine! MoNtAnA is where its aaattttt. peace and loveeee, Andrea