Who to Blame?

Geoffrey Guilcapi
English 1100
25 September 2016
Prof. Young

Who to Blame

       Blame is the act of displacing pain and discomfort onto someone or something else, which is something Hal is especially good at. Hal is trying to protect Cully with all his might as he does not want Cully to grow up to be him. Cully has a better future than Hal did when he was his age and Hal knows this, thus causing him to live through Cully and turn a blind eye to Cully's actions. Hal has nothing that he is proud of or even looks forward to doing than spending his time with Cully. As a result Hal constantly shifts blame to wherever he can like when Cully got into the fight with Bishop and Dex, Hal instantly stated "if only he'd had more money to give as an offering to the church" (Steinke 228). He never sees Cully for who he really is as he is stuck the past and blames himself for what Cully does in the present when he thinks "if he could only show his devotion better" (228). The fact that he goes to lengths to blame anyone else is also a way for him to protect the fact that the only thing he was proud is not what he wanted as well. This gives the reader the impression that when push comes to shove he would either protect his son with everything he has or accept the fact the Cully will never be the person Hal wants him to be. 

       Dex's mother is shocked at the fact that she knew some of the people and that they would do something like that. She knows in a sense that Dex went as it was the same people he hung around. However she stated that "Dex knows how to control himself, no matter what present he's offered" (180). She taught Dex better than to just leave Willa by herself in that situation which is why she is shocked at the possibility of him being at the party because he should have done something to help her. Dex's mother blames the people at the party as she stated that Willa was going to a party innocently and was not expecting what was actually going to happen, which gives the impression that she does not shift blame to others but to the people responsible for the actions they have taken, unlike Hal. 

      Dex still has feelings for Willa even after what happened at the party. He found an opening to connect with her through the project to finally to be with her and to see if she is okay. Dex has an actual interest of Willa making their friendship genuine in a way as he wants to be there for her while trying to create a relationship with her. The reason that Dex decided to act was that he felt guilty for leaving her in that situation in the first place as he could have done something to protect her. In a way he blames himself for that but he blames everyone who participated in doing that to Willa. Consequentially, that will eventually lead Dex to do something drastic to help Willa and make sure the ones responsible pay for their actions further down the line. 

       In this section Willa was the concentration of the reading, her family is a heavy factor in her life right now as she does not leave her house so much. They are speaking out about what happened to her at the party and blaming her for happened to her as her father as it was her fault. Willa's father even said "Pastor will set you straight," as Willa was the one out of her mind (185). The reason her parents are blaming her is that, for one, they do not want anyone else to know about what happened and do not know who really did it to Willa. Blaming Willa is their way of not being seen as 'bad parents' from everyone in the community and saving face. Their continuous actions of ostracizing Willa solidifies this idea of blame as they do not accept the fact that she is the victim; as a result causing Willa to be even more isolated than she already is making her more mentally unstable.

Works Cited

Steinke, Rene. Friendswood. New York: Riverhead, 2014. Print.

Reading Log: The Issue of Institutions

Geoffrey Guilcapi
English 1100
11 September 2016
Prof. Young

Reading Log: The Issue of Institutions

1. Lee has been obsessed with finding that Rosemont has toxic chemicals that hurts people living in the area ever since her daughter died. This consumed her life driving everyone away, for the most part, except for a select few people. Lee made it her mission to stop the building of a complex so she has been a thorn in the side of the developers and the EPA for the past several years. Therefore causing City Hall and the EPA to have a negative view towards Lee and her actions. Lee had a better result speaking out the City Hall meetings as they are open for anyone to attend. She has tried contacting the Mayor so then he could help her with some backing at the meetings. The Mayor finally got back to Lee and when he was talking to her “his voice was gentler than usual” as he has pity to Lee as he knows how the fiasco left her (Steinke 70). However he has enough of her snooping around with the land as she is the only one putting up a protest causing him to “slam something in his vicinity” while on the phone with her (Steinke 71). After her persistence to continually find something wrong with the land his tone shifted from gentle to aggravated with his last sentence of their conversation “there’s nothing out there but empty land waiting to be put to good use” (Steinke 71). The Mayor was finally fed up with persistence of Lee that he still has pity on her but is getting more aggravated with her behavior. In the City Hall meeting there were around thirty people that showed up and at the end Lee would talk about her research in Rosemont, but would only end up talking up talking with three people. Lee had gone on about the chemicals in Rosemont for so long that the audience she once had was depleting every meeting. Even at the meeting the mayor, as well as another councilmen, went a little further to solidify this point by standing “up from his seat and stomped the dais” when Lee tried to interject Ms. Dawson assessment of Rosemont (90). It would be safe to say that City Hall’s treatment of Lee is of frustration and aggravation that she is still going on about the effects the chemicals have on people. With the amount of work the EPA has done there is some obvious hostility with Lee when she consistently goes against their results. The EPA has been frequently making tests on the area to make sure it is safe, the majority of the time the results keep coming back clean and safe for human health. There is some obvious deception on their part because of the actual physical evidence toward the contrary, with many people dead or having some health damages. Ms. Dawson has shown the reaction to Lee as the rest of City Hall had in that meeting. When Lee interrupted Dawson’s assessment of Rosemont Dawson “nodded aggressively, her mouth screwed tight” giving the impression that she does not want to be there as she sees Lee a nuisance (89). Dawson even tried to hurry her out of the room by saying “we have our study. I’d be happy to take a look at your results” just to keep her out of the way and put the situation to rest (90). The EPA’s treatment to Lee is generally not benevolent with the fact that she is continually sending them data of what she found on the site and keeps the building from being built. 

The EPA and City Hall have both been fed up with Lee’s rebuttals for building on the Rosemont site. According to the EPA, the test that they did “there’s no real risk to human health” from the chemicals in the containers. (90). Even though Lee found the cancer rate from the residents that lived within two miles and found that it was five times the national average. Therefore creating a connection between the chemicals and dangerous affects to the residents in the area. That is not even all the affects the chemicals had on the residents, with some having hallucinations to organ failure in otherwise healthy humans. The EPA is hiding something from the people because of the massive revenue that the building would bring. Giving fraudulent data is not what an institution like the EPA should be doing, however they are playing at a bigger game that involves much powerful people than Lee causing the data to be shown as positive.

2.The EPA indirectly told Lee that the results that they yielded are up to code and should be taken as they have been continually testing the area with the same result. Results from the EPA showed that “there’s no real risk to human health” time and time again for the past several years; however with Lee’s results showing differently and being the only person who is going up against them, their view of her is not all that pleasant (Steinke 90). Lee was also able to collect data to show the increased risk of cancer if one were to live within a two mile radius causing the reader to come to the conclusion that the real tangible evidence is purposely left out of the results of the EPA. There is no real proof of foul play by the EPA but there is a lot of evidence that seems to favor business rather than human health causing the reader to come to the conclusion that the responsibility to protect of the EPA has not been met.

Works Cited

Steinke, Rene. Friendswood. New York: Riverhead, 2014. Print.

Who should speak?

Geoffrey Guilcapi
English 1100
5 September 2016
Prof. Young

Who Should Speak?

In Friendswood there is problem that affects everyone and everything living in the area because of the toxic chemicals present; so the question comes in, who should speak out? There are multiple ways to get results but each situation has to have its own way. In this situation, the citizens should speak out about the situation as they are the ones directly affected by the toxic chemicals. It is easy to forget about something that you are not directly in contact with everyday making it the citizen’s duty to speak out. However, the citizens are not the only ones that should be responsible with that task. An esteem institution should speak out as well as it is their job to do so and help the environment along with the living organisms that live there. The institution has a wider reach and the resources to get the situation straightened out. Therefore the people speak out on the current situation, but with the help of the institution other similar situations will be prevented and the damage will be avoided. For example, Avery wants to build another complex for people to live in the area of the toxic waste just to a profit. Without anyone speaking out there will be a vicious cycle of the same damaging events.

When it comes to dissenting it is almost always permissible. In smaller arguments dissenting is not a big problem like when everyone’s favorite color is blue but one person’s favorite color is red. In that regard no one is getting hurt and could actually show the differences of another perspective. However when one does not care about what is being disputed and is just dissenting just to dissent then it is wrong because there is no reason behind it- causing it to be pointless to the overall meaning of the discussion. Dissenting should be done to bring a valid point to a discussion or argument, so if that is not being done then dissenting is wrong. When it comes to the bigger problems like fixing the environment or when others are hurt then dissenting is always acceptable. The right action should always be done no matter the amount of people behind the action, even if you are considered a “tree hugger after some glory” (Steinke 47). Not only in the book has toxic chemicals affected people but in real life as well with the people in the West Calumet Housing Complex and other similar events causing people to show that dissenting is not done as frequent as it should be done. When it comes to doing the right thing sometimes that means to stand out against a crowd, however, when it helps others it should be done. In the Brock case, the two graduate students passing by had to interject because it was to help the victim; in this case it was obvious what had to be done but in some cases it is not as clear. Every situation had dire affects on the people it affected making dissenting crucial for the people that it affected and for the people it would effect in future similar situations. 

Friendswood 1-30

Geoffrey Guilcapi
English 1100
5 September 2016
Prof. Young

Friendswood 1-30

In Friendswood, there are multiple main characters that are brought up in the text. The first characters brought up in the story are Lee, Jess, and Jack living together in Rosemont. Even though the story is in third person every event is told in the main character's point of view giving the reader the insight that the character is essential to the plot. Also each main character is given a chapter that describes who they are as a person. In the reading thus far, Jess and Jack did not have a chapter but they were such an influential force in Lee's life that the reader is given the impression that they are. Fourteen years before the story actually takes place Lee, Jess, and Jack are portrayed as a loving caring family. During the flashback, Jack shows a deep concern of Jess as she went to go ride the horse around Banes Field. However Lee is able to "win him over" while she "rubbed her thumb over his calloused palm" as they sat looking at Jess riding over the field (Steineke XIII). With the description of Jack's hand, the reader can infer that his job requires him to do manual labor. This inference is enforced when he "brought home trinkets he thought she'd [Lee] like" (26). 

Within the flashback and in Lee's second chapter there is textual insight of Jess that almost perfectly describes her. Jess is described as having "sweet, curious eyes" which is shown through her eagerness to ride the horse in the beginning of the book and the gentleness she has while riding it (26).  She "even tried to be good" giving the reader the understanding that she has her flaws but is generally a good person (26). However, she got really sick and eventually died from the toxic chemicals in the field she would go to be by herself. 

Although the vocal character varies from chapter to chapter the reader is able to read more about Lee than any other character. Lee's childhood was described to be one that was very gloomy from "her mom's drunken fits" to her "sporadic, shameful poverty" (26). However her personal life turned around with Jack and Jess as well as her living situation. Lee finally had people she could trust and be comfortable living with. She was also involved within the community as she went to her neighbors backyard to socialize after Jess finished riding the horse. Lee had what most people would consider the 'American Dream', although it had not lasted for long. In 2007, Lee was living by herself doing work in Banes Field to show that the field is overrun with toxic chemicals. Her life is very sporadic as some days she does not have enough time to eat on a regular schedule. Lee is consumed by finding the evidence of the chemicals in the field that killed her daughter, which is what most likely what drove Jack away from their marriage as it became too burdensome.

Hal, on the other hand, is confident that his whole life passed him by. To begin, he is a bad realtor, which is shown when he "officially gave up" on a couple he was showing a house too when things were not going his way (12). Hal also "knew if he was to keep making a living at this, then he had to find another strategy," this gives the impression that he is not satisfied with what he is doing and desperately needs a change of pace (13). To make things even worse, "he no longer felt like the son who'd got the blessing and more like the one who's been cast out" (13). Hal just feels like the life he was meant to have is not the one is living so he has a bitter perception towards the world. That belief is enforced with his friend Avery who is doing so much better than he is at the moment. Reflecting on this fact it made his hand "move into a fist" and "the muscles in his legs tighten," while sitting in the restaurant (15). Hal also has a son, Cully, of who he is jealous of since Cully could do things that Hal could never do at his age, thus causing him to live through his son in a way. Although Cully is not a major character yet he could grow into a major character with his relation with Hal and the fact that Willa has a crush on him.

The last major character as of this point is Willa. When Rene Steineke introduced Willa she was having hallucinations about seeing objects or people that were not there. Dani, Willa's good friend, is the only one who she is confident about telling her hallucinations to, even out of her own family and that might be for a reason. Her father and her were really close as they used to go out for runs in the morning. However there turned out to be some tension between them because after his hours changed they did not make any effort to make room for running again. Although they talked about running a marathon together in the future when they were really close. Eventually, he could not look at her in the eyes "as if it somehow embarrassed him" (23). It became more apparent when Willa went down to dinner wearing devil horns and her dad basically got hurt by her wearing them. This could mean that something sinful happened between them and he does not want anyone to know causing him to have such a reaction to her headwear.  

Rosemont, a neighborhood of Friendswood, is described in two times, the past and the present. In the past Rosemont was just the typical suburban neighborhood that anyone would see around the United States with nothing to suspect. Fast forward a decade and it turned into a wasteland. Lee went back to Rosemont and saw the remnants of her neighborhood with everything covered in foliage and a "rusted metal triangle on the ground that claimed NO PARKING BEYOND THIS POINT" (8). Friendswood is not a place that anyone is living in the present time of the book because of the permanent affects of the chemical waste had on the residents.