THE FOLLOWING ARE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR ANIMAL DREAMS. FROM YOUR READINGS SO FAR, POST AN ANSWER TO ONE OF THE QUESTIONS USING TEXT REFERENCE (MLA style for quotes--use page number):
1. Why are Hallie and Codi different? What happened that caused them to take such different life paths? How and why does Codi change? Why does she become more engaged with the world?
2. One theme of the novel is the relationship between humans and the natural world. What does the novel have to say about the difference between Native American and Anglo American culture in relation to nature? How do creation stories, such as the Pueblo creation legend and the Garden of Eden story, continue to influence culture and behavior?
3. How do you feel about Doc Homer? What kind of parent was he, and why? In what ways did his strange point of view serve as a vehicle for the novel's themes of memory, amnesia, and identity?
FINISH ANIMAL DREAMS FOR MONDAY!!!!
Continue working on visual poetry project and Kim Addonizio handout poem during class.
THANK YOU FOR POSTING COMMENTS for class participation grades. We'll do much more of this during this marking period.
3. Personally, I am sympathetic toward Doc Homer. It is apparent throughout the novel that his only goal is to be the best father he possibly can be, but with his mental condition, he finds it difficult. In addition, he is a man raising two daughters, a significantly challenging task for any widower.
ReplyDeleteHe tries to protect his daughters to the best of his ability. He forces Codi and Hallie to wear orthopedic shoes all throughout high school, which negatively affected their social status. Also, Doc Homer was aware of Codi's pregnancy and also the fact that she lost the baby. However, he feels it is best if he does not tell her that he knows. When he follows Codi down to the riverbed, it says, "He sees how deeply it would hurt her if she understood what he knows: that his observations have stolen the secrets she chose not to tell." (141)
Even now, with both his daughters grown and self-sufficient, he still believes that they are young girls. When Codi comes to visit him when she returns to Grace, she appears at his door and he doesn't recognize her at first, because she is not the young girl who he knows as his daughter. "He has to look at her for a long time before he trusts himself to speak. Who is this girl? His daughter Codi, but which Codi? He thinks." (169) As Codi goes to leave after this visit, she pauses in the doorway for a moment. At this time, Doc Homer still has a hard time seeing her as present-day Codi. "She must be fourteen. In a year, she will be sullen and furtively pregnant. Or has that passed too?" (170)
Doc Homer's point of view allows the reader to have a deeper understanding of the kind of childhood Hallie and Codi had and explains their personalities as adults. Also, it illustrates to the reader how severe Doc Homer's mental condition truly is.
Barbara Kingsolver creates a very unique and interesting character in Doc Homer. It is clear that he only wanted to do what was best for his daughters when they were younger. However, now that they are older and he is more fragile, he has trouble accepting the fact that they no longer need him and that they are now independent adults. Kingsolver evokes sympathy for Doc Homer because he tries to be a good father, he just doesn't know how.
Hallie and Codi are different in that Hallie is more of a go-getter and Codi is trying to live up to what she believes she is capable of, which she also believes is much less than what Hallie is capable of. Because of Hallie’s new life in Nicaragua, Codi feels lost without her younger sister, but at the same time respects that her sister is devoting her life to doing good in a place where there is great conflict. Codi also feels somewhat incompetent to her sister because she ended up back in Grace, where she had sworn she would never return. In one critical moment of the novel, after Codi compares Hallie’s efforts in Nicaragua to being Godly, which Hallie is annoyed and offended by: “I am like God, Codi? Like GOD? Give me a break.” (Page 224)
ReplyDeleteHallie reprimands her sister for focusing on what Hallie does instead of what Codi herself can do. Code’s miscarriage is probably the largest defining characteristic of why she ended up the way she did. She was insecure and traumatized by the experience of not only be a pregnant teen, but then losing the baby. Codi begins to change by being not only back in her hometown, working at her high school, but being back together with Loyd, the boy who fathered her child. Through the Native American mythology that Loyd shared with Codi along with finding her niche again in Grace, Codi was becoming more and more aware of her surrounding world. Although her efforts are not as large-scale as Hallie’s, Codi is still finding fault in the world while wanting to help it, like when her biology students found the acid in the river water. Also, through Hallie berating her, Codi realizes that she had “spent a long time circling above the clouds, looking for life, while Hallie was living it.” (Page 225)
I really feel like Doc Homer is trying to be the best father he can possibly be even though he may not know the best ways and may not be able to successfully portray his love to his two daughters.Doc Homer really tries to protect his daughters and keep them away from things that may hurt them. He often does things they don't like like making them wear the orthopedic shoes that they hate because they are the only ones they know that wear them. But he is only looking out for their health and you can tell he really is a good father.
ReplyDeleteFrom his point of view it is easily seen how he is quickly fading into this disease and still how much his love for Hallie and Cody persists even through his struggles.
He tries to protect Codi's feelings when he finds out that she was pregnant and had lost the baby by not informing her of his knowledge. "He sees how deeply it would hurt her if she understood what he knows: that his observations have stolen the secrets she chose not to tell." (141) He wants Codi to be happy so he sacrifices his knowledge for her happiness.
He is just a father trying to do his best and that shows what a great character he is.
I personally feel that I can be sympathetic to Doc Homer. He was by no means a great father, he did plenty of things that scarred his children. But, like any parent, he was also doing his best. There is no rule book or class you can take on parenthood. You simply have to sprt of stumble through it, trying to do the right things. Doc Homer might have stumbled a litle more than other parents. But he also had to contend with being a single parent, and being a man raising two daughters. He ulitmately did the best that he could. Certainly Codi and Hallie might have felt differently. Codi definitely harbored some ill feelings against him. I think he was just trying to protect them, and that sort of back fired, because Codi had no one to turn to when she became pregnant and eventually had a miscarriage. It shows his love, but also his shortcomings as a father when he gives her medicine. He can't tell her that he knows, but he can help her in the only way he knows.
ReplyDeleteDoc Homer's strange point of view sort of ties him to Codi in that she also has amnesia about her early childhood. They are both trying to remain lucid together in a way. Doc Homer is still trying to protect Codi, even when she is a grown woman. He tried to protect her from the truth of her past. That's why I think that, while Doc Homer might not have been the best father in the world, he tried his best, which is all we can ask of anyone.
Doc Homer seems to be a very typical father. He wants his children to follow his rules, even if they're stupid. He doesnt want his children to make any bad decisions and so he makes procautionary boundaries for them. This happens all the time in real life. Parents feel the need to protect their children from harm. They dont want their children to make the mistakes that they did. They want to be better parents than their parents were in some cases. Seeing how Doc Homer suffers from alzheimer's, he really contributes to the themes in the book. His memory loss makes him an interesting character when you think about identity. Sometimes, Doc Homer doesnt ever recognize people hes known for years. One scene, he couldnt distinguish between older Codi and little Codi. Nuff said...
ReplyDeleteHaille and Codi are different, because of different life experiences. When Codi lost her baby, her whole outlook on life has changed, she even blocked out most of her childhood before then. Hallie didn't really experience anything like that.
ReplyDeleteNative Americans value nature more than Anglo, they try to live with nature contrary to trying to control and harvest nature.
Doc Homer was a very caring parent, his methods of showing it were alittle unorthodox sometimes, but he undoubtedly cared. He was a single father trying his best to raise two daughters and he did what he thought was best. As his mind faded, he began to have flashbacks of when Codi and Hallie were younger.
Part I
ReplyDeleteThroughout the novel it is clear that Codi is in search of her true identity. She is constantly comparing herself to her sister Hallie and wishing to be like her. She finds out that being herself is more important than trying to be like her sister because everyone has there own unique flaws and should not be ashamed of them.
Doc Homero loves his daughters dearly. He does everything he can to try to protect them and keep them safe. He makes his daughters do things they really do not want to because he doesn’t want them getting hurt. His immense love for them shows throughout the book even as he is overwhelmed by sickness and disease.
Hallie has strong commitment throughout Animal Dreams. Her work overseas is a big commitment for her but even she fails at things. This Codi doesn’t much understand, at one point in the novel she compares Hallie to a God which angers Hallie very much because she knows that she has made mistakes and failed at things just as Codi has but she continues to try as hard as she can to make life good for others.
Part II
ReplyDeleteIn the novel Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver one of the main characters Loyd says that, “If you want sweet dreams, you’ve got to live a sweet life.” This quote is central to the theme of Animal Dreams.The relationship between Hallie and Codi is a clear example of this quote. Together they show that to have sweet dreams you must live a sweet life.
Throughout the novel Codi is constantly comparing her self to Hallie. She wants so much to be like her but she doesn’t realize her own potential because she is so absorbed in the idea of being like Hallie. When Codi was younger she had a miscarriage, which is probably why she feels the way she does. Codi even goes so far as comparing her sister to God, which angers Hallie immensely. “I am like God, Codi? Like GOD? Give me a break.” (224) Hallie scolds her sister for thinking this and explains to Codi how much potential she has.
When Codi moves back to her hometown and gets back together with Loyd, the father of the child she lost, she begins to change and feel better about herself. She starts working at her high school teaching Biology. Loyd explains to her a Native American Myth that makes Codi really see what’s going on around her and realizing that she does hold potential. When her students find acid in the river she starts feeling less incompetent to her sister. When her biology students find acid in the river water Codi realizes that Codi realizes that she had “spent a long time circling above the clouds, looking for life, while Hallie was living it.” (225)
In the end Codi begins to come to terms with who she is and really finds her true identity. Though she knows she may never do things like Hallie’s work in Nicaragua she knows that she truly has potential and a meaning for life in the world. She finds out that “If you want sweet dreams, you’ve got to live a sweet life.” If Codi continued to live the way she was she would not have sweet dreams.
Doc Homero is trying to be the best father he can. It is hard for him to father two girls on his own. He doesn't know how to treat them or what is best for them. He knows about Codi's baby but doesn't know whether or not he should tell her about it. It is especially hard for him being a victim of Alzheimers because he has an additional disability which makes it even harder for him to know how to treat his daughters. He cooks himself dinner for himself every night and can see that Codi is uncomfortable when she comes to visit but they still see each other sometimes. Doc Homero doesn't know how to deal with raising two girls on his own at the same time as dealing with his own medical issues. He does his best to do right by them, thinking that it is for their own good that they wear orthopedic shoes, for example. Even though some of his decisions aren't what Codi and Hallie might have hoped for, he is still trying to do what he can for them. Doc Homero's actions of doing the best he can serves as a theme for the novel. All of the characters are in situations where they have to do the best they can no matter what and not let anything set them back or stand in their way.
ReplyDelete1) Compared to Codi, Hallie is more outgoing which is shown through her departure to Nicaragua. Codi is more based on dreams and doing what she wants to do. However, when Codi’s dreams fall apart and she cannot find a successful life outside of Grace, she has to return to her hometown in order to take care of her father. Because of the fact that Codi’s younger sister has actually accomplished something noteworthy within her lifetime, Codi is somewhat upset and disbanded from her younger sibling. Nevertheless, Hallie and Codi are different because in their lives they both have experienced totally different things. Human beings are defined by the things that happen to them within their lifetimes. When Codi was fifteen years old she had a miscarriage which more than shaped her perception of reality. This critical point in Codi’s life is probably what really separated the two sisters. However, Hallie started out with a loss. Although she might have not necessarily realized this at first, the death of her mother, resulting in the single parentage provided by her father, shaped not only Hallie but also Codi. Hallie might have even taken on some sort of guilt in her mother’s death as Codi may have with the death of her child. Essentially it is the loss of a family member that kind of pushes both girls onto different path ways. Early on in the book when Codi states that she is “the sister who didn’t go to war…(and) can only tell (her) story,” (7) the distance between the two sisters is really painted for the reader. Farther into the book where Doc Homer mistakes one of his daughters for the other is a point where the fact that when people look at sisters they obviously think that they are the same person, although Doc Homer’s very legitimate excuse is Alzheimer’s disease.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm sure Doc Homer is doing his best to be a parent, his character leaves me cold. I find it difficult to sympathize with him because he simply doesn't seem to be trying to connect with his daughters. He does not see things as they are--his hobby of turning photographs into other pictures illustrates this perfectly. He cannot see that they are growing and changing, and that someday he won't be able to control them. He sets boundaries as any parent would, but he is much too focused on trying to perfect his daughters so that they reflect well upon him, thus changing the image that his Nolina heritage has given him. He has an air of superiority that is, quite frankly, irritating. I hesitate to place him neatly within the cliche of the single-father-doing-the-best-he-can because he is so distanced from his daughters, and from other citizens of Grace on an emotional level. He lied to Hallie and Codi about their heritage, and partly because of that, Codi never felt as if she belonged anywhere. Doc Homer's character is, all in all, very complex, and the fact that he has Alzheimer's makes him more so. But even Alzheimer's cannot change his basic human nature.
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