COMMENTS: What is the single most intense emotion LEFT in you after reading the initial 3 parts?
Do not comment at how you felt at the time you were reading (too many of you seem hindered by the difficulty of style to the point you cannot even generate a 'reader's response' that goes beyond the prose itself.)
USE A QUOTATION from the book if it helps you clarify your messages to your classmates.
After the reading we have done thus far the most intense emotion I am left with is hope. The "American dream" and religion are powerful tools in engaging society to conform in a certain way. This book is an example of how many immigrants and American citizens alike acted and still continue to act to this day. This “ American dream” and the guidelines of religion bring out hope within the characters in magnificent ways. I do not totally agree with these guidelines but ‘Christ in concrete’ is not my piece of art. I can only interpret it and admire it.
ReplyDeleteBesides a deep awe for the strength and perseverance of Paul, Luigi and Annunziata, the strongest emotion left to me is a sense of being hopelessly inconsequential.
ReplyDeleteThe hill Geremio was climbing was not only for himself. He was as Luigi described, the eight pillars that held up the family. His struggle was to not only earn money but a better quality of life for his family. Geremio's struggle and sacrifice have no resonating rewards after his death. His toil is proven fruitless, falling victim to greater forces of evil. This transference of responsibility I'm certain would have broken Geremio's heart, as it did Annunziata when Paul declared to her that, "[He] would be the Father."
The book's format, pace and content thematically remind me of an inefficient ill-managed machine. America is the product of the machine. Foremen turn the wheels while immigrants throw themselves into the gears at the promise of a better life. The book highlights this question through Geremio, "is it not possible to breathe God's air without fearing dominating with the pall of unemployment?"
I have felt many emotions when reading this book. However, sadness is the most intense emotion I felt. I do praise the strength of these Italian immigrants that are written about in this book, but I cant help but feel sad for them and the life they live. Much like other immigrants, all Geremio knew of life was work, “The language of worn oppression and the despair of realizing that his life had been left on brick piles.” They worked themselves until they couldn’t anymore just to enough money for a loaf of bread. After Geremio's tragic death, little Paul had to become the father figure for his seven other siblings. He is only 12 years old and he is already an adult. My heart broke for him when he walked the streets seeking help and no one would give any to him. He worked until sickness came upon him and he could not take it anymore, “Please, mama, I cannot help it- And when I asked him why they did not help me when they knew we deserved it he said: ‘That’s the way the world is.’- Why is the world that way mama? It is not- it is not- oh mama, I cannot stop crying-“ This family has lived a life of hardships and that is all they knew.
ReplyDeleteThe most intense feeling I have left is anger. I feel this way because the amount of unjust and unkind people surrounding the family is astonishing. Paul so young and innocent takes the responsibility to raise his family in place of his dad. “Mama do not cry-mama, do not cry-I-I- shall be the father—“. He asked and begged with people all around his to please help him and his family and everyone turned their backs on his and his family. When he finally finds work, he gets payed only five dollars for great amounts of hard labor. It angers me that hard work doesn't pay off and poor Paul was worked till he couldn't do it anymore.
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ReplyDeleteThe single most intense emotion I have left is anger. The scene that makes me feel this way is when Paul is begging Mister Rinaldi to give him more than five dollars because his family can't live off that. He is a child that is having to work long hours in dangerous working conditions and they won't give him enough money to survive. Mister Rinaldi says, "I'm sorry, Paulie...That's the way the world is." (page 92). This truly upset me and made me feel so much sympathy for Paul. He was forced to grow up fast and is doing all he could to provide for his family.
ReplyDeleteThere are many emotions running through my head with the initial 3 parts. The two main emotions are probably hope and deep sadness. Hope is one emotion because some of the characters and selfish and do not associate or choose to help others. And sadness because the death of Geremio and just the living environment for the Italian immigrants was terrible.
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ReplyDeleteSimilar to what Gabriella had said I was also angered by the low $5 check from Mister Rinaldi. Definitely was working long hours and expected a load sum of money to help his family. In the end to get the opposite.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest emotion that I have left is fear. Just imagine how sometimes hope can make you submerge yourself in this idea of faith. Nothing is wrong but it could make you do dangerous things in the name of love and family. This is the opposite of religious extremism, the willingness to put yourself in danger for the love of your people and come out being killed, rather than putting yourself in danger and come out killed in the name of hate.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the book, most intense emotion that is left with me is sadness. Paul's story was similar to many other stories we read and watched films on this semester but yet very different. Paul was lead to this life without any guidance. Hope was very important in his life but many events were sad.
ReplyDeleteThe most intense emotion I felt was love. It may have been followed my a bit of anger and heartbreak, but love is the strongest emotion in so many of the characters. It is the driving force behind survival. Love is the reason these men go out into a tough environment and work their tails off for every single penny to bring right back home to their families. Even when they know the conditions are not fair, they keep going. Luigi and Paul are the pillars of love in this story.
ReplyDeleteI felt admiration for Geremio's family; all of them. I feel for Ci Luigi, who attempts to put the pressures of taking care of the family on his back after the initial death of Geremio. He loses his leg in the process, but his heart full of determination was left in tact.
ReplyDeleteI admire Annunziata's faith and firm belief in her religion even after she was left a pregnant widow.
22. - "It will all come out... the Lord will not permit...fathers are needed..."
And finally, Paul, Geremio's oldest son for filling the void and taking on the role as man of the house even though he is not fairly compensated due to his age. With his father brick-laying skills, he also inherited his father's ambition/drive to provide for his loved ones.
The most intense emotion I am left with after reading the initial three parts is a sense of compassion. The life the Italian immigrants of the book were leading is difficult and agonizing and at times, too much to bear. The novel is dense in writing and also dense in emotion, and I feel compassion because I was not aware of how difficult life was for immigrants, and I never read anything that depicted it as well as this novel.
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