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The Stone Angel by Carol O’Connell

nicolemae — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:26:06 +0000

The Stone Angel is the fourth book in Carol O’Connell’s chilling series. Even though all of O’Connell’s books are connected, a reader can effortlessly pick up this book without needing to have read any of the others and can still easily follow along with what is going on throughout the creative and twisted plot of this well written tale. This story begins with a man named Charles Butler who leaves New York with the mission of trying to find his lost friend, Kathleen Mallory, commonly referred to by her surname. He soon discovers that she has been arrested in Louisiana for the murder of Sheriff Jessop, thrown into jail without bail and is being held without much hard evidence at all. Charles does all he can in order to figure out the entire story behind the reason she is in jail, where she has been for the last few years, but most importantly, he tries to figure out how to rescue his best friend of many years.

Once Charles comes to town, he meets a strong willed, elderly woman named Augusta Trebec who teaches him that Mallory’s mother died and unexplainable death over twenty years ago and her daughter has been doing all that she can to try and put all of the pieces of her death together. Augusta then goes on to say that many unexplainable incidents have occurred since Mallory arrived in this small, rural town in Louisiana, including the death of two men, and a small boy being harmfully struck by a piano. With the knowledge of what has been going on since Charles had last seen Mallory, his motivation and search for her grows even stronger than ever before.

He comes in contact with many people who help him along the way including Lilth Beaudare, a young black cop who saves not only Charles life, but Mallory’s also, and Henry Roth, a mute sculptor who made statues including those that resembled both Mallory and her mother. They not only help Charles on his difficult journey for his friend, but they also create many obstacles that are hard for him to overcome. Along the way, Charles realizes that a man named Ricker has also followed Mallory from New York with the same goal as Charles, an objective of trying to help Mallory out of this sticky situation that she has falsely been accused for. They work together against the clock to try and help their good friend Mallory overcome the clutches of the Louisiana justice system.

This story has many surprising twists throughout the plot line and without a doubt has you sitting on the edge of your chair throughout the entire story and you can’t help but become engulfed with the imagination and creativity O’Connell has to offer. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to expect the unexpected while reading. O’Connell has a rare, special talent for writing that everyone should have the privilege to enjoy and it is wonderfully portrayed in the well written story, The Stone Angel.

A Raisin in the Sun: 10

nicolemae — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:41:02 +0000

I think it was very symbolic when Mama took her plant out last out of her apartment. Throughout the story, Mama has taken care of her plant, in hope of owning a house and planting that plant in a bigger garden. All of the care that she put into her plant shows how much love, patience and dedication she had to fulfilling that dream. Mama wakes up early to tend to her plant and doing whatever it needs. This includes changing the soil, watering it or just showing it love and affection. Once Mama moved the plant to her new house, it doesn’t represent a dream that she hopes to one day fulfill, but it now represents what a lot of hard work and dedication can do. Mama’s plant was a excellent symbol throughout this book.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this book and I think that it had a lot of real life situations in it. It drew me in throughout the book and it had many cliff hangers that I couldn’t help but to continue reading to find out. A Raisin in the Sun was a very good book that I would recommend to anyone who wants a good book to read.

A Raisin in the Sun: 9

nicolemae — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:33:31 +0000

I think this was a very good ending to this book. Even though everyone’s decisions were always changing, in the end I think it turned out the way it should be. It did catch me off guard when Asagai asked Beneatha to come to Africa with him. Even though the novel ended with the question unanswered, I think Beneatha will choose to go. This is because she was already unsure about becoming a doctor and even though Asagai said he wanted a simple woman, I think Beneatha still really wants to be with him. It also surprised me when Mama said they weren’t moving anymore. After everything that she went through to move into this new house, I was shocked to hear she was giving up so easily.

When Walter was told to talk to Mr. Lindner and sign the papers to give their house up, I was again expecting it to be quiet and have Walter just give up, but I was wrong. Walter stood his ground and proudly said that the Younger family shouldn’t be forced out of their home and they are proud and hardworking. After he says this and Mr. Lindner leaves, it is obvious that Walter has grown since the beginning of the book. He has gained more confidence and has grown overall as a person. One of my favorite quotes of this entire novel is when Mama leaves the house and says “[W]e have decided to move into our house….We don’t want to make no trouble for nobody or fight no causes, and we will try to be good neighbors.” This was a good way to end the novel and I believe it is a very powerful quote.

A Raisin in the Sun: 8

nicolemae — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:14:36 +0000

Now a week later, it is moving day for the Younger family. As Ruth said, the attitude of everyone in the apartment has changed drastically. Ruth and Walter have been going on dates and holding hands instead of always yelling at each other and Beneatha is always happy and dancing around in the living room. Then unexpectedly, Lindner came to their door and begged the family not to move. He said that if they didn’t move, he would double what they paid for the house. Shocked, the family turned down his offer and asked him to leave. I think this could be foreshadowing hinting to the Younger family that something bad is going to occur. Earlier on in the novel, the neighbor came to their house and told them a story of a black family that had their house bombed in a white neighborhood. With two people now warning the Younger family about moving to this new neighborhood, I think it would be a bad decision to move because I feel something bad will happen.

Also, discovering that Willy took not only the $3,500 Walter was supposed to put in but also the $3,000 he wasn’t supposed to deposit really caught me off guard. I thought things were really changing for the Younger family and this was a twist I wasn’t expecting. I believe there will be a real mood change within the family in the last act of this novel.

A Raisin in the Sun: 7

nicolemae — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:42:04 +0000

Unexpectedly, Walter’s boss calls Ruth and says he hasn’t been to work in three days. Walter’s only excuse is that “he has been wandering all day and drinking all night.” When he says that he feels his job is nothing more than a slave’s job, Mama starts to feel guilty again. She gives $3,500 of her $6,500 pay check to Walter and tells him to use it for what he wants. Obviously Walter wants to use this money to start his liquor venture that he has wanted for awhile now. Mama believes that with this money he will feel he can provide for Travis and Ruth and will begin to feel like the “head of the family.” Walter immediately begins to talk to Travis and he says “[Y]our daddy’s gonna make a…business transaction that’s going to change our lives….You just name it, son…and I hand you the world!” This is an important quote and it shows Walter’s newly restored confidence he has due to the money Mama gave him. He feels he can provide more for his family and become the man his family needs him to be but overall it is yet another dream that he hopes doesn’t become unfulfilled like all the rest.

A Raisin in the Sun: 6

nicolemae — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:34:35 +0000

A couple of weeks later, the Younger’s family becomes closer to moving out of their apartment. In the beginning of this scene, Beneatha comes home with George and when he says he wants to marry a “nice…simple…sophisticated girl,” Beneatha kicks him out of the house. She also kicked him out because they had such a different view in education. While Beneatha valued education and becoming something in life, George just wanted to get a “good job.” Not knowing what truly happened, Mama supports Beneatha in her choice of getting rid of George.

Also, the neighbor Mrs. Johnson stops by for a visit in the middle of this scene. Her purpose for stopping by was to tell the Younger family that a black family got their house bombed and they were the only black family in a white neighborhood, similarly to the situation the Younger family will be in soon. Although her intentions were good and Mrs. Johnson was just warning the Younger family and hoping they will be safe and that no harm will come to them, that is not how they saw it. Once Mrs. Johnson said that they were going to be a “proud-acting bunch of colored folks,” the Younger family became angry. Mama calls her a “fool” and kicks her out of the house in a similar way Beneatha kicked George out of the house. This may be foreshadowing for later on in the novel. By Mrs. Johnson telling the Younger family about a black family that had their house bombed, may be hinting that that exact incident will happen to the Younger family or something equally as bad will occur. I hope nothing bad happens to the Younger family, but I have a strong feeling something will.

A Raisin in the Sun: 5

nicolemae — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:50:49 +0000

Also occurring in the same act, Mama announces that she made a down payment a house. The first to be excited about this news was Ruth. Even though this would be a very good thing for the Younger family, many don’t want to experience change and they thought there were better ways to spend the paycheck. The one that was most upset about Mama’s use of money was Walter. He made it clear that he wanted to spend the money towards the opening of a liquor venture. Walter made it obvious to Mama that he was upset with the down payment on the house and he intentionally put Mama on a guilt trip because of it. After he stormed away, Mama did begin to feel poorly about making the down payment on the house which she shouldn’t have. Buying a house would be a smart move for the Younger family and unlike everyone else in the family, Mama isn’t selfish, but she makes her decisions for the well being of the family. Everyone may not realize it yet, but the decisions that Mama makes are only to help the family in the long run, not to hurt them. The catch to this plan that Ruth didn’t like was that the house was going to be in a white neighborhood. In Mama’s defense, she said that there were no other houses available, but Ruth was still worried. This shows the tension that was in the Northern states during this time between whites and blacks because they feel they are not equal. Fortunately, she soon got past that and was once again excited to be soon living in a house instead of the small apartment they currently live in. It is obvious that with buying the house, Mama thinks the only way to make the Younger family happy is for them to have their own house and their own property.

A Raisin in the Sun: 4

nicolemae — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:41:55 +0000

In the next act, a lot of things have occurred. Beneatha begins the chapter by doing a tribal dance in their living room in the Nigerian clothes that Asagai brought her earlier that day. Ruth begins to watch her and question what she is really doing. Not long after, Walter comes home drunk and also begins to dance with Beneatha. Ruth begins to get worried but still continues to watch the two dance. Then once George comes to pick up Beneatha, she takes off her Nigerian clothes and the family sees that Beneatha cut off all of her hair. They are very disappointed in her and extremely shocked that she would do such a thing. Drunk, Walter begins to talk to George about his business plans for the liquor store. When George says he is not interested, Walter’s first thing to do is insult his white shoes. This shows that Walter is a self centered person and the only thing he truly cares about is having his liquor store opened and have that business take off. Ruth then tries to make up for Walter’s wrong choice of words towards George and begins apologizing. During this conversation, Ruth and Walter have strong choices of words and it shows that there isn’t much love left in their relationship anymore. They continue to fight and put all of their concerns before anyone else’s and even before their own marriage. It appears that an abortion is the right thing for Ruth to do because I feel that if she had this child, it would grow up in a household that couldn’t fully care for it and a family that would attempt to love him, but never fully succeed in it.

A Raisin in the Sun: 3

nicolemae — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:25:15 +0000

In Act 1 scene ii, Beneatha begins the scene with spraying for bugs in the apartment. I feel that this shows that she is ashamed of the appearance of her apartment. So while the other family is making due with what they have, I feel Beneatha is just trying to get by. Also, after Joseph Asagai calls and Beneatha invites them to her dirty apartment, she begins to become worried that Mama won’t understand the African American culture. Mama has strong feelings about African American’s while Beneatha has different views by saying they are necessary and they need political and civil salvation. After Asagai brings Beneatha gifts, they begin talking about their cultures and other topics. During this conversation it becomes obvious that Beneatha is trying to find her true identity. Asagai also tells her that he has feelings for her. Immediately, Beneatha turns him down saying that she doesn’t want a “storybook love.” Even after hearing this, when Asagai leaves the apartment he calls Beneatha “Alaiyo,” which means “One for Whom Bread—Food—Is Not Enough.” Mama and Beneatha are impressed.

Ruth on the other hand, faces unexpected news- she is pregnant. Worried for how she is going to care for her baby, she talks to Mama, seeking advice. They talk about abortion but Ruth doesn’t feel she could do that to Walter. Once Walter arrives home, all he wants to discuss are his liquor store plans. Ruth tries to tell him that she is pregnant but Walter doesn’t want to listen to her and he continues to rant and rave about his ideas for the liquor store. Frustrated, Ruth goes to another room and leaves Walter and Mama alone. That is when Mama finally had a chance to tell Walter that Ruth was pregnant and soon after that Ruth comes out and says she already made the down payment on having an abortion. This will also take a good amount of money out of Mama’s paycheck that no one was planning on spending. I believe that with the new relationship with Asagai and with Ruth planning on having an abortion, along with all the other issues in the house, will cause chaos throughout the apartment.

A Raisin in the Sun: 2

nicolemae — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:49:28 +0000

Although the Younger family’s living conditions are very poor, it is very apparent they try their best to make due with what they have. Travis, Walter and Ruth’s son, sleeps in the living room because he doesn’t have a room of his own. Even though there are many people living in this small apartment, Travis can’t go to bed unless “all [the] eating, entertaining, and other amenities of family life have been completed of an evening.” I feel that this shows that Travis takes pride in his family and is willing to do whatever he can to help the family so they can excel with what they have. Even though the Younger family lives in such a hard environment, they still remain positive and they seem to be proud with what they do have. The family appears to be remaining close and standing firmly together until Mama’s check arrives. When this check comes in, everyone views it differently. Walter wants to use Mama’s check to invest into a liquor store and he is also irritated that Beneatha’s tuition for studying medicine is cutting into Mama’s paycheck. Walter wants to make a lot of money as fast as he can using her pay check, while Beneatha wants to finish school in the medicine field. Then Ruth believes that a large portion of her check should be given to Walter and Travis so they can move out of the small apartment and be able to buy a place of their own. The only one who seems to understand whose check it is, is Travis. He is excited when her paycheck comes in because he feels they are no longer poor. Even though this isn’t true, hopefully the family will come to learn that it is not their paycheck to spend, but it is Mama’s. Even though having Mama’s paychecks come in is a necessity and a positive thing for the Younger family, I feel that it may cause tension and uproar later on in the novel.