Lit Circle #3

New Critic

Passage (Leahʻs narration):
"YOU CANʻT JUST POINT to the one most terrible thing and wonder why it happened. This has been a whole terrible time, from the beginning of the drought that left so many without food and then the night of the ants, to now, the worst tragedy of all. Each bad thing causes something worse.

Analysis:
I thought this was an important quote to the whole text because Leah describes the cycle of life. She links bad tragedy and terrible thing together. She feels that lots of things relate to one another. She says how there is always a reason for almost everything if you just look hard enough for one. Leah also thinks that a person will go crazy if they think that all bad things happen as a way of punishment for his or her sins. She feels that God has given us a lifetime to punish ourselves and that we do not need to be punished.

Passage (Rachelʻs narration):
"I am surprised she hasnʻt tried to shoot an apple off my head, if we had an apple that is. There is not a speck of food anywhere. The ants ate everything people had stored up, which was not much to begin with because of the drought."

Analysis:
I feel this was an important quote to the text because it shows how when they are in the Congo things are not just given to them; they actually have to save up and conserve many things. Rachel talks about how Leah would shoot an apple off her head if the supplies were there.

Passage (Rachelʻs narration):
"Father went crazy. Weʻd always wondered what would happen if we flat out disobeyed him."

Analysis:
This was another quote said by Rachel. None of the Price girls have never flat out disobeyed their father; they had never seen his reaction or even wondered about what it would be. So when Leah decides to go out into the forest with her bow and arrow their father went after him; as Orleanna, Rachel, Adah, and Ruth May waited at home. Terrified of what he might do they locked their selves in their rooms by moving their beds in front of their doors. I think this was a significant quote to the entire text because if shows how no one ever hand the courage to stand up for something they believe is right, instead of just going with what their father says