Best and Worst Quailtes in James

Best Qualities in James:

 

 

 

                      James is a very caring child and adult. He is always looking out for his mother and worrying about her safety as a white lady in a black community. An example of this is on page 36:" I wanted to warn Mommy. Suppose the Black Panther wanted to kill her?" James knows Ruth is different, that she is a target for black people.  He also pretty selfless. Because he's one of the younger kids he gets teased and pushed around a lot by the older ones. I personally would have fought back or told my mom but James just lets them do whatever they want to him because he realizes the feeling of having power makes them feel good. Additionally he agreed to be one of the only blacks in a white school just to please his mom.

James McBride and his mother Ruth

 

 

 

 

Worst Qualities in James:

 

 

 

 

                    While James has a lot of good qualities he also has a few bad ones. James is insecure and follows what his friends do because he wants to fit in. Being black and having a white mom doesn't really help that, so he lets the "popular" people influence what he does. He does drugs because his friends do, "We played Kool and the Gang songs for hours, smoking weed, drinking Old English 800 malt liquor" (pg 138). These actions cause James to lose some of his good qualities like caring for his mom and being really focused on school. It really enhances how messed up his life really was.

Why I chose The Maze Runner

                    I started a new book this week called The Maze Runner by James Dashner and I'm really enjoying it. The book came out as a movie a few weeks ago and everybody was raving about it. The book had caught my eye last year but I just didn't have enough time to read it. Now that I have the time to read it I'm really glad I chose it. My friends who have read the book have told me nothing but wonderful things about the book. I'll admit it's kind of hard to adjust to the different words the boys use, for example on page 3: "You're the klunk, shuck-face."

                   The book is in third person point of view which is unusual for a best selling book. Even though it's not in Thomas' point of view I can still imagine being there in the Glade with him because it only narrates for Thomas and what he's doing. I'll admit at first the book is kind of hard to understand but after a few pages you get used to it. The book is really descriptive but it doesn't just come out and mention stuff. It's Thomas noticing the little things in the Maze, Glade, etc. which I think is a really unique and cool way to describe things.

                   I was also drawn to the mystery within the book. I like how you don't find out how to get out of the Maze until the end. It keeps you on your toes and you have to analyze every detail in order to see if it's foreshadowing or just an extra detail. The book to me resembles a crime scene where you have to examine all the evidence in order to see if there are any clues to help get out of the Maze.