Float Away

Author's Note: When looking at the picture that Mrs. Reagles showed us, this is what I came up with. 

When we’re born, we start perfect. We start with no flaws, no mistakes… noting weighing us down. Then we grow a little, and have more experiences. And with more opportunity, comes more failure. Parts of what used to be us, get lost – drift away.

As we continue to get older, we lose more and more of ourselves, our sanity. Soon, more is missing than what’s still here. We’re lost. Our brain and our bodies aren’t connected, we know nothing. We think one thing, do another. Any comfort, reassurance we had, now leaves  -- runs away.

And there comes a day, when we’ve made too many mistakes, when we can’t find ourselves anymore. When all the pieces are spread too far apart, vanished.  All in a moment, everything is gone. Our bodies can’t stay together.  So our bodies get picked up, find their way home – float away. 

In Cass's Shadow

When it comes down to the bottom of every situation, there are two options: let it happen, or don’t. In the book Dreamland Caitlin is in an abusive relationship. Rogerson hits her. If she is late somewhere, he hits her. If she talks to another boy, he hits her. If she does anything that he doesn’t like, he hits her. Why doesn’t Caitlin find the strength to leave him, because he is no good? Why is she staying in this abusive lifestyle, when all she needs to do is leave? Though she could have left, Caitlin stayed because this situation set her apart from her sister, gave her new friendships, and make her feel special, when she was being ignored by the ones she thought were always there. 

Growing up, Caitlin was always compared to her sister. Anything Cass did, Caitlin was expected to do, too. Then Cass ran away from home on Caitlin’s 16^th birthday. There was no one there for Caitlin to be compared to, she could finally be her own person. On page 146, Caitlin says, “All I’d ever wanted to make was my own path, far from Cass’s. And even after what had happened, I wasn’t ready to give that up yet.” Cass would have never dated such a mysterious bad boy. This boy, though he hits her, sets Caitlin apart from Cass, and she likes that.

Caitlin never had many friends. She wasn’t alone in life or anything, but mainly hung around one or two people. However dating Rogerson, Caitlin met someone who would soon be her best friend: Corinna.  Rogerson hung around with Corinna’s boyfriend, and eventually introduced the two girls. She knew that if she had to leave the situation, she would also lose her friend Corinna, and that wasn’t something that Caitlin was willing to do.

When her sister left, Caitlin’s parents interests all focused around finding Cass. Calling Cass. Cass this, Cass that; all Cass. In my opinion, part of Caitlin staying in this relationship was because she wanted a cry for help. I think a small part of her wished that her parents would find out, like they eventually did, so then their attention would be back on her. I think Caitlin was really hurt that even when her sister wasn’t there, that her parents still worried more about Cass more than her. All she wanted was attention that she deserved.

Those two options that you have may seem easy on the outside. Yes or no. Letting things happen, or not letting them happen. However, you have to take the whole situation into account. Yes, if Caitlin left Rogerson she would get out of being hit, but she would also lose her individuality, her best friend, and her parents' attention. Even if she wanted out of the relationship, I don’t think Caitlin would ever have the strength to leave. 

The Fight

There are many different stories of the Revolutionary War.  Many people have written their own version of what happened, with each one having different plots and characters. However, the more you look into it, many stories do in fact have the same general idea. The movie The Patriot  and the book The Fighting Ground are very similar, yet also have their fair share of differences.

Both of the tales told make the authors interpretation of what they think happened in the war come alive. In the book The Fighting Ground, Jonathan would do anything to be able to fight in the war, but being only 13 years old, his parents tell him that it is not safe, and he is not old enough to do so. In the movie The Patriot, Gabriel is completely convinced that he will fight in the war, because his father was a war commander in the past. However, Gabriel’s dreams get crushed when his father tells him that there is no chance that he will fight, because he does not want to loose his son. Both stories have a character who wants to fight, yet is held back by their parents.

Not only do both characters want to fight in the war, both end up going behind their parents back, and sneakily sign up to fight.  Jonathan realizes that if he wants to fight, he will have to run away and sign up for the war himself. Gabriel’s story goes a little differently. He is 17 and can sign up no problem if he wanted to, however he had to make the heartbreaking decision to either follow his heart, or follow his dad. No matter how you look at it, both boys in the end go against their parents’ wishes and decide for themselves that fighting would be the best decision.

After signing up, the only thing left for both boys to do is fight. However, being young can cause problems in war. Inexperienced fighters are more likely to get killed or captured. And for both boys, getting captured was the case. Thinking he was being spied on by the Hessians, Jonathan was taken by the British, and held hostage. Gabriel was captured by the British and being taken with them. Both boys eventually found strength, and got out of this situation, yet the both were captured. The boys both were too young to be in the war, and both of their lives were risked.

I would argue that the book and movie are very similar, or at least these two characters are very similar. Yet, if we look at how the books end, you will see that the boys journeys end differently. Jonathan escapes from the British, and then that’s it. That story is over, however the movie goes on a little more. Gabriel still decides to fight, even after being taken, and in the end Gabriel gets killed. Though both tales seem so similar, they still end differently.

The Revolutionary War was a very hard, yet victorious time for our country. Families went through different troubles and hardships, with no two exactly the same. However I think that The Patriot and The Fighting Ground are two very similar stories that show how families do fight, and kids do rebel against their parents, because if you really want to fight – you will find a way.