tisdag 3 november 2009

Week 46

Your reading assignment for this week was to read pages 59-164. Choose 3 quotations that made an impression on you. It could be something funny, gross, strange or elegant etc. Explain thoroughly why you have chosen these quotes (don't forget page numbers) and what is happening in the selected text extracts.

A quotation is a sentence or many phrases from a book which you repeat in a speech or piece of writing because it is interesting.

Example: "We had been skiving the afternoon lessons at school and I had seen a CD that I wanted"(p. 59)

This quotation shows that...
I have chosen this quotation because...

11 kommentarer:

  1. "..How can anyone keep you there against your will?", quote from page 111 row 29.
    This quotation really made me stop reading. From what I've learned throughout the book so far, his family was capable of anything. And I still have this feeling that they could, without any major problem, keep him in India no matter what his will was. I'm really surprised he didn't see it through and realised that what she said was totally wrong.

    "Trying to lose our honour all by yourselves, innit. Mines and daddy-ji's. Well, you done it now. Hope you're proud at yourself." Quote from page 104, row 23.
    This proves the fact that his family is very different compared to other families. They don't really care about Manjit and how he feels, they only care about the family honour and pride. The question is where their pride was when they let someone else decide their life. In my opinion, they lost their pride far back.

    Quote from page 77
    ".. I was scared that if I did say no, my dad would kill me and my mum would kill herself.."
    I chose this quotation because it really struck me like a fist to the stomach. This is some really hard pressure for a kid off his age. Or well, for anyone to be quite honest. I couldn't imagine the horror he is going through. Every day must be tremendously painful.

    SvaraRadera
  2. "After a while I began to feel ashamed of myself. My family had all been killed and I was daydreaming about how that would lead to the freedom that I always wanted." (p. 70)

    This is where Manny is called to see Mr. Sandhu, the head of year 10. (Of course Manny's parents weren't dead, he was called there for Mr. Sandhu to figure out why Manny didn't pay attention to school.) Manny's been skiving and all because of all the drama his parents put him trough, and I probably would have done the same thing. To be doomed to live a life you don't want, I wouldn't stand it.

    "That is not why your mother and me brought you on to this earth. To ruin out name and rubbish our izzat." (p. 69)

    Manny's dad is giving him a hard time for not wanting all that arranged marriage stuff. I think his parents are acting the wrong way. It's all about choosing your own way of life. If they'd let him do that he might of been a good Punjabi and married some Asian girl.

    "He began to make me feel that it would be down to me to decide, and to tell you the truth, that felt good." (p. 110)

    This is where Manny's parents make him go to india, by emotional extortion and stuff like that. And that's just sick, they fool him into thinking it's his choice, when just some months earlier his mother threatened to kill herself for him not being a good Punjabi. All out wrong.

    SvaraRadera
  3. Den här kommentaren har tagits bort av skribenten.

    SvaraRadera
  4. I have told her father that you will marry her after next summer, when you are both seventeen… Once you are married she will have the right to stay in this country and I will have my final daughter-in-law. (66)

    What is happening in those pages where I found the quotation is that Mannys father is talking to him about marriage. He is telling him that when he is seventeen he is going to marry a girl that he doesn’t even know, so that she will have the right to stay in England. His father is talking calmly exactly like he did when he told Mannys brothers that they were going to marry. When Manny hears from his father he turns into ice. All he wanna do is to scream to, and hit his father for deciding Mannys life. He really doesn’t want to marry and now that he has Lisa it will be even harder.

    I chose this quotation cause I think that it very good expresses the hard part in Mannys life. It also describes very clearly what the problem in the rest of the book will be all about. And I also think that it says a lot about the Punjabi religion, about arranged marriage and the quotation also tells me about that Mannys father gives his child away to keep the family’s honour, by helping his friend’s daughter to stay in England.

    But if you end up having an arranged marriage, provided we’re still together at that point, are you going to just cast me aside?(78)

    At this point in the book Manny tells Lisa about what his parents are going to do if Manny refuse to marry. He tries to tell her about how big deal the whole thing about arranged marriages really are, but Lisa just thinks that Manny can say no, and then it all will be over. But that’s not the deal and it’s about the honour to, and it’s about Mannys mum crying all the time, and it’s about disappointment.

    I chose this quotation because it describes how hard Mannys life are at this point. He really has a hard decision to make and what ever he chooses he is going to disappoint someone. He know what he wants but it not easy and now Lisa has started to hesitate in what Manny is going to do and how their relationship is going to end. I thought the quotation was very exciting and it made me wanna read more.

    That agent, Manjit, the one that has our tickets and passports. He had a problem at his office and they have been stolen…(150)

    After Mannys parents took him to India it’s now time to finally go home. After not seeing Lisa or Ady for so long he doesn’t even know what relationship they have anymore. Everything has been so complicated and Manny really wants to just come home. But then the unbelievable thing happens. The tickets back home had been stolen so Manny is stuck in India.

    This quotation made me so angry but still I wanted to see what was going to happen next. It´s an exciting book. It´s probably some plan for making Mannys life even harder.

    SvaraRadera
  5. Teacher's comment:

    Thank you Sandra, Patrik and Timmy for your insights. Your quotations and your comments around them show that you are now very involved in the plot of the novel and you are realising how troublesome Manny's situation/life is. How will Manny be able to cope with all this, is there a way around an arranged marriage? What about Lisa and her situation, is their love hopeless?

    Keep up the good work!

    SvaraRadera
  6. I've chosen the quotations because they made me quite mad when I read them. ^__^

    "Almost right on cue, my mum started crying and calling out to God." (p. 68)

    Manny's being emotionally blackmailed by his parents, trying to get him to agree to the marriage.

    I honestly laughed when I read this. His mother is SO being a baby, it's rather pathetic really. And why in the world would you do that to your own child? It's torture.. beating the kid would probably be kinder. -__-''

    "My mum and dad left for Jullundur the next morning with Uncle Piara. Harry and his wife followed suit in the late afternoon sunshine." (p. 156)

    Manny's parents are going to try and fix the deal with the stolen passports. Harry and his wife are going to go visit her parents.

    Hmm.. Everyone in your family have left, why aren't you getting a bit worried?

    "My old man, my mum, Harry, Baljit, they had all tricked me. Mad eme think they had gone to Delhi or to visit relatives in another town. The truth was that they had gone back to England and left me in India." (p. 165)

    Manny, Uncle Gurvinder and Inderjit have just come back from their trip to Anandpur and Manny has found out that his family have left him in India.. indefinitely?


    Sorry about me posting this so late after the deadline. I havn't had the time to hang out by the computer these last few days.

    SvaraRadera
  7. page 62 "I´m only fifteen and I´m note getting married at sevnteen! I´m not! It´s too young and I wont do it. The old man can kill me if he wants- I won´t do it!"
    when i read that I started to think how serious it was. I feelt sorry for him. He didn´t want it but he was forced to it. He know that he was going to do something about it, but not knowing what or how.

    Page 75 " And the craziest thing is that he´s married to a white woman."
    I started to laugh when I read it. It couldn´t be true, because the teacher was also from India. It couldn´t be true...But it was, so that made me say to my self, if you want something, then fight for it and make it happend! I think the teacher fighted to his freedom and to got married to the white wome and if Manny wanted to have the freedom then he should fight for it too.

    Page 93 "Ady as a father was like the biggest joke that he could ever play"
    And it´s true, it was a bit o a joke, because Ady was like a gangster. He did all that crap and now he´s going to be a man, a father to a boy! But it´s good change for him, that could be a lession for him, to became a man and take responsibility.

    SvaraRadera
  8. `IM ONLY FIFTEEN ANA IM NOT GETTING MARRIED AT SEVENTEEN! IM NOT! ITS TOO YOUNG AND I WONT DO IT.
    THE OLD MAN CAN KILL ME IF HE WANTS- I WONT DO IT.´
    Page 62
    I like the section he explains his views. He dosent give up aboute it.

    `Oh come along, MAnjit, you do not need to play ingorant with me. We both know that you are an intellient young man. Surley yoy can stretch your vocabulary to more than "dunno". Hmm?´
    Page 71
    That was funny beacuse Manny STILL donsent like teh name Manjit. Sandhu dosent understand that.

    `So what are you going to do? Say yes to keep them happy? What aboute what YOU want?`
    Page 77
    I feel so Bad for Manny. He is not ok beacuse he do not want to disappoint his parents. He thinks not of himself at that moment. In this situation, he must be selfish.

    SvaraRadera
  9. 1, Im glad my parents aren't like that.
    She looked at me with her bright green eyes and then looked away in embarrassment.
    page 76

    I liked that quotation because it was kind of romantic.

    2, Think about it Manny.
    You're gonna be sexteen this weekend, yeah?
    And you wanna show them that you aint no kid.
    page 82.

    It's true because he is old enough to make his own choices.

    3, Hey, Manjit your becoming a real man at least. A real Punjabi.
    page 88

    Manny doesn't want to be a Punjabi.
    Because he feel's ashamed about it.

    SvaraRadera
  10. First I have chosen a quote that really made me think about how difficult his life was and that his family could do anything to Manny and they didn’t even ask him about what he wanted, they just did what they thought was “best” for the family…."..How can anyone keep you there against your will?", quote from page 111 row 29.

    The second quote is when Manny's father is yelling at him just because he is not into all that arranged marriage things and because he don’t like the idea of getting married to a girl he don’t know. They have to let him make his own choices. "That is not why your mother and me brought you on to this earth. To ruin out name and rubbish our izzat." (p. 69)

    And the third quote i thought was interesting was when Manny's father is telling him about the “great” plan he has for Manny. He is using Manny just so that this girl can stay in England and it is not right. He should be allowed to marry the girl he wants to marry, not a stranger just so that she can stay in the country. And by the way he is way too young to get married……… I have told her father that you will marry her after next summer, when you are both seventeen… Once you are married she will have the right to stay in this country and I will have my final daughter-in-law. (66)

    SvaraRadera
  11. "I do not want to be like the other men that they laugh at in the gurudwara: the ones whose sons and daughters have run away and become druggies and prostitute, or married unsuitable people." Page 67

    This really shows that his father doesen't care what Manny wants at all, he only cares of not being embarrassed. He doesn't really keep what he thinks as a secret to Manny, he tells him exactly how it is and expect Manny to just deal with it.
    And that would piss me of.



    "That was it. The killer line. The punch. Harry shot out of his seat and grabbed me around the neck" Page 88

    I don't like Harry at all! He's really stupid and I'm getting mad of every word he says. When this fight at the pub began I really felt "come on, beat the crap out of him" and Manny said some stupid things to him that Harry deserved, that made me feel good!


    "Jas had been part of the family for so long and I really didn't know anything about her at all" Page 111

    A loving family really know each other in all different ways, the fact that Manny doesn't know anyhing about Jas shows that he's not interested in the family and their way of living.

    SvaraRadera