CHARACTER+BLOG+1

=CHARACTER BLOG 1=

Since the book is narrated by Lily, the 14 year old protagonist,your challenge will be to describe the events in the chapter from a different character's point of view and show another perspective.You need to announce your choice to #6 as 5 has first pick.

November 4, 2008 Chapter 1 Rosaleen: I have been so stressed lately about this whole racial situation. I feel like I am not an equal person anymore. I was almost about to give up until I thought there was hope. I was watching t.v. just as the president had just signed the Civil Rights Act into law. I felt relieved yet concerned at the same time. Now that I have that off my chest, I think I should start worrying about Lily. I feel so terrible some times just letting T.Ray treat her that way but I'm afraid what he alone will do to me so that's why I just stay out of it. There was one time thought when I thought I could not hold myself back when I saw Lily's knees and all of the scratches from the grits but when T.Ray walked in with his angry tone I contained myself. Now that I had more rights, I decided to vote. Since it was Lily's birthday I took her into town with me. I must say I did laugh when I heard about the story she told T.Ray about going into town and about how she was going to buy "sanitation" products. Sometimes she is just so clever. As we walked into town we ran into a bit of trouble. Some men started to taunt me just as I was about to go in and vote. I had had so much of their taunting that I decided to spill my spit on their shoes. Oh it felt courageous but it had to come with a price such as getting beaten up and arrested and poor Lily had to come with me. Those men are not going to get me to apologize even if it's the last thing I do. -E.P.

November 4th, 2008, Chapter 2

T.Ray: Fury has welled up inside me lately, regarding my daughter Lily. The other night I had to pick her and our housekeeper Rosaleen up from jail, all because Rosaleen tried to vote! Rosaleen is our housekeeper, and my daughter is extremely irresponsible for going along with these foolish acts! I came to pick her up from jail in my truck, and was so furious I was slamming the gas with all my force. Ever since her mothers death, I have been so angry with her. She has no sense! She spends her time with Rosaleen and questions about her mother, something I can't talk about. I refuse to speak of Deborah. Her death was like knives in my heart, but it is over and absoloutley ridiculous to remember her. I did get Lily from jail, but I refused to bail out Rosaleen. She challenged white men! Of course she would be in jail. When we got home I could barely control my anger. It was erupted and taking over my body like a volcano. I forced Lily into her room and told her to stay there. When she told me she wasn't afraid of me, I lost it. She needed to be afraid of me. There was no other way. If she was afraid of me, I would never have to share my thoughts or feelings, especially about Deborah. I swung at her and missed, then she replied by saying her mother wouldn't let me do this to her. I couldn't take it anymore! I informed her that her mother wouldn't care about her. This was very untrue, her mother loved her with all her heart. This was the reason I was always furious. She loved Lily more than the world and Lily couldn't let it go and live her life with me. That's when I told her the biggest lie of my life. That she left her and she never cared about her. I hoped that would shut Lily up, but it didn't. This is unbearable. I can't raise this child by myself anymore.

-M.A.K.

November 5, 2008 Chapter 3 Rosaleen:

The morning was crazy. I had a terrible sleep, since I was not in my own comfy bed. I was still stiff from getting beaten and walking so far. Lily was already up and ready to continue on our journey. I was sweating like a pig when we continued walking, because of the heat of the morning sun. I was exasperated, but Lily's determination kept me going. As we were walking, Lily suggested that when we arrived in town, we could get some food and stay at a motel. I tried to explain that they would not allow me, being a colored woman, to stay, but Lily would not give up. She then brought up how having a colored woman stay in a motel would go under the Civil Rights Act, but then my final argument must have convinced her, becuase she stayed quiet after that. Luckily, we found a store named "Frogmore Stew General Store and Restaurant". Lily got some barbecue pork and root beer, which tasted delicious. She was also going to buy some cookies, sandwiches, peanuts, sour balls, and my favorite, snuff, but the actual store was closed on Sundays. Lily still slipped the snuff in the bag without the shopkeeper noticing. Honestly , I do not know what go through that girl's head sometimes! But that was very kind of her to think of me. We then walked through the town, which had many buildings. Lily made sure that there were no wanted signs of us in the local post office. Luckily there wasn't, so we were thankful for that.

-S.H.

November 5,2008 Chapter 4, By. OK

May:

Two visitors arrived today. One was named Lily, and one Rosaleen. Lily is so beautiful, and skinny! She could use so many of my banana creme pies! Rosaleen is a very big woman and happy, she reminds me of mama. Rosaleen has a lot of gashes and bruises on her head, Lily says she fell down the stairs, but I'm not sure I believe that. I had to go to the wall and calm down because the cuts and bruises were so bad. August welcomed them happily like she always does, I swear she is just like our lady, she always welcomes the world with open arms. June seems to avoid Lily and Rosaleen, I j'st don't know whats wrong with her these days. Sometimes she can be so bitter I have to go out to the wall. Anyway it seems that Lily and Rosaleen will stay for a long time, and I'm very happy about it, maybe they'll even stay until Mary Day. Lily helps August with her bees, and I Rosaleen helps me with my cooking. It seems like both me and August have found companions in our new visitors, I j'st dont know what on God's green earth could be wrong with June.

O.K.

November 9, 2008 Chapter 5 By. R.C.M. May: It’s really easy to scare yourself, to scare yourself with yourself. I know that doesn’t seem to make much sense, in fact it doesn’t make much sense to me and I thought it. I don’t know how I managed to muster up the courage to say something about Rosaleen’s scars, but I said it, and it scared me. I took a liking to Rosaleen, and a sort of liking to Lily. I like Rosaleen cause she’s easy to talk to, and helps me take my mind off other things cause sometimes it’s better to be having meaningless conversation with another person than to listen to your own complex thoughts. At least that’s how I see it. I sort of like Lily because I can tell that deep down somewhere she wishes she had the courage to really be sad. I can tell that girl’s been through a lot, seen things that shouldn’t be seen, felt things that shouldn’t be felt. “Oh Susanna now don't you cry for me. I come from Alabama with my banjo on my knee.” I can tell she wishes she could cry like I can. But at the same time, I wish I could be strong like her, or at least pretend to be strong like her. Cause inside that girl’s hard shell is a crumbly interior, and if she doesn’t open her shell long enough to put the pieces back together, then she’ll be nothing, but a hard, cold shell. Something that’s immune to pain and sadness, but also immune to happiness and love, the things that make all of the bad things worth it.

 Chapter 6- character blog 1
Rosaleen: I don’t feel comfortable living in this house with these strange women who I don’t know. Sometimes I would rather be in jail then live here. Lily has made up so many lies, and it is hard to keep track of what is going on. Sometimes I wish that she would learn to be honest with herself and with the people around her. I can never tell what is going on in that young girls head, she seems to be very lost at times and I wish there was something I could do, but I am not her mother. The women here know that I did not fall down the stairs, and they don’t believe half of the things that Lily has told them. May is also very confusing to me. I do not understand the “O Susanna” song and why she cries so much. Her sisters know how to deal with it, but I do not understand why she acts the way she does. This household just seems to be very sad to me, and I wish that I did not run away with Lily. She needs to learn how to face her fears, and I am going to make sure that the women in this household find out the truth and what is really going on in our lives. S.A.M

November 10th, 2008 Chapter 8 August:

Finally, my favorite month was approaching. Even though it is several days early I still tore off the July calender. I thought today would be a good day for Lily and I to bond. I'm hoping she will finally tell me the truth about who she is and why she came here. While pasting labels on the honey jars Lily asked me why I chose the Black Madonna and I told her the whole story. Then I asked her what she loved. Surprisingly she didn't say she loved her parents. This made me think that maybe her parents are alive but they are abusive or neglectful to her. She did say that she loved Rosaleen so maybe she's Lily's legal guardian. Whatever the story I hope I find out soon. I also told her the story of Big Mama and how I got the Mary statue. She was so intrigued I wanted to tell her stories forever but I decided to check on the bees instead. Maybe she would feel compelled to tell me more about herself. After I showed her the bees cooling off their hive the most peculiar thing happened. All the bees came out and circled around Lily and I. Then they started to cover her body from head to toe. She was one giant mass of black and yellow. She stuck out her arms, closed her eyes and tilted her head back. I didn't know if she had fallen asleep or if she was praying or if she was loving the bees. I think she was loving the bees and something else also but I just can't quite figure out what. - M.M.W.

November 12, 2008 Chapter 9: Zach: Today, I convinced Lily to get a new radiator with me. When we pulled up to the store, I three of my friends, and a few white men standing outside of the movie theater. I left the car to go greet my friends, when a white man claimed that one of my friends had hit him in the noes with a glass bottle. Suddenly, my friends and I were surrounded by the white men and officers. I, along with the group, was asked to single out the person who had thrown the bottle, and the rest of us could go. I glanced a Lily, from the corner of my eye hoping she would understand that I could not leave my friends. None of us confessed, so the four of us were put in a police car and driven to jail. I did not know what Lily was going to do. She did not know how to drive. I just hoped that she would be able to find a way home. A few days later, Lily and August came to visit me in jail. With only five minutes to speak,August began talking to me about bees, and I was relieved to keep the conversation on the level of a bee swarm. When the police announced that the visit was over, I quickly asked Lily if she had been writing in her journal I had given her. She told me that she had and that she would put it all in a story for me. I meant to ask her something else, but their was no time. I would have to ask her next time. V.R.C

Lily- I decided to go to the store with Zach to pick up a new radiator. Once we pulled up to the store there were a couple of white men standing outside of the movie theater when a three of Zach's friends walked up to greet him. They were chatting when they started taunting the white men outside the theater which brought up a fight. One of the black boys had thrown a glass bottle at a white man and hit him in the nose. An officer had come up and questioned the boys on who had thrown the bottle. None of them replied. I had sat there still in the car watching them stand there with worried faces but yet strong faces. I knew that Zach would not be the one to rat out his friend when he turned to look at me with a face telling me he was sorry. The officer drove off with all four boys as I sat in the car with nowhere to go. The keys were with Zach and even with the keys, I didnt know how to drive. I was stranded there so i had started to walk home worried about the safety of Zach in jail

R.L

November 13th, 2008 Chapter 10: May- I just found out that Zach is in jail. His mother called us, and I picked up the phone. The others didn’t tell me he was in jail. This is too much. I’m tired of feeling all the hurt and sadness of everyone, but I can’t help it. August wanted to make me feel better, to help me. I just said that I wanted to go to the wall for a little while, on my own. Somehow I convinced them to let me go. I took a pencil, and the other things I take with me to the wall, and a flashlight because it was getting dark. I didn’t walk to the wall, like I had said. I walked further into the forest to the stream. I wrote out a message to my sisters, explaining what I had done and why. I was going to be with April, and Mama and Papa and Big Mama. I was sure I would be happy. I must have been going very slowly, because I heard them coming down from the house to look for me. I put my note down and picked up a heavy stone. I laid down in the river and pulled the stone onto me. I can hear them calling for me, Ma-a-a-ay, but their voices are fading, turning into those of April, Mama and the others, calling me up to be with them. Goodbye, August. Goodbye, June. Goodbye, Rosaleen and Lily. I will watch over all of you with April in Heaven. Goodbye. F.J.

Chapter 11 November 18th, 2008 Zach- All through the Mary Day ceremony, I was focused on Lily. I was sure she had never seen something like this before, and I didn't want to miss a second of her reaction. Even if I had been with her during this ceremony a million times, I don't think I would have been able to look away from her. At first, she looked absolutely entranced by the whole thing, but as the ceremony continued, her expression became twisted with pain. Suddenly, she turned and left the honey house. I followed her out immediately and caught up with her in the garden. She did not slow her pace, so I walked along with her. There was nothing good to say right then, so I took her hand in mine and held it tightly instead. It was a fine substitute for words. We made our way through the night, and ended up at the river, where we stood together in silence for a few minutes. Lily was the first to speak, and she told me a story that obviously caused her a lot of pain. As I listened to her remembrance of teasing and bullying, my stomach turned inside me, and I wished I could take some of the pain from her so she would not have to bear it all herself. I could not imagine anyone wanting to be anything but perfectly sweet and kind to this girl, and the thought of her being mistreated stirred up a fire of anger in me. Our conversation turned to my time in jail. I wouldn't have wanted to talk about this, but I wasn't going to risk ruining this moment. She asked for confirmation of what we both already knew; that being arrested had made me different. I could tell that she already recognized and understood what happened to me, so I kept my answer brief. "Sometimes, Lily, I'm so angry I wanna kill something." The concern in her response was obvious, and it made me feel loved and cared for. She asked me to not let the anger overtake me like that, and I let her know that this was not what I wanted. This entire exchange with her affirmed what I had already suspected in the back of my mind for a while; I loved Lily. I couldn't withold my emotions any longer, so I bent down and pressed my lips to hers. Her sweet scent filled my nose as we shared that perfect moment. When it was over, I was sure it had to be the most wonderful kiss anyone had ever had. I met her eyes with love and caring and promised her that I would be the best I could be. I was about to tell her that I loved her, but my nerves got the best of me, and I changed "love" to "care about". The fact that we couldn't be together hurt me, and I could see that it did the same to her. I promised her that one day, when things are better, that I would come back for her. I wanted to always have this connection with her, and I knew the best way I could show her this. My dogtags jingled softly as I removed them from my neck and put them around hers. The look in her eyes after that let me know that this was a promise I would always keep. E.N.

Chapter 12, November 13, 2008

August: I know telling Lily all about her mother was the right thing. I just can't imagine that she would want to live her life without knowing what really happened. But, for some strance reason she seemed upset with what I had told her. Her mother really hadn't left her, she just needed some space, then she came back to get Lily. Oh, I hope I did the right thing. The way Lily looked at me, her eyes, her body language, and the way she was saying "unwanted child" over and over again made me want to stop. But I knew I couldn't stop telling her the story of her mother, which someday, hopefully she will understand.

Chapter 13, November 18, 2008 Rosaleen: When I walked into the honey house I nearly screamed. Lily was lying on the floor with dried blood on her arm. Broken glass was scattered on the floor. Honey was dripping down the walls and some was sprayed onto Mary's face. When I woke Lily up she didn't respond at first and that got me worried. Then she looked at me like nothing was wrong. What has gotten into her I thought? I washed out Lily's arm so that it wouldn't get infected. I took a seat on the toilet seat and stared straight at her, I needed to now exactly why Lily had thrown jars of honey. So I asked her, but her response startled me. What T-Ray had said about her mother was right, she had left Lily. I had been worried that that might happen. I had told her that maybe she didn’t want to know what happened but she didn’t listen to me. For a long time I had the feeling that her mother had left when I overheard T-Ray talking to Mrs. Watson. But I had never wanted to tell but know that I knew. I felt so terribly bad for Lily. I could see that she was hurt. She had spent her life hoping that her mother would love her. Hoping that someone would love her. But when she finally found out... how heartbroken she must be. T.S.

Chapter 14, November 13, 2008 T-Ray: As I rang the doorbell my heart was pounding. All this summer I had been looking for that stupid child just so I could get my reputation back, and here she was the whole time. Who are these people anyway? The door opened, “Well, well, well. Look who’s here.” I smiled the evilest smile I have ever given anyone. “Please, do come in.” spoke Lily. She sounded calm but I could feel the tension around her. She knew she was coming home and getting the worst beating of her short little life……………….. It all went down from here. Those stupid women, how dare they tell Lily she could stay at their house? She knew that if she came home she would get in trouble. After all I did for her! The only thing she has done is driven my wife away, and then killed her! My one love ever and she took her away! That imbecile! And then not even owning up to what she did. She ran away and she needs to take the punishment. I wish I’d never gone up to get her. Such a waste of time. -A.I.S.