“I love people and collect friends like some people collect coins
or exotic pipes.”
I chose this sentence because it reflects on what type of person
Mr. Conroy is. The struggles he faces within the classroom with the students is
tough enough not counting the prejudices that are in the society. Although Mr.
Conroy grew up with racism being the norm, as an adult he generally loved all
people and viewed everyone as humans that were equal. He would listen to others
make racist remarks and even laugh sometimes about them but his views about
people were all the same, no one was better than anyone else. That is why almost
everyone liked him and why he collected so many friends.
Chapter three was a chapter that focused on Mr. Conroy in
the classroom. It showed the reader in more detail just how uneducated the
students really were. It was so sad to me to learn that these students who were
in sixth through eighth did not know how many fingers were on a hand. I guess I
always thought that knowing there were five fingers on one hand was a given
that everyone knew. In that part of chapter three when Mr. Conroy asked the
students how many fingers were on a hand, it shocked me to learn that this age
of children truly did not know. It made me realize that I am lucky to have had
such a good education and I should not to take for granted the little things
that seem to be a given.
Chapter four focused on Mr. Conroy’s life outside of the
school house. It went into detail about what he did on a day to day bases. I
felt empathy for Mr. Conroy when he described himself as being, “an island on
an island.” He was lonely even though he had made many friends on the island. His
surroundings were different and it was a different way of life that he was not
used to. I cannot wait to continue reading because I wonder what Mr. Conroy
will do now that he is married and has a family that needs him back in Beaufort.
He has to be a strong willed man to stay and travel back and forth as he does because
of his love for all the people in his life. Again he said himself, “I love people
and collect friends like some people collect coins or exotic pipes.”
Brittney,
ReplyDeleteI liked the sentence you chose because like you said, it really shows what type of person Conroy is; he genuinely cares about everyone. I know it sounds cliché, but he never judges a book by its cover. He values his friends based on what’s inside and not what’s outside. I ‘m also looking forward to reading the rest of this book; it’s so much better than I thought it would be. I wasn’t expecting Conroy to get married, but I think it’s probably what he needed to help with his depression and loneliness. It’s unfortunate that Conroy and Barbara couldn’t work something out at the beginning so they could see each other every day, but like you said, it shows his true character and his love and care for his students.
-Kelsey