Week 7: Discussion Questions

3. “Although many students seem to prefer Maggie to Dee, most would probably rather be Dee than Maggie. Is this true for you? Why/why not?” Provide character analysis in your answer.

As both Maggie and Dee grew up, they lived in the same home, but they both appeared to each hold on to different values. Maggie has scars all over her arms and legs from a fire that burned down their old home. Her mother described her as "Like good looks and money, quickness passed her by" [299]. The words used by her own mother make her seem to be a very unintelligent girl that is not that attractive as well. Maggie was somewhat jealous of her sister too. "She thinks her sister has held life always in the palm of one hand, that "no" is a word never learned to say to her" [297]. Dee appears to be more materialistic than Maggie. She is said to be "lighter" than her sister and "with nicer hair and a fuller figure". Dee only wanted the nice items in life and only became nicer when her mother managed to send her to Augusta to school. When she comes back home with her husband, Asalamajakim, she is dressed in the fancy clothes and has even changed her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo, since she feels her old name was oppressing her. While I admit that I prefer Maggie's sweet qualities to Dee's materialistic qualities, I would agree that I would rather be Dee. She is carrying the wrong values, but she still appears to be having the better life. I would hate to admit to being materialistic, but everyone is about something. Maggie is obviously the better person in general, but if I had to choose to be one, I would be Dee.

3. “Is this story optimistic or pessimistic about true love? Is the old couple a positive or a negative example of true love? What about Nick and Laura? What about Ed? Could you argue that he was in love?”

There seems to be both pessimism and optimism about love. Terri was optimistic about the love that Ed supposedly showed her, while Mel was more pessimistic about it. The old couple that were in the crash were a very good example of true love. The old man did not care about the accident, or what his injuries were. All he cared about was being able to see his wife, even though she was going to live. A lot of events were going on around him, but all he cared about was seeing her with his own eyes. For Nick and Laura's love, Nick says "In addition to being in love, we like each other and enjoy one another's company. She's easy to be with" [677]. Like their friends keep saying, they have only been married for eighteen months, but their love may be deep and real. They obviously love each other, and enjoy being near each other and listening to what the other says. They would be an example of positive true love. It is possible that Ed was indeed in love with Terri. His love turned into an aggressive obsession that made him want to hurt Terri, so that she could never leave him. Terri continued to look back at the way Ed acted with her as if she actually missed it. He was dangerous to be around, but Terri looked at the actions he did and felt that they were all out of the love he had for her. I do not know if that could be classified as true love, but it is an example of negative love.