BLOG #2
Chapter Description
As I read through the next fifty pages or so, I noticed that the character Cloyd is interesting to me. He has many different characteristics. One of his characteristics that stood out to me was his love of hunting (A buck, he explained p.19) He also likes to fish and that is something I like to do also. (another body on the wall was a prize-winning rainbow trout, he said p.19) He likes to be out doors and hunting is a manly thing to me this is why I like this character because I can relate to it. Another characteristic is that Cloyd is responsible and wants to set a good example for Sonny, he starts giving him odd jobs around the apartment complex like (One of the jobs Cloyd had made mine was to make sure the laundry room was cleaned up. P.27) As I read further Sonny has multiple jobs that his step dad gives him, which tells me that he wants Sonny to either earn his keep or responsibility or both for that matter. I like the fact that Cloyd is trying to keep Sonny out of trouble with these odd jobs but I think that it has already started to get him in trouble and trouble seems to find Sonny. One characteristic that I do not particularly like is the fact that Cloyd has a small racism problem that Sonny makes note of in the book that he dose not like blacks and he is always making comments on how Mexicans are good hard workers and how he likes Mexican and now he has Sonny’s mom to make him Mexican food. It seems like Sonny is always mentioning that Cloyd has a drink in his hand so I feel that Cloyd may have a drinking problem and how he likes swirling his ice cube in the glass. All of these characteristics lead me to believe that Cloyd means well but also is sort of using Sonny’s mom in a way that only Sonny can relate to. For some reason Sonny doesn’t like him but I think he may start to produce a half hearted relationship with him. How do all these pieces help me to understand Cloyd, well if I put them all together I can see his intentions and his actual purpose as a part of this novel. Everything I read about any character in the novel I take a little note to my self, this is a part of the that persons personality and helps me build up towards a better understanding of each character. I actually find Sonny my favorite character but I choose to write about Mr. Longpre because that was one of the choices I had to make, but most of all I can pick out the personal characteristics that interest me and why. Like the hunting and why he is being responsible to his job and has a step father. He wants to show Sonny that he can take care of them as a family and would like to share some of his families traditions hoping to pass them on to Sonny. Cloyd is reaching out to him for closeness and maybe approval. He is trying to make this family work, in more ways than one.
I like your description of Cloyd. I agree that to Sonny, he seems like a bad person; but in reality, Cloyd does want to have a good family. I feel that Cloyd does genuinely like Sylvia, but for strange reasons and motives. I don’t see genuine emotional attraction and chemistry between them. What he likes is that she is his ideal, little Mexican wife. He likes her for her looks and because she can supposedly cook. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that he wants to have a good, happy family. He wants that good, happy family so that he can he can have a good image. He wants to appear to have happy marriage and a well-mannered son. But it also seems like he wants to have more than just the appearance of a happy family. He does try to create a bond with Sonny, even though it might be just to make Sylvia happy.
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