Summer Raading Blog: Impulse

Impulse By Ellen HopkinsThe book contains the stories of three characters who each suffer from a different problem: Conner, suicidal, pressure to be the best; Vanessa, suicidal, and a cutter; and Tony, who believes to be gay and suffers with drug and alcohol addiction. They were all sent to a medical institution where they were to stay until they recovered from what they did or do. Although there were three main characters I chose my favorite, Conner.Conner suffered from both conflicts of Man v. Man, and Man v. Himself. He got into the institution by attempting suicide, which failed. Later in the book we find out the many problems he had. Man v. Man came into place when he had to deal with his parents setting him up on a pedestal that he didn’t want to climb and sit on. His parents also compared him too much to his sister, who apparently was their favorite.“Don’t dare drop the ball. Don’t dare finish second. We on ly want what’s best for you, so spare me your whining. Why can’t you be like Cara? She never loses. Care is smarter. Cuter. More talented. I will forever ride in her backseat.”The quote above demonstrates the way Conner would be treated by his parents. They always pushed him to do what was best for them instead of him, and even when he did do well; it was never as good as his twin sister Cara.Conner also suffered Man v. Himself because if he thought of himself in a positive way, the things that his parents would say or do to him wouldn’t matter. Conner suffered with himself because he thought of himself little. He needed to know that no one could make him feel inferior without his consent*. If he thought of himself in high esteem he wouldn’t let what his parents said to him affect him. Whether he got through the time he needed to spend in the institution and got over his problem, I think you should read the book to find out. =]*Quote given by Eleanor Roosevelt.

This blog entry was one of my favorites becasue of what we had to do to in the blog. The blog helped me analyze the book in new way that gave new meaning to the story and characters. I hope we do more blogs like this because i believe that they would help me analyze novels in a deeper way than i usually do.