Frances Bowles - You have to know your past in order to know your future

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Honestly, this novel was not my favorite. I had trouble reading it because, it wasn't as interesting as I thought it would be; however, I do like how Rash incorporated the theme of "to know your future you must know your past" (George Santayana). This relates to Travis because he's troubled and  has issues with his father which leads him to turn to Leonard, not knowing that Leonard's family killed his in the war; therefore, had he known his history he wouldn't have been sleeping on their nemesis couch; "Why didn't you tell me you were a Candler?... Because it would have changed things between us... You and I weren't here when the killing happened. But it would have" (pg 268-269).

Despite not liking the novel I thought the movie was really good; although, details were missing. The movie helped me to get a better understanding of what I was reading because, there was confusion about what was happening. It's also interesting to see how the characters are portrayed as well as their emotions. One question that I had was whether or not Leonard was the protagonist. The story begins with Travis yet, is centered on Leonard's occupation and past. I also noticed that in the movie, Travis looked through the broken glasses and the past was shown through them. They seem to symbolize a transparency between the two worlds/generations.

Comments

  1. StephanieDawkinsOctober 10, 2016 at 8:58 PM

    I also did like the way that Rash incorporated the theme of the book. I thought that was interesting that Leonard kept it a secret about what his last name was because he didn't want anything to change. I have not seen the movie but I do plan to do so in the near future.

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