Blog Summary

The posts from this week brought up some new ideas as well as talked further about the things that we had discussed in class.

Robert brought up the interesting idea of Ned and Mary being successors to Harry Powers and Ned's mother. Mary did go to America, unlike Ned's mother, and Ned accomplished more than Harry Powers ever did, so in a way, they both did go beyond their respective predecessors. This may also be a contrast between the characters of Mary and Ned's mother, as his mother did not have the strength to leave her current man behind in order to procure a better life for herself. Along with this comes the idea of Ned being in love with his mother. Jasmine introduced the idea of Ned perhaps having an Oedipus complex, which would explain his resentment of his father and his priority for his mother, which was so extreme that he lost his life in the pursuit of her freedom. Jasmine also says that Ned may be attracted to Mary only because she is similar to his mother. Thomas ties in to this, stating that Ned's fascination with Mary is purely fascination, and nothing else. This is supported by the fact that Mary did end up leaving Ned to his fate when he refused to do as she asked and flee to safety.

Ned began to act very irrationally at the end of his tale in his attempt to free his mother. Holly defended his actions, saying that Ned was tired of lies and hiding, and this is a direct reference to the very first line that he writes. She says that he wants to do something, and let everyone know him, and that is why he is so intent on publishing his narrative of his life. Tate, however, argues that Ned had let his success go to his head, and begins to believe that he is invincible. As a result of this overconfidence, he says, Ned ends up being caught and dying. Ashley expresses her frustration at his lack of rational thinking and judgment in the last bit of the novel.

The idea of right and wrong has been discussed extensively throughout the novel, and was brought up once again in this weeks blog posts. Abby talked about the gray areas in the definition of right versus wrong, and how she thinks that Ned just bit off more than he could chew in terms of trying to do right by everyone. Ryan also defends Ned, saying that his actions were justified. However, like I said in my post, the reliability of Ned's account is not very good. Ned's justifications may just be to make himself look better to his daughter.

Madolyn brought up the issue of Ned's morals, and argued that his morals did not change and that he did what he had to do in order to survive. She said that since this novel is written in the retrospective view, Ned will have a consistent moral background with which he justifies his actions. In the end, the question of how right Ned was in thinking he was doing the best for his family ends up being unanswered, and the fate of his mother remains unknown.