Tiger Mending

I too, after reading this story of "Tiger Mending" was left "with the oddest, most unsettled feeling". I understand that this story is about figuring out why things are the way that they are, but what I do not understand is why the sister leaves her sibling in the end? If this older sister was such an insipiration, such a lifeline, to the other sister then why did the younger sister leave her?
This story leaves me with an unsettled feeling, just like the narrator. When the entire story talks about how good this older sister is and how much the younger sister looks up to her and recieves so much help from her, I do not understand the motives behind her leaving. I think that what the older sister (the story does not give names or I would specify for clearly) is doing to help the tigers is amazing. I also envy her skill at keeping steady hands and holding still. I, like the younger sister, am unable to hold still for too long, like to fidget, and am actually kind of clumsy.
The story itself is very interesting to me, these women completely take care of themselves and are self sufficient, and the older of the two is obviously a giver. When the narrator talks of always getting into messes and her sister being good at everything, it almost gives a sense of jealousy until she says, “she’s so focused in this gentle way.”
I believe that the story was able to leave me with the sense of confusion because as I have stated, throughout the entire story the narrator does nothing but talk about how wonderful her sister is. In the end when the narrator does not let her sister hug her and leaves her by herself in Asia, when she knows that her sister needs her there to help her cope, it is very confusing. Why did she leave her there? Was it not a good thing that her sister was helping the tiger’s even though they were inadvertently hurting themselves?
I feel like the end of the story is very contradictory. It is hard for me to understand why throughout the story the narrator portrays such a vivid sense of need and admiration towards her sister but then leaves her for doing something good for something else. In my opinion, there is almost a sense of possessiveness of the narrator over her sister. To sum it all up, I think that the story was well written and a good story, until the end when the narrator walks out on her sister. In my mind, when you do something good people do not normally get upset with you or walk out on you. I wish that it was a longer story so that I would better be able to understand the motives behind the narrator’s actions. Since it is not however, I am left with a feeling of confusion, and also like the story is left incomplete.

Responses to Literature

I believe that no matter what you are reading, no matter if you want to or not, if it is an assignment or for personal pleasure, that you gain something from it. Responses to literature do not have to be in the form of an easy, in a summary or analysis, or in an assignment period. A persons personal response to literature can happen in many different forms. I believe that literature has a tremendous power over peoples lives, not even just in recent history, but dating all the way back to the first books in the history of the world, how about even farther than that? Ancient writings on walls or scripts chiselled into stone. Think about all the great things that have come from literature throughout the ages. It is insane to think that our whole vocabulary, our government, our everything has come from some sort of literature. It is true that literature can change lives, the basis of our world, of our very living stems from literature.
When I read a good book I become so involved in that book that I literally cannot put it down, I ache to find out what is going to happen next or how the story is going to end. Is everyone going to live happily ever after or is the story horribly tragic? All of the parts of a book pull a response from me in one way or another, just as I believe that it is the same for everyone else. Whether you are enjoying reading a book or loathing it, you are responding to it somehow. In one of the other blogs that I read the person said that what we read or do not read, what we do or do not do, and what we think or do not think, all frames the person that we are today.
When I was in first grade I was not the best reader, in fact I almost got held back because of it, looking at that now I cannot believe that that was me. I love to read so much that it is ridiculous, I get tremendous pleasure from reading and even writing. How could it be possible that anyone does not react the something they read? Most responses to literature are internal, sadness, pleasure, pain, happiness. It all just depends on the tone of whatever you are reading.

How literature has effected me

When I think about literature I think about reading and writing. When I was younger I did not know how to read so well and I honestly cannot remember what my writing was like. Since then I have learned that both reading and writing are some of my favorite things to do! I love you get lost in a good book or a good story in general. I feel like when I am reading I am actually watching a movie in my head. I love the way that authors can twist and turn words to make such detailed and exciting stories. Writing is something that I do not do all of the time, I keep a journal and write poetry sometimes but there are times (like when school starts) that I do not really have enough time for such luxuries! I find that writing is a great way to help me express my emotions and feelings. Reading and writing do two very different things for me, one helps me to forget about my problems until later and the other forces me to get them out in the open and take a look at what is going on. Literature has changed my life by allowing me acces into a whole new world. I find that by exploring other peoples creativity I am better able to create things myself.
I have used reading and writing as outlets in my life for as long as I can remember. Books are one of my biggest hobbies and I constantly find myself scrambling for more. Hopefully when this class is completed I have a better understanding of how to use these outlets and continue my interest in these areas. I love to learn new things and expanding my way of thinking and feeling and even acting often comes from a lot of the things I read. I am a firm believer in the motto "act the way you want to be and soon you'll be the way you act" I find the same is true when I read about, hear about, or see people acting certain ways. I hope to one day be able to write a book as wonderful as most of the books that I have read and hopefully this class will help!