The first chapter helps set up the novel and creates the mood by introducing the reader the characters, and showing two possible future problems. The mood was created with the very beginning where Jason's fathers rule was introduced which is that no one is allowed in the fathers office. Since there is always a reason behind something, this suspicious rule creates curiosity and suspense. Even more suspense is created when the phone rings off in Jason's father office. Who could it be? Why are they calling? None of this is answered when Jason decides to break the rule (tough guy :o) and is meet with silence and music from sesame street. This call ends when a baby begins to wail in the background. This itself could foreshadow that the Father could be cheating on his wife since a baby did wail at the background and at that moment the person hung up. Aside from that, this scene does create some sort of suspense mixed with curiosity since we don't know who that was. I fell that one theme that emerged from this chapter is that you can't always trust anyone. In page 17, the top part, Jason got fooled by squelch when we wanted to go and pet the cat. It turned out to be a dead cat when Squelch threw the poor thing Jason's way and the cats body was "cold" and "stiff as a pack of meat from the fridge". Not to mention that Jason is near the bottom of this weird social class created by the boys which involves nicknames. This is the only theme that i can think of when reading the first chapter...Maybe i'm just dumb. This chapter also shows foreshadowing. One is when Jason answers the call at the very beginning and finds himself talking to basically no one and is being heard from a unknown caller. so, like i wrote earlier the call ends when a baby begins to wail in the background. This could be something that the father is trying to hide. This is backed up when Jason has supper and his sister named Julia mentions answering a call with no answers and Jason wanted to ask her is she got the same response as he did. Then the fathers shuts them up with by saying, " Okay, you two, enough with the private-eye biz" which seems highly suspicious on his side. Why does he shut them up? what is he hiding.... So this could be foreshadowing a future problem between the father cheating on his wife since a baby was in the call, or maybe there is stalker that the father doesn't want to talk about. I also feel that there could be a possible problem in the future where Jason's so called friends find out he is Eliot Bolivar and could possibly get disowned or teased or worse, beat up.
I agree. The suspicion is started from the phone call scene which creates the sense that Jason's parents are trying to hide something. I'm not so sure if it's true about the whole cheating business, that was probably just something someone said to cover up the fact that he/she didn't read the chapter, but good evidence
ReplyDeleteI said that!
DeleteYou know, everything doesn't have to have a meaning, especially when it comes to literature. But the whole fact was provoke, though.
ReplyDeleteI know, right? There is like, so much to be suspicious about and so many unanswered questions.
ReplyDeleteThe mood was created with the very beginning where Jason's fathers rule was introduced which is that no one is allowed in the fathers office. Since there is always a reason behind something, this suspicious rule creates curiosity and suspense.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good point, why does the author choose to start the opening of the novel with this rule!