Outside Reading

Neville finds himself in Vegas. He doesn't really like it here, and thinks that "Vegas was a black hole" (Bock 104). They meet a girl who happens to be into strange things, like conspiracy theories. This seems to be quite strange. Every now and then, Neville and everyone else seem to pick up another character. This probably diverts attention away from Neville in the plot, and focuses on the overall story instead. Also, each character happens to have their own defining characteristics that make each of them different.

Outside Reading

The family is continuing to look for Neville as they try every possibility to locate their child in the whole state of Nevada. They tried to use child search groups but didn't work. Lorraine also posted multiple ads to find Neville. However, this isn't working, and she keeps asking herself questions and looking for clues. She starts to suspect that he may be a runaway. I guess this makes some sense, as it is a desperate mother looking for any answer.

Ourside Reading

Lorraine, the mother of Neville, continues to grieve about the missing Neville. She believes that she has failed him and isn't doing enough. In fact, they have the resources to support him, but try to look at the positive side to losing the child, as it happens to be so that Neville's lack of presence would put less strain on the family's resources (Bock 45). This apparently indicates that the family feels insecure about losing him and that they try to find a positive outcome. The deal is though, the parents have lost most of their hope, and are having trouble filling in his sense, which would make sense in a real life scenario.

Outside Reading

Lorraine continues to find some hope, finding her son's sneaker tracks in the desert (13). Either this is redeeming her hope that he is alive, or her denial, trying to pretend he is still alive. The tracks in the desert also might hint that she is being desperate and delusional, as the tracks might not even actually be there. The Parents still have discontent for the investigators, as they can't get anything done. Meanwhile, Wendy Whitebread is shown again, comic books galore (14). This shows that Neville can put his past behind him, and just live another leisurely life by himself and other unrestricted youths. This, of course, is just begging for trouble.

Outside Reading

It has been extremely hot, a "hundred and five for the ninety-ninth straight day" (7). That's what Newell thinks, and the 99 days of heat probably stands for the days he has been missing. He also seems to have been used to the fact that he couldn't find his parents. Newell, Kenny and Beiderbixxe, the cartoonist, meet at a Saturday talk in a comics store called Amazin’ Stories, where Beiderbixxe has come to discuss his illustrated series, “Wendy Whitebread, Undercover Slut” (8). He is part of a group of mischievous guys. The adult themes have already been made in this book, behind the dirty comic "Wendy White-bread, Undercover Slut." This shows what people end up viewing away from their parents authority. A child who ended up without their parents was dragged into this, and might end up in a deeper hole, just like in real life. However, he seems to have adapted quite well to his environment, and has found a residence with a group of others. The gang of kids is definitely up to no good.

Outside Reading: Beautiful Children

We are introduced to the Ewing family. Lincoln Ewing and Lorraine Ewing are distraught by the fact that their twelve-year-old child is missing. They have to acknowledge the fact that "nobody can say how long a child will be missing" (Bock 5). It seems to make sense that parents would be worried, but the fact that they question hope means that they don't really see much that would come out of the situation now. Lincoln Ewing searched endlessly for leads that would help find his son, Newell, but was unsuccessful. Thus he pondered "What was left of his son? What did he have?" (Bock 6).

Outside Reading

(Due to the fact that this *is* the last required post, things may be missing (i.e. President Eisenhower)

The war was almost over, just Japan and the U.S. There was a great question of choosing to drop THE bomb over Japan. Eisenhower happened to depressed at this time. He was against the dropping of the atom bomb (Ambrose 426). Once again, I wonder what happened to Eisenhower's rationality, as if the U.S. were to take Japan in a full land invasion, countless lives would be lost. Then again, with the bomb countless lives would be lost as well. During this plotting, he took multiple trips to assess the damage done in Europe. He thought at first that Germany had suffered the worst of the war. However, when he flew to Russia, he did not see "a single house standing intact from the Russian-Polish border to Moscow. Not one" (426). I assume that this would change Eisenhower's mindset on the bomb, and it did, as it further showed the horrors of war to him. The bombing was done, and what happened...happened.

Later in his life, Eisenhower would overcome other obstacles, like the McCarthy deal against him. Of course, he managed to shrug this off. He, as President, accomplished many reforms. And as for his effort in the war, he is viewed as a hero by many.