C. J. Jackson’s Challenges and Triumphs “The Journal of C.J Jackson” is one of the most interesting and educative books, both in the past and present-day circumstances. The main character and narrator, C.J. Jackson is only 13 years old when their family is forced to leave Cimarron County, Oklahoma in April, 1935 due to the harsh environmental conditions. The author begins the narration by providing the actual picture of what is happening in Oklahoma; life is bleak. The inhabitants lack food to eat, water to drink or clean air to breathe. There is extreme famine and drought. C. J Jackson, who hails from as a poor family, is bitten by a snake amidst many challenges affecting his family and society. In relation to the conditions mentioned above, …show more content…
this paper identifies and analyzes key themes evident in the story in relation to life in Oklahoma and California. Similarly, the role played by the story is further discussed exhaustively in an effort to prove its relevance in the contemporary society. Lastly, this paper will point out and table the possible target audience of the story. Family and Challenges The Jacksons are no exception when it comes to harsh and life-threatening conditions in Oklahoma. They are facing a series of problems, one after the other. C.J. Jackson gets a snake bite something that consequently puts his life in danger. However, his family acts fast through traditional medication technique to rescue him. During this time, C. J. Jackson’s old Grandpa is sick and is about to die. At the same time, the family is faced with the scarcity of water. The only windmill they used to pump and draw water for both the family and cattle broke down. This is a clear indication that their cattle, which could play a pivotal role, as a source of food and income will soon die. In the immediate aftermath of losing the only water pump C. J. Jackson’ grandfather died. Apart from that, the cyclonic winds are life-threatening. According to the narrator, the wind in question moves at a speed of 100 miles per hour and travels across eastern Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Kansas. The sun is hot and high up in the blue sky in conjunction with unceasing dust. The harsh conditions persist while the Jacksons are still willing to stay in the hope that the whole situation will change for the better in the near future.
In fact, things changed from bad to worse. Air to breathe turned out to be slow poison. The big and black dust storms increased with the wind flying in all directions. People are forced to run for their lives and the remaining properties such as trucks, cars, and wagons. The Jacksons decide to look for greener pastures by starting a tedious and rough journey to California. They face a number of challenges along the way ranging from unnecessary police roadblocks and harassment from the same police officers. The truck carrying Jacksons also breaks down severally. As a result, they leave behind the trailer carrying with some household properties. In essence, this is a tragedy and an additional problem altogether since on the arrival they started from zero, living in the squatters. At the squatters C.J Jackson, together with his parents, looks for jobs and only realizes that people are competing for the same. Furthermore, he is facing discrimination from the indigenous members that call him …show more content…
“Okie.” Triumphs and Relevance The family continued doing the temporary jobs with meager wages. As a result, they could Jacksons could buy some food though not enough. Over time, they moved from the filthy and unhealthy squatters to a Federal Camp where the first luck appeared. C. J. Jackson’s father repaired a Cadillac of a wealthy man who in turn offers him a mechanic job in Los Angeles. The family moves from the camp to Los Angeles, where the children start going to school. Briefly speaking, the family could save some money for their future return to Oklahoma. In relation to that, the story is set in the 1930s, when the American society faced political, environmental and economic crises. Racial and class discrimination was a common practice. Whites had developed a negative stereotype against the Blacks and the rich against the poor. For this reason, this story is viable, reliable, and current based on its themes evident in the contemporary society. Indeed, the target audience for this narration is everyone since the book takes into account various moral lessons and values necessary for harmonious living. School children, in this sense, are the major beneficiaries of the story. The book teaches them to be obedient, creative, patient, and adaptable to unavoidable situations. In addition, learners, especially those in Primary school level are expected to appreciate others irrespective of their origin or social strata. In summary, the author has so far accomplished one of the missions that a few will ever attempt to realize: mixing real life and shocking themes in a simple narration of a teenager.
The Jacksons are faced with numerous challenges in their home state, Oklahoma, where drought and famine are the order of both day and night. The whole society is almost lacking air or water to breathe and drink respectively. The problems keep on piling up in C. J. Jackson’s family. They have just lost a grandfather, now the windmill used to pump and draw water is broken down something that even worsens the situation further. The family leaves for California, where the situation worsens. They get to learn that there is no job opportunity; discrimination and name-calling is an obvious undertaking by the locals. The harsh life in California replaces the family’s hope and wish for a better and comfortable
life. Durbin uses this book to convey effectively and address the plight and depression of Dust Bowl families. The plight is, in this case, caused by the horrendous conditions, demanding and demeaning conditions of a migrant worker. Interestingly, the author brings forth the idea of evil and good. Most of the locals are mean, discriminative and abusive while, on the other hand, the wealthy man with the Cadillac represents good deeds. As such, this book is one of the learning and entertainment facilities that each and every person can read and apply in real life situations. The author, through this piece of work, instills admirable social values and moral lessons both to the learners and adults. Pupils and students are, therefore, expected to be obedient, patient, appreciative, and creative.
Lives for Native Americans on reservations have never quite been easy. There are many struggles that most outsiders are completely oblivious about. In her book The Roundhouse, Louise Erdrich brings those problems to light. She gives her readers a feel of what it is like to be Native American by illustrating the struggles through the life of Joe, a 13-year-old Native American boy living on a North Dakota reservation. This book explores an avenue of advocacy against social injustices. The most observable plight Joe suffers is figuring out how to deal with the injustice acted against his mother, which has caused strife within his entire family and within himself.
Covington’s intellect boasts a curious ambition to solve the secrets of the Appalachia through factual data and personal inquiries. “Their first church in town burned to the ground” Covington explains, “They suspected arson, but charges were never brought…they moved to other locations…neighbors complained of the noise. Wherever the handlers relocated, tires got slashed and windows broken” (25). By presenting facts about the trouble the snake-handlers dealt with, Covington reveals how steadfast they are in their religious faith. The serpent-handlers’ strong devotion has turned into a tainted reputation for some, such as Glenn Summerford. Curious to hear Glenn’s version of why he was put in jail for ninety-nine years, Covington interviews him. When asked about his wife, Darlene, Summerford simply states that when she was “living right, she drank [poison]” (50). Faced with a lifetime sentence in a jail cell, Summerford shows no remorse, and instead criticizes his wife, whom he attempted to murder, for not living by the word of God. Glenn Summerford’s testimonial is a ...
The Jump-Off Creek introduces the reader to the unforgiving Blue Mountains and the harsh pioneer lifestyle with the tale of Lydia Sanderson, a widow who moves west from Pennsylvania to take up residence in a rundown homestead. She and other characters battle nature, finances, and even each other on occasion in a fight for survival in the harsh Oregon wilderness. Although the story is vividly expressed through the use of precise detail and 1800s slang, it failed to give me a reason to care because the characters are depicted as emotionally inhibited.
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To understand Jackson’s book and why it was written, however, one must first fully comprehend the context of the time period it was published in and understand what was being done to and about Native Americans in the 19th century. From the Native American point of view, the frontier, which settlers viewed as an economic opportunity, was nothin...
...ous struggles of Jurgis and his family. Not only does the family suffer from poverty, but they also suffer from a poor knowledge of English, the glares of the townspeople, and the damaging effects of hard manual labor. The family gets harmed by the bosses in Packingtown as well, they receive unfair wages for long days at work. They also get deceived by the housing agent, forcing them to pay much more money for the house as a result of insurance, an expense they were not prepared for. As a result of the hard manual labor and his name being put on the blacklist, Jurgis resorts to “hoboing it” just to survive towards the end of the novel. The poverty tears the family apart: they end up splitting up towards the end of the novel, all going separate ways. Poverty negatively impacted the familial relationships of thousands of immigrants in Chicago in the early 1900s.
“Quantie’s weak body shuddered from a blast of cold wind. Still, the proud wife of the Cherokee chief John Ross wrapped a woolen blanket around her shoulders and grabbed the reins.” Leading the final group of Cherokee Indians from their home lands, Chief John Ross thought of an old story that was told by the chiefs before him, of a place where the earth and sky met in the west, this was the place where death awaits. He could not help but fear that this place of death was where his beloved people were being taken after years of persecution and injustice at the hands of white Americans, the proud Indian people were being forced to vacate their lands, leaving behind their homes, businesses and almost everything they owned while traveling to an unknown place and an uncertain future. The Cherokee Indians suffered terrible indignities, sickness and death while being removed to the Indian territories west of the Mississippi, even though they maintained their culture and traditions, rebuilt their numbers and improved their living conditions by developing their own government, economy and social structure, they were never able to return to their previous greatness or escape the injustices of the American people.
As a result, their lives changed, for better or for worse. They were inexperienced, and therefore made many mistakes, which made their life in Chicago very worrisome. However, their ideology and strong belief in determination and hard work kept them alive. In a land swarming with predators, this family of delicate prey found their place and made the best of it, despite the fact that America, a somewhat disarranged and hazardous jungle, was not the wholesome promise-land they had predicted it to be.
The story is told through the eyes of seven year old Luke Chandler. Luke lives with his parents and grandparents on their rented farmland in the lowlands of Arkansas. It takes place during the harvest season for cotton in 1952. Like other cotton growers, these were hard times for the Chandlers. Their simple lives reached their zenith each year with the task of picking cotton. It’s more than any family can complete by themselves. In order to harvest the crops and get paid, the Chandlers must find cotton pickers to help get the crops to the cotton gin. In order to persevere, they must depend on others. They find two sets of migrant farm workers to assist them with their efforts: the Mexicans, and the Spruills - a family from the Arkansas hills that pick cotton for others each year. In reading the book, the reader learns quickly that l...
Jackson is proud of his heritage and throughout the story references the way of the Indians, whilst befriending and conversing with a number of other tribal relatives. Jackson, even admits, “Being homeless is probably the only thing I’ve ever been good at. at.” Despite his failure, he is still an Indian man, searching for a proclamation of his. heritage in his grandmother’s regalia.
...f their family (Jackson 867). In everyday life, we posses the same selfish attitude portrayed in the story. What is one of a child’s favorite words? It’s "mine!" We constantly say well "it’s better you than me" and "it’s every man for himself." It’s pretty scary _when you actually think about it, because you realize we really are that selfish.
Michael Jackson’s Life Span: Born on August 29th, 1958 and died on June 25th, 2009.
The accused, Jesse James Whyte (20) is not on probation and has no outstanding warrants or criminal charges.
As the workers stopped and moved to the factory cafeteria, Jackson hurried outside the factory, oblivious to any possible dangers and hindrances. At the factory gates, he had a better view of smoke which seemed to beckon at him as it towered and curled in the sky. Opposite him was the wall which barricaded the citizens from the outside world, as well as their freedom and their voice. He ran over and grasped the top of the wall, almost losing his grip. He pulled himself up and stoop on top. Jackson was about was to break his chains and unlock the door to a new world, a new
What makes a hero a hero? A noble birth? Saving someone life? What makes one a hero? To me, there is much quality that makes a hero a hero and I believe that Bo Jackson shows much quality of an epic hero. Growing Bo Jackson did not have the ideal childhood. He was left without a father figure when his dad left him and his mother. The kid would bully him causing him to be the bully. Yet that was just a faze for Bo and he became to be a person that shows many great qualities of an epic hero. For example, he shows many traits like national heroism, is capable of deeds of great strength and courage, shows and the importance of humility.