The Interpreter of Maladies

Foreshadowing is when there is a warning or an indication of a future event. The author focuses on this moment so that we will know that something will happen later on in this short story because one of the kids is paler than the others. Since Mr. Kapasi is an interpreter of maladies, he might have noticed that the boy may be ill with something, and it could be serious because he is so pale.

The Red Convertible

1) An Indian reservation where Lyman and his brother Henry live.

2) He thinks that the army completely changed his brother and turned him into a totally different person.

3) Symbolism is an indirect suggestion to express ideas, emotions and states of mind. The red convertible represents Henry. When they first bought it, it was a lot of fun and looked brand new. After a while it got beat up and wasn't as fun anymore, but one night it was just as fun as it used to be when they had first bought it. Then it got stuck in the rushing currents of the river and never came back, like Henry.

4) The Cold War/The Vietnam War had just ended in the 70's, so this would be where the author got most of his story and ideas from.

A White Heron

She felt a connection with the heron because she knew that it was helpless. She knew that the heron depended on her completely. The heron represents and is symbolic of trust. The relationship between Sylvia and the cow was that she felt like the cow Moolly was her best friend. She also loved taking care of her and spending time with her.

Ending: The Body of Christopher Creed

The Body of Christopher Creed was a great book, although I was kind of confused at the end of it. I loved the book, especially the surprise twist ending. In a way, it's almost better that Chris was never found. There is not really any closure in this story at all other than the fact that the body of Bob Haines was finally found after years of people wondering where he had gone.

One theory that I have is that maybe Chris has been standing by watching his hometown and Torey go through all kinds of trouble just to find him. Maybe that is all that Chris wanted to do, just to see how much people actually care about him. Also, Chris may be communicating with Torey secretly through Torey's site. For example, the note that he received on his site came from someone who obviously had a lot to say about the situation and had a fairly good idea of the way things possibly could have really happened with Creed before his disappearance.

"Woobees"

A woobee is something that is used to calm someone done. Like pacifiers for babies or stuffed animals and "blankies" for children. When something is bothering them or they are scared, those things help them to calm down and feel better/more secure.Torey's woobee is his guitar. He was freaking out and all that he had to do was play his guitar and he calmed down and felt better about the situation. 

When I was younger, I had a blue stuffed animal teddy bear. I named him Teddy because I couldn't think of a name and every time I was scared or upset I would hold onto him and everything felt like it would get better and I wasn't so scared or upset anymore.

The Body of Christopher Creed Quote

In chapter 2 on the bottom of page 19, Torey was bored in church. While looking at a stained glass window inside the church, he noticed that Christ was wearing a loincloth while being crucified. Then he remembered that Christ was actually naked when he was crucified. It bothered him that they had changed what supposedly really did happen into something else because "the truth was too disgusting." It made him wonder if people did that all the time and he just never realized it.

"I wondered if it was a good thing to change a story because the truth is too disgusting." (ch. 2 pg. 19) This quote is very important to the story because we know that Torey will have to convince people that Christopher Creed is really still alive. What if he really does think that changing a story to make it less disgusting was a good thing? If people found out that he was changing stories because he couldn't handle the truth, no one would ever believe him. This also shows us that Torey thinks a lot about what other people might be doing or thinking.

Chapter 23 (IKWCBS)

Students, parents and esteemed colleagues. You have all come so far in these past 4 years. Many of the goals that you had set for yourselves in your freshman year, you have accomplished. And this now shows you, that you are capable of achieving your dreams.

To see how far African-American people have come in the past 40 years is incredible. There are absolutely no limits to the things that you can become and the things that you can do. For people like Barrack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Martin Luther King Jr., who saw how hard it was to work you're way up in a world that saw them differently and thought little of the things that they could do proves how strong you really are. It also shows what can be accomplished if you keep working towards your goal, no matter what stands in your way.

All of you intelligent men and women have proven that you are capable of doing anything if you just set your mind to it. No matter the color of your skin, or what you religion may be, each one of you is a strong individual who has worked their way up and proven time and time again that we are all equal. And that success should not be about what you look like or you believe in, but how you got to where you are now, and what you had to overcome.