Woah, is all I have to say…followed by the subsequent paragraphs.

Theres a lot of things that i want to say about this novel as its being understood by me. First off id like to say that i personally am excited because, ITS A TIME TRAVEL STORY!! I personally love time travel, and as soon as Luciente told Connie he was from 2137(p.44), I was like “whatttttt”, totally not expecting that, which made my nose instantly in this book, and secondly, clarified the contents of the first chapter, just like Chris mentioned, since technically everything is happening backwards, and forwards simultaneously, because time travel, and how Piercy decided to structure her writing (genius). Its a kind of trip really, for we have, as the reader, experienced what happened in the first chapter, kinda slow and dragged out, just to give you a sense of the surroundings type thing, never any mention of whats going on or anything. Then chapter 2 onward was like woahh, this is really happening, we see everything that happened before she was commited, even though, technically it never happened to begin with, because time travel. I really could go on a whole tangent about this, but i wont because that would take FOREVER, but i wouldnt mind discussing it in class. Its an interesting book especially the characters, how right off the bat were thrust into their lives. Connie is someone that i can relate to as a human. Not that ive been in this situation before, because lets face it, if i was, i would take advantage of that however which way i could, but i digress. Connie is someone who has and is experiencing psychological distress, something that is both common and uncommon, common in that everyone deals with something mental from time to time, uncommon in that we deal with it, instead we sweep it under the floor.

Thats relatable, if i had a nickle for all the times id tried to hide and cover up my problems instead of dealing with it head on, id have like two bucks and change. And thats clever, because she claims that she doesnt need help, and that shes been commited and institutionalized before, and thats all fine and dandy, yet we dont really see any of that, all we see is her pain, something that people deal with, under the surface. Albeit the pain was inflicted by another (Scumbag Geraldo, which is something else i could go on a tangent about) she still seems to be suffering from the pain dealt to her by her life. Her past experinces still haunt her, and thats something that we all at some point deal with,and yet she refuses to be in this place, mainly because back then places like that didnt care about you just getting through their workday but thats something else entirely. Its hard for people to cope with the past, when thir future looks like what the past ended up being. Its scary to feel and be alone, to have everything you held near and dear vanish into the endless void of pain and suffering, it really is, Connie however has endured and put up with all the Bull in part to the fact that she is a survivor. The major characteristic that make Connie a relatable character, is that shes a Latino women living in the slums of New York City, well slums for its time, now that area is coming up rather well but whatever. Anyway, as a Latino male in NYC now, its not that difficult, theres struggle but not so much that i have a break down every know and then. To be honest i live rather comfortably for this era; that being said i know what its like to live in that time through the stories my grandparents and my parents told me as they grew with the city. It was hard and it was cut throat living. Everyone looking out for themselves, my grandparents had no idea what they were doing when they arrived here, they had dreams and aspirations, but the hard truth of the matter is that unless you have money or get a break you’re most likely to stay in that social state until times change.Just like Connie, she was a little girl who had big dreams and wanted to make a better life for herself (p.38) but because of bad luck, or the universe having bigger plans for her with the introduction of Luciente, those plans crumbled. Yet, and this is my belief, she survived because of where she came from, maybe its just me being proud of my Latino roots, but i believe we are a people of survivors. Connie put up with all her hardships and still carried on, so too did my grandparents, and my parents, and now we live pretty dam good, because of resiliance, something i feel is lacking in todays society, but thats just me. But it looks as if time are changing for Connie, and hopefully things get better for her.

Now in regards to her mental state, shes a woman thats fell on hard times (P.17-18), ive witnessed the turmoil and depression that follows a mother on the verge of losing their child, yet i cant begin to imagine the type of pain that takes over when that child is stripped out of a mothers arms. She has every right to feel how she feels, for being unjustly condemned to live the life she lives. Yet she keeps on, weak she may be but determined to do something about it, or at least she dreams of that, because as i mentioned earlier, unless a miracle happens youre most likely gonna stay where you are, ESPECIALLY during that time she lived in. From what i understand about my neighborhoods history, i live in what used to be a pretty horrible ghetto, prostitutes, drugs, all types of shit like that, the whole nine yards; yet my family has stayed here and survived and outlived that part of this neighborhoods history, becuase the times changed, regardless if that change was only like 10 years ago, they changed nonetheless. So i have some sort of grasp as to the living conditions that Connie had to endure, which was enough to put strain on anyone, let alone an already damaged person. But i hope, as im sure most of you do, that things turn around for Connie.

And i cant wait to talk about this with you guys in class.