Drummer Boy of Shiloh

“The Drummer Boy of Shiloh” by Ray Bradbury is focused mainly on Joby, the drummer boy, and how he is feeling. In the story he is encouraged by the General who gives him confidence and the will to try. In the beginning of the story Joby is scared and worried; I think that these feelings are strongly represented by the ongoing theme of darkness.

The setting of the story is midnight and there are constant references to "Night, at midnight, the solemn night". In most stories midnight is usually thought of as the dark spooky time when bad things happen. In most fairy tales and similar children's stories the problems start when the clock strikes midnight. I think that using midnight is a simple and efficient way of representing fear.

One of the most commonly known fears, especially for children is the fear of the dark. Most of the fears that little kids have -something in the closet, monster under the bed, dark thunder clouds- consist of a dark thing or place. Storm clouds scare some little kids because they're big and dark. The closet is dark and you cant see whats inside, same with the underneath of the bed. there are too many shadows to see clearly. If you stop and think about it most of the things you would have been afraid of as a little kid connect to the fear of the dark.

One line in the story is "The boy felt his family move yet farther off into the dark". I think this shows Joby's fear of never being able to see his family again. I think in this case the dark represents a place you are unable to reach. It's really sad if you think about this poor boy, who's only fourteen, never being able to see his family again. I think this would connect with the idea that dark represents death because he would be moving closer and closer towards dying and that would prevent him from ever seeing his family again.

"Shadows, blind, unable to see" were some other terms that Ray Bradbury used. Joby is obviously nervous and scared in the beginning of the story. I think the author really draws out the dark as being something that Joby can't see through or get through. I think this is also shown with other characters. For example- at one point the general seems as though he wants "to strike fire to them (a pile of twigs and leaves) to see his way through the coming days." In this the darkness represents how lost they are and how even their leader might need help to see his way.

In contrast to the dark I think light would represent good things and happiness. "The sun might not show because of whats happening here and just beyond." When thinking of light representing the good, the sun not shining would mean no good and no happiness until the battle ends. In this part of the story the general is describing how wrong the war is. This would have the darkness represent the wrongness of the war. The idea of the sun not coming up just gives you the most horrific image of the coming battle.

Throughout the story the dark is used to represent fear, death, blindness, an unreachable place, and overall terrible things. I think Ray Bradbury really took all he could from that one little midnight.

The Lightning Thief

       This summer I reread Rick Riordan's "The Lightning Thief". I had read it previously and I didn't remember it that well. Rereading it was a little odd because I would sometimes recognize a detail like the name of a hotel and know what was going to happen. Then at other times I would be completely caught off guard by something else. When rereading it I noticed some details about the character that I hadn't noticed before. For example- the way he thought of characters like Clarisse, Mrs.Dodds, Gabe, and Ares- all characters who try to hinder him in some way. He seemed to blame his father for many of his problems, something I didn't pay much attention to before. The more I read the book the less I liked Percy, the main character. On my second time around I noticed how cruel he sometimes was and how selfish and ignorant the character could be. Overall I still enjoyed reading "The Lightning Thief" for a second time.