Critical Thinking Question: How does this text make you think about justice in the world?

In a typical day, you don't really think so hard about how fair or unfair this world is. You usually think about what you are going to do the next day, or in my case, all of the things I have left to do before I leave on Friday. It usually takes a while to discover all of the problems on the inside, when all you see is the good on the outside. The book Lunch-Box Dream by Tony Abbott deals with justice and racial issues. In this book, the main character Bobby and his brother are called "chocolate" because of their race. These charters' deal with a lot because of their race, and that lead me to think about how it related to justice in our world today.

One way Tony Abbott shows how this book deals with justice in the world, is the theme of racism. Bobby and his brother are called names because of their skin color. "They called them chocolate men, Bobby and his brother"(Abbott 7). This shows that people of the opposite race don't want to accept the fact that they are a different color and they are not like them.  Another example of racism in this book is when Bobby asked if a black person dug graves for people. "Did chocolate men dig graves?"(Abbott 17). This shows racism in a not so obvious way. Bobby asked this question to see if a white or black man dug his grandfathers grave. He was wondering if a white man would dig a grave for a black man, and the other way around. He wanted to know that a black man would provide a resting place no matter what color they were. This relates to the world today for many reasons. A lot of the time, people don't accept people for who they truly are because they are different. In this case, the characters in the book are dealing with race because the whites and the black are different. People need to think of everyone the same because we are all different in our own way, but that doesn't make us anymore  different than anybody else. These are the reasons that racism in this book makes me think about justice in the world in the present day.

Another way this book makes me think about justice in the world is segregation. "As long as we don't have to take the bus. Chocolate people always sit behind you"(Abbott 24). Bobby and his brother Ricky were talking about how they didn't want to sit on the bus. They were happy when their mother revealed that they were going to take the plane back. They didn't want to deal with the drama of having to sit in the back of the bus for a long time with a lot of whites in the front. To him it wasn't fair. Another example of segregation is when Louisa is explaining how Jacob and her husband are going to their grandmothers house. "Hershel sat on the inside of him. Then the white passengers got on, then the driver" (Abbott 27) This shows segregation in more ways than one.  One way this shows segregation is that the whites didn't want to get on the bus at the same tike black people did because they didn't want to mix. Another reason is that during that time period, there was a lot of segregation going on, and there was very minimal mixing of races. To me, this shows that justice in that time period was very little. I think today, we take it for granted that we have come so far.

 All of the people who acted during the civil rights act were very brave, and did an amazing job of helping our country unite as one. Now, there is a surplus of justice. Segregation was a very difficult and bad time. Now we have so much more and a lot more to be thankful for. During the time when there was a lot of chaos there was also a lot of people doing as much as they could to have change. Segregation and racism are problems that people wanted fixed. Although there is some of this left, we are almost to where we want to be. In perfect harmony.

Independent Reading Response: How does money figure in this text?

In the days of the great depression, there was a serious problem with money. In the book "Out of the Dust" by Karen Hesse money played a great portion of this book because of the Dust Bowl. In the book, Billie Jo, the main character, has to go and get money for the family because her dad isn't a very good of a father. Also, after the death of her mother, her father started to care less and less about her.

One way money played a role in this book is the absence of care that Billie Jo's  dad gives her family. First of all, Billie Jo's father didn't even want her. He always wanted to have a son. That is why she has a boy name. When he found out that her mom was pregnant with Billie Jo's brother he was overjoyed. While her mom was pregnant she got burned really bad. When her mom was suffering from the burn Billie Jo had to try and take care of her mother. Her dad on the other hand didn't even care. He was out drinking. The book quotes, "He went out last night. While Ma moaned and begged for water. He drank up all the emergency money until it was gone. I tried to help her…She cried for the pain of the water running into her sores…the whole time my father was in Guymon, drinking." In this situation, money was a huge part of the book plot because it sets what is going to happen afterwards. Her dad was out using all of the money that they had left. Also, it caused Billie Jo's mom to suffer from thirst because her dad wasn't there to give her water. Another reason money is an issue in the is book because of the o Billie Jo's father continues to go out and get drunk. Billie Jo's dad is a very self centered man. He cares mostly about himself. If he is happy then everything is okay. He uses all of the money that they have and he uses it to go and drink. This ties into the other example that he doesn't care that her mother is in agonizing pain. Instead, he goes out, uses all of their money, and goes about himself. That shows how selfish of a man he is, and how this relates to the money issue in this book.

Another reason that money play a big part in the book is the shortage of crops. Because it was very dry, it caused the dust bowl to come. There was also minimal rain for the season. Billie Jo's father had to go to FDR to and ask for a loan because they coudldn't make any money. If there is no crop, there is no money. He promised her dad that until the crop comes, he doesn't have to repay him. Her dad took advantage of that offer. He decided to start over and start from scratch, but the problem was, it didn't rain. It hadn't rained in three years. Because it didn't rain, it caused Billie Jo's dad to go and drink…a lot.

Money played a big role in this book. It caused the future of Billie Jo, and caused her father to go out of control. It caused destruction to the family. It was part of the reason Billie Jo's mother died, and is caused him to start drinking. This was a very major problem in the book because Billie Jo was mainly left to car for herself with minimal support form her father. All in all, money was a big part of this book.