1. Willa is a mysterious girl who enjoys writing poetry. Her and her dad used to go running and talk about everything but his schedule at work changed and he didn't have the same amount of time. She had a crush on Cully but feels unnoticed. "There had been a girl, reaching up with both arms for Willa to hold her" (Steinke 21). "Yesterday, in the tree outside her window, Willa saw a small, round, gray woman, reaching up her arms as if to be held or to praise, but Willa refused her any attention, because there was homework to do" (Steinke 57). It seems that her visions have to do with insecurities. It is evident that these visions occur frequently and unwillingly. It's hard for her to get rid of these visions, as hard as she tries. The book says "The poetry she wrote might be tripping her brain to this angle" (Steinke 57). In Dex's part she was described as mysterious and having weird tendencies.
2. Dex's character is mediocre based on his status in school. He does not belong to the "weird" people but he does not belong to the jocks. Dex's mother is funny to all of his friends and she has a lively personality. His mom has diabetes and he says that " he doubted any man would love his mother again" (Steinke 38-39). It doesn't seem like Dex is very close with his sister but he's responsible for looking out for her. His friends on the football team don't appreciate him as much or let him play. likes her and went to the party to look for her but he couldn't find her. The friends bully him and don't let him play on the team
3. Hal is Cully's father an alcoholic. He works for Avery Taft in real estate and it takes up much of his time even though he still needs money. When Hal talks about Cully its mostly about how good he is a football and how much he admires him for it. Hal often thinks of Darlene in a very sexual way. "When her breasts had looked full and while in the lamplight, and she'd said how much she needed him" (Steinke 44-45).
4. Lee is a woman who lives next to Hal, he describes her as someone who looks good for fifty (Steinke 50). She wears Jack's clothes (her husband) after he left her. She has lost her daughter to cancer. This event changed her life significantly being that she doesn't even like being social anymore. She is gossiped about often in the town and people pity her. "She's actually paid a shitload of money for a study of the ground soil" (Steinke 49). Her dedication to finding the cause of her daughters death still reoccurs. The fact that she's paying so much money shows how much it affected her.
6. In April of 2014, Flint Michigan had a water crisis. It all started when the city decided to switch their water supply. Complaints were ignored and damage to the pipes and lead in the water was too bad to reverse before they realized it was actually true. The communities drinking water had a series of problems including lead contamination. "In flint, between 6,000 and 12,000 children have been exposed to drinking water with high levels of lead and they may experience a range of serious health problems" ("Flint Michigan"). Residents made several lawsuits that were filed against government officials. Millions of dollars were used to try and repair the situation but the damage was already done. The connection I made with the two scenarios is the amount of money spent by Lee and the ignorance that goes along with these disastrous events.
7. The EPA did not take responsibly for all the leakage and damages done, instead they acted ignorant and without precautions. They are not fulfilling their role as it relates to the community members. "Yeah, it's some runoff from the oil refinery, but I checked with the city- the EPA says it's such a small concentration of stuff, it can't hurt anything" (Steinke 28).
Works Cited
Steinke, Rene. Friendswood. New York: Riverhead , a Member of Penguin Group (USA), 2014. Print.
"Flint, Michigan." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2017.
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