Chapter+33

  Chapter 33-Flashes! Summary: It's just after Justine's pizza party and Justine is walking Carl home. Carl starts to open up to Justine about how he really feels. He feels as though he is the one who always gets short-changed. Justine is glad that Carl now realizes that because before she felt that he was the only one who didn't see it. Justine says that Carl is coming alive and that he was playing dead and now he is alive. She said Carl's mother was the one who short-changed her the most. Carl said "... Yes,yes it hurts. That's what I mean about seeing things in flashes. I think of you and Maddie and I feel like I'm going to faint 'cause it feels so good and then I think about mum and everything goes dark around the edges.". He realises doesn't want to be dead anymore but he can't help it, that is what he learnt to do. He realizes that he needed to be loved by his Mum and loved by others. Justine and Carl hugged. They stayed there for a while until Justine left without a word. Carl has been cheated into believing no one loves him Justine realizes this and finds herself becoming more and more attached to him. She says"Don't play dead anymore, Carl."

What we learnt:

We learn that Carl doesn't like to pretend. He is sick of playing dead. I don't want to, I'm so sick of it, I want to be alive! Carl yells. pg.185. We learn about Justine and how she feels about Carl. Carl expresses his true feelings about his mother and we learn that he is very upset with his mother but also very confused about how he feels.

Themes: Friendship: Justine finds herself becoming more and more attached to Carl and they start to become quite good friends. Survival: Carl talks to Justine about his mother and how he is surviving without her. Family relationships: Carl realizes that the relationship with his mother is gone and that he doesn't know what to think about her anymore.

 Homework Activity: Think of your Mum. Think of how she loves you. Now pretend your Mum wasn't there. And you desperately wanted her to be. You wanted her to love you and she didn't. How would you feel? What would be going through your head? Write a paragraph(3-4 lines) about how you would feel or react.

