The God of War

The God of War by Marisa Silver is a heart wrenching novel on how a young boy is thrown into a life full of responisbility which becomes too much for him. 12 year old Ares' lives in a very desolate place which isnt visited by many other people on a usual basis. He has a 6 year old step brother whom was a witness to a murder but cannot tell anyone due to his disabilities. He cares for his brother because his mother doesnt care. Ares' longs for a different life, he wants to be in combat, in war, anywhere but in the trailer park where he lives looking after his brother, Malcom. The closest thing he gets to fun is to go out into the desert where he and his brother play war games. Ares' feels as if he is the only one protecting Malcom from a harsh world. Until he meets the librarian who starts tutoring Malcom, he becomes friends with her and he soon trusts her. This novel shows how some children must provide for their younger siblings in a time of need. No one makes these children help they choose to do it because of the undying love they have for their siblings. In countries which are facing war, and poverty siblings are all that is left to hold onto. Parents have been forced to go into combat and usually dont return, kids are given guns to help fight, their made to grow up sooner than they should which puts them in harms way because of all the dangerous possibilities of what could happen to them. Most die, but some live with the burden of knowing they are responsible for their family, if they have one, and without even knowing why they were made to kill someone. In this novel you see this from a great point of view which tells all.

Blindness by Jose Saramago

The novel Blindness by Jose Saramago is about a city which is suddenly hit by an epidemic of a 'white blindness'. It all starts with one young man who suddenly becomes blind while waiting for a stoplight to change. This part of the book was in my opinion the most critical, because no one knows how he caught this or why it came on all the sudden out of nowhere. After this part things seemed to get worse, and worse. It was as if everyone who came in contact with this man contracted this so called "disease" and spread it to everyone they came in contact with. When so many people caught this "disease" the government decided to make a blind institute, where everyone who had this was made to go. But, one mans wife snuck into the institute to be with her husband by faking blindness. Once she was into the institute she used her sight as a gift to help all of the others with everyday things such as: eating, walking, and finding the restrooms and bedrooms. She continued to help those who came until finally there were so many people she couldnt help all of them. This novel was depressing in my opinion. It showed how someones life could change in the blink of an eye without one solitary warning. It also showed how hard life is or can be if you are blind. This book only showed the bad sides of being blind. It never once stated how being blind could be good. Such as when you have the ability to see you judge people by the way they look, seem, and act. But if your blind you only judge people by whats on the inside and the way they present themselves through words. Which is the only thing that should matter to anyone.