Q2 Outside Reading #3

Would life have been better for the McCourts, especially the young boys, had they stayed in America? I think life would have been all around if they had stayed where they were. Life in Ireland was even harder than their lives back in America, which were already pretty crappy. "That's less than four dollars in American money and how are we supposed to live on that?" (McCourt 63). In Ireland, Malachy was able to gets dole, only nineteen shillings. After they pay rent they will have practically no money left for coal, food and clothing. At least in America they had formed bonds with the grocers and were able to get food if they promised to pay them back. In Ireland that won't work.

 The Irish grew up very differently than Americans. The boys are introduces to bad habits. "She plants the brown stuff in our nostrils and we sneeze so hard the women stop crying and laugh..." (McCourt 64). The Irish women were giving these innocent little boys snuff. In America that would have been looked down upon, but here Angela says nothing about it because that's just how life is. Even though life was hard in America, living in Ireland the McCourt boys were shown new habits and the extreme poverty that the world contains. 

OTW #2

In the movie, there are three groupings of how people view a traitor vs. a whistle blower. One group is the Priest and Edy. They believe that if you know something that's going on that is illegal, then you should inform the authorities. This doesn't make you a traitor in their eyes, it's just doing the right thing. The second grouping is Terry and all the working people. They are the ones who want to tell on the mob, but are afraid for their lives. They don't really consider it being a traitor, but they know that's how the mob would take it and they don't want to anger the mob. The last group is obviously the mob. They think that telling the authorities automatically makes you a traitor. Their stance is that if you have info you better keep your mouth shut.

I believe that if someone, anyone not just the people I care about, are going to be harmed in anyway, then you should tell someone. It shouldn't matter what others think, it's what you think. Also, if your telling just for revenge, or to get someone in trouble, then it's tattle tale. If what the person is doing isn't harming anyone, but you know it would be looked down upon and you tell anyways, then I would consider that person a tattle tale.

AMS Question

Obviously Joe Keller thought the needs of his family took precedent over the needs of the society. Keller sent out faulty parts which ended up being put into planes and killing 21 pilots in the war. "For you, a business for you!"(Miller 70). Keller's reasoning for sending out the parts and killing those people was to make a future for his son. He thought that as long as he provided for his family and continued the business for his son, it didn't matter. In some ways, Chris put the needs of society before the needs of family. Although he worked at the factory, he wouldn't put his name on it. "Because sometimes I think you're... ashamed of the money"(Miller 38). Deep inside him, Chris knew what his father had done. He didn't want to be associated with that because he didn't believe what his father had done was right. 

I believe that family is very important. They are you support system and help you in your times of need. But, there is a limit to when you should support what they do. What Joe Keller did was wrong. His intentions, making a better life for his son, were good, but his actions were wrong. I would never kill people to save my family if there were other options. Keller didn't have to send out the parts, and although he believed he would lose everything he worked for, he could start over somewhere else instead of killing innocent people. But, when you believe that the society is wrong and it's not harming anyone, I would side with my family if I believed they were right.