Reading Log Questions: Who to Blame?

How does Hal use blame to protect Cully and himself?  What is Hal trying to protect himself from?

Hal has struggled with the concept of blame throughout his life. Years ago, he blamed himself for his alcoholism and his adultery. Now, he is desperately trying to protect Cully and himself from blame. Cully has made many mistakes recently that are affecting his reputation, and Hal cannot stand to see that. He knows what it is like to hit rock bottom, and since Cully is his pride and joy, he will not let it happen to Cully. Hal is blinded by his love for his son. So Hal is doing anything that he can to protect Cully. And one of the ways that he is doing that is by deflecting the blame away from Cully and himself. So, he starts blaming Willa for her own rape, saying that “there always were and always would be girls like that” (Steinke 149). He blames Cully’s friends for being a bad influence, saying that Cully “...left the house most afternoons and didn’t come back until late” (Steinke 130). He essentially blames everyone but Cully and himself. Hal refuses to let go of the past, of the time when Cully was his best friend, the one who saved his life and helped him clean up his act. He will not admit that Cully has changed and should accept some of the blame that he has brought upon himself. Hal is trying to protect himself from having to live in the present. He is comfortable living in the past; he cannot stand to face his current situation. Hal uses blame to deflect his own emotions of pain and anger onto other people so that he does not have to deal with them. He is projecting his struggles onto other people instead of taking responsibility for his and Cully’s actions.

Discuss Dex’s mother’ reaction to learning that perhaps Dex attended the party.  Who does she blame?  What does her response reveal about her character?

Dex’s mother loves Dex very much. She is a genuinely good person and places a lot of trust in her son and his decision-making skills. She is horrified by what went on at that party, and she is one of the only people who believes that the boys, especially Cully, should be held accountable for their actions and mistakes. She sticks up for the underdog, in this case, Willa, asking “why didn’t [the boys] do anything to stop it? It just kills me that boys here would do that…” (Steinke 181). Unlike the rest of the town, she does not blame Willa for what happened at the party. Dex’s mom refuses to drop the topic, and Dex explains how it bothers “...him that she couldn’t let it go” (Steinke 181). Dex’s mom is using blame to criticize the boys at the party. She is publicly criticizing them so that everyone in the town can see that what they did was wrong, and to make sure that nothing like it ever happens again.

Choose an institution (marriage, government, academic, church, family, mass media)  to discuss why “they” are speaking and why “they” are blaming.

The church is a powerful institution in Friendswood. The lives of most of the townspeople revolve around the church. So, it is natural that when there is a tragedy in the small town (Willa’s rape), Willa’s family turns to the church for solace and answers. Willa’s father forces her to go to pastor Spark. He is speaking on behalf of the church, and he is viewed as the link between God and the people. He speaks because he is believed to have authority and the ability to give helpful advice. However, he begins to blame Willa for what happened to her. He asks her questions such as, “you sure you weren’t drinking anything that day, Willa?” (Steinke 187). Willa realizes that she is not in a safe place, and she starts to feel apprehensive about sharing any information with the pastor. The pastor is using blame to punish Willa. He believes that Willa has made a mistake, and that she must be punished for the horrible acts that she committed at that party. When Willa tells him that she is having frightening visions, he dismisses her beliefs. Willa’s is surprised, thinking “it hadn't occurred to her that he’d accuse her of arrogance” (Steinke 189). After her visit to the church, Willa realizes more than ever that she has nowhere to turn, no solid support system.

Work Cited

Steinke, Rene. Friendswood. New York: Penguin Random House, 2014. Print.

Friendswood Reading Log: The Issue of Institutions

Discuss the perception of the City Hall officials to Lee. How do they treat her? What quotes support this? Are they fulfilling their responsibility to protect?

The City Hall officials are fed-up with Lee. They consistently brush off her concerns and worries. They treat her as though she is a bother to the community. Lee asks the officials, “how many times have I been here saying the same thing? Twenty times? Thirty times? A hundred times? Well, that’s right, and I’ll say it again” (Steinke 90). So Lee is giving the exact same speech every time, but strengthening her argument and adding more evidence each time. However, the City Hall officials and the entire town, for the most part, have moved on. Avery Taft desperately wants to build on the Rosemont site, arguing that “people need work. Times are hard. And, damn it, they still need houses. Affordable ones” (Steinke 91). But Lee is doing everything in her power to stop him. Some could argue that she cares too much, that she is living in the past, that she is wasting her time trying to stop the strong institution of the City Hall. But she is passionate about her research. She has worked tirelessly for over ten years to bring justice for her daughter’s death. If her efforts end fruitlessly, all of her hard work will have been for nothing. She would have wasted ten years of her life collecting soil samples and meticulous research for nothing. Her marriage would have been ruined for nothing. She would feel like she did not fulfill her purpose, like she let her daughter down. City Hall is trying to limit her right to speak up for her beliefs. They have a problem because she is going against their best interests. The whole city of Friendswood wants to move on from the Rosemont disaster, yet Lee stands in the way of that. City Hall is not fulfilling their responsibility to protect their citizens every time that they brush off Lee, or attempt to belittle the exhaustive work that she has done. Lee may be the dissenting voice in the town, but she and her views still must be protected regardless.

Discuss the response of the EPA to Lee. What is their response to her? What quotes support this? Are they fulfilling their responsibility to protect?

Not only is Lee facing adversity from the City Hall, she is also fighting with the EPA. She lost all trust in the EPA years ago, and does not believe that they are acting in the best interest of the townspeople. So that’s why she felt the need to take matters into her own hands. She is disappointed in the way the EPA handles the Rosemont case. The EPA representative,Ms. Dawson, whom Lee challenges in City Hall is trying to act interested in Lee’s claims, but it also appears that she is sick of dealing with Lee, as she listened to Lee and “..nodded aggressively, her mouth screwed tight” (Steinke 89). Ms. Dawson addresses the City Hall by stating that “we’ve done extensive testing, and we’ve found with our scoring systems for near-term decisions, there is no real risk to human health from these chemicals” (Steinke 88). However, Lee fires back with her own research, claiming “I have some photographs here that prove something else might be going on…” (Steinke 89). She continues angrily, saying “I have charts and data on the cancer rates of residents, most of them living within two miles of Rosemont. They are five times the national average. How the hell can this not be a threat to human health?” (Steinke 89). Ms. Dawson eventually agrees half-heartedly to take a look at Lee’s findings. However, it is the EPA’s job to protect the environment, and if there is even a trace of doubt that the Rosemont site is not safe for construction, then the EPA should still be out there, working and scouring the with just as much effort as Lee. But they are not. They are not fulfilling their duty as a powerful, trusted organization.

Work Cited

Steinke, Rene. Friendswood. New York: Penguin Random House, 2014. Print.

When is it okay to dissent? Who should speak?

When is it okay to dissent? Who should speak? It is okay to dissent or speak out, when the majority is going against your morals and ethics. It is okay to dissent when you are passionate about the topic that is being discussed. It is okay to speak out when you have a personal link to the topic. Everyone has different ideas and opinions, and to be able to dissent and speak out is to be able to be heard. For example, in Friendswood, Lee is the main dissenter against the oil company and the construction companies trying to build on the oil-ravaged land. Her town was evacuated years ago and she is still collecting soil samples, trying to prove that the area is still contaminated, explaining that if her efforts “...don’t stop that construction permit [she doesn’t] know what will” (Steinke 31). People in the town constantly talk about her “strange” behavior and condemn what she is doing. The man who is trying to build on the land complains that “...if she makes a big enough stink, well, nutty as she is, it could affect the sale of my homes” (Steinke 49). But the citizens don’t understand that she is trying to protect others from the terrible fate that her daughter suffered. People do not understand that the death of her daughter tore her family apart, and that she has never fully recovered from it. She is the person who is speaking up because she truly believes that the area is dangerous, and she does not want to see anyone else negatively affected by the chemicals. She is has a strong personal link when it comes to the oil industry. People of the town are afraid to speak up or dissent, even when they think that what is happening is wrong, because they are afraid of the consequences or the backlash. However, Lee has already suffered the ultimate consequence, the loss of her daughter. She has nothing to lose by speaking out.

Lee is making a bold move by standing up to the oil and construction companies. In a similar way, speaking out against rape, or challenging a rapist, is also unfortunately a bold move. In today’s rape culture, the victim is usually treated very poorly and the rapist is often given the benefit of the doubt. A 23-year old woman at a party at Stanford tragically found that out firsthand when she was raped behind a dumpster by a Stanford athlete named Brock Turner while she was unconscious. The unidentified woman was saved by two students who happened to be riding by on their bikes. They heroically stopped the rape, and then later spoke out about the horrific scene they witnessed that night. One of them was “...crying so hard he couldn’t speak because of what he’d seen” (Stanford Victim’s Letter 8). Those two boys spoke about their experience because they both had morals and ethics that would not allow them to remain silent. They believed that what happened was wrong. Similarly, the victim of the rape also spoke out, a bold and rare move in today’s society unfortunately. But she refused to let herself become another statistic, another voiceless face in a sea of silent rape victims. So she wrote a powerful letter to her attacker, condemning his actions and tragically detailing how her life has been turned upside-down since the rape, saying that “[her] independence, natural joy, gentleness, and steady lifestyle [she] had been enjoying became distorted beyond recognition” (Stanford Victim’s Letter 11). Many victims are afraid to speak up about their experience, but she was not. She knew that what Brock Turner did was wrong, and she wanted to let the world know that rape should never, ever be taken lightly.

Similarly to the situation that Lee is facing in Friendswood, in East Chicago, Indiana, over one thousand residents are being forced out of their homes because their soil contains toxic amounts of lead in it. And several of the residents are speaking up. They are outraged that they were not informed until a month ago that “...even the top six inches of soil in their yards had up to 30 times more lead than the level considered safe for children to play in” (Goodnough 2). They believe that the EPA and their own government has failed them. The residents are speaking up because they are passionate about not wanting to leave their homes, and “...some older residents said they resented being forced out,” because this is where they have built their lives. One resident said “if I’d known that the dirt had lead, [my son] would not have been out there playing in it” (Goodnough 1). They are clearly passionate about protecting their children and they are worried about the children’s health. These residents will not be pushed out of their homes without a fight, and they are determined to speak out, regardless of the consequences, until people listen to what they have to say.

Lee is Friendswood, the two Stanford students and the rape victim, and the citizens of East Chicago, Indiana, are all speaking out. They are speaking out because the majority is going against their morals and ethics. They are speaking out because they are passionate about the topic that is being discussed. They are speaking out because they have personal links to the topic. They may all be speaking out about different topics, but overall, they just want their voices to be heard. They want to make a difference in this world.