So far, Kaui Hart Hemmings' The Descendants interests me, because it shows the way a family reacts to tragedy and how it changes them. The story begins with narrator, Matt King, in his wife's hospital room (she's been in a coma for almost a month). He comments that its hard to mourn in a place like Hawaii, which begins the juxtaposition of beautiful surroundings with the hardships that the kings face. Hemmings hints at trouble in King's marriage and family life, which I'm guessing sets up an opportunity for him to become a better father and move on with life after his wife dies.
Hemmings does a great job of introducing the King family and the problems that they face (Matt is worried about his parenting of his youngest daughter, Scottie, and, his oldest daughter, Alexandra's drug addiction; he also suspects his wife was having an affair before her coma). I’m really interested in the family dynamics and the underlying tension between family members that Hemmings hints at. I don’t know how I would do a project on this, but I think it would be interesting to do. There are already lot of things about the book interest me (the setting, how death/coma affects the family, public vs. private lives, etc.), so I have a lot of other options for my final project, too.
Hemmings also introduces the underlying conflict between “real” Hawaiians and white Hawaiians. King is part native Hawaiian and part white, but looks white, so he thinks that other native Hawaiians look down on him. King’s situation is even more tension filled, because he is in control of, and about to sell, a huge portion of untouched Hawaiian land, which upsets many islanders.
I started to research Hawaiian history, in case I want to make that the focus of my project. In The Descendants, Matt King says that his family has owned the piece of land that he is selling since 1810, and I just found that that’s when King Kamehameha I united the islands, making them one kingdom. I want to find out more about when Americans came to Hawaii, because I think that could help me understand the King’s background better.
I’m really excited to finish this book. I think I will be able to come up with a good project from it. I’ll probably do something about family dynamics or how people change under and cope with hardships, but my favorite thing about the book is the setting, so I might try to come up with something having to do with Hawaii instead. I think the history of Hawaii would be interesting to research, and it would make the history of the King family more clear, which could help me better understand the tensions between the different types of Hawaiians in the story.
I think researching the setting (history of Hawaii) would be a great lens through which to look at your book -- it sounds like the setting has everything to do with the events, characters, history... As a close reader, I think you have struck something. I also think that maybe secondary research about pressure/trauma (which, again, I think the setting might also get at) change family dynamics would also lend depth to your pieces. Good work!
ReplyDeleteYes I Think this book is pretty interesting! I think i'll start reading it myself. I do like how you looked deeper into it. Like when you explained a juxtaposition. What made you pick this book? Any personal experiences? I only ask because with he book I'm reading, I was able to identify with the story overall. But all i would say is that you should make sure you go really deep into the project because I think this could be very unique. I do like how you connected the history of Hawaii with the King Family as well. I definitely learned some things reading this first post I'm going to take a couple things from you!
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