Jack’s Comments (group member since Aug 29, 2017)

Jack’s comments from the Fall 2017 - Comida Con Causa group.

I was picturing in my mind what was going on. I saw their houses, more like cheap shacks in the woods though. I saw tall green grass where the body of the headless gurdia sat. I do sometimes have a hard time understanding the text but for the most part i am getting to know the context. Every author writes different so getting to know and understand Sandra Benitez was kinda a challenge.

The author was trying to tell the story of how people used to suffer back in the day in El Salvador. Not to say that people are not suffering there anymore but she tells the story of the corrupt government. Seems like she is trying to show how miserable and little the people had but they were so grateful for what they had as long as they were safe and with family.

The time in the book when the gurdia stole Tino the baby and the mom got really mad reminds me of when my mom steals my things and keeps them from me I get really mad. Basically the same thing. If I was the mom in the book I would be looking for my baby, trying to get it back. I mean there is not many things you could do during that time to find a kid because they do not have any good resources.

I also agree that what happened with the kids and grandma is very sad. I feel a lot of empathy for them. I agree and can see how El Salvador used to be very uncivilized. It might sound harsh, but the truth hurts.

Jack- "I thought it was really sad how the mom died." I can't believe how it went down, The daughter, boyfriend, and other friend were in the hut and a gunman was outside saying he was gonna come in and shoot everyone if they didn't tell him where another guy was. The boyfriends plan was that he was going to cut the gunman's head off when he came through the door with a machete, but the gunman was holding the mother hostage right in front of him so when the boyfriend saw a body step into the room he took his shot and ended up slitting the mothers throat.

I feel most bad for the daughter because now everyone in her family was gone/dead. Her father was slaughtered by the police, her baby brother Tino was taken by the police, and her mother was murdered on accident. I don't know how I would handle this if it happened to me.

The daughter decided that grieving wasn't going to help at all so she decided to try and move on with her life. She housed with some family friends and started to work on the coffee fields. She is a strong character and I expect her to do some amazing things in the book.