Zach Mandigo > Recent Status Updates

Eilis’s final decision about where she belongs shows how much she has changed since the beginning. She no longer depends on others to guide her choices. Colm Tóibín uses this moment to show her full growth from the scared girl she was coming over to the U.S. from Ireland to now, as she chooses her own future with new found confidence and independence. Eilis shows us that it takes time to grow and move forward.

Eilis’s relationship with Tony shows her becoming more emotionally open and confident. She begins to form her own identity separate from her past. Colm Tóibín uses this to show how relationships can help someone grow and change for the better just like how this has happened with Eilis and Tony. This relationship also helps Eilis feel more at home being included in a family environment again.

Eilis taking night classes shows her desire to improve her future and become more independent. Instead of just following what others expect, she begins making choices for herself. Colm Tóibín uses this to show her growing confidence and taking control of her own life instead of just following others' plans and their expectations. This shows her gaining independence and more confidence.

Eilis starting her job in America shows how she slowly begins to adjust to her new life. At first she feels nervous, out of place, and very homesick, but over time she becomes more comfortable. I think Colm Toibin uses this to show that growth doesn’t happen all at once, but through small, everyday changes and time. This is realistically just like life so by doing this Toibin really connects to us readers.

Eilis’s homesickness in America shows how difficult change really is. Even with new opportunities, she feels lonely and disconnected from her past, which makes her question where she belongs. This connects to A Psalm for the Wild-Built, where Dex also feels uncertain and searches for purpose. Both books show that leaving your old life behind can be uncomfortable, and that finding yourself takes time.

Eilis getting the chance to go to America shows how little control she has over her own life. The decision is mostly made by others, and she goes along with it instead of speaking up. This shows how unsure and uneasy she feels. Colm Tóibín uses this to show how her future is shaped by outside forces, making me predict that her journey will be about finding independence and her own voice.

It's interesting how much golf Rose plays so far in the book. I think that Colm Toibin does this purposely using golf as an example to show that it's not just a hobby for Rose but an escape. It shows Rose's independence and desire for a different life beyond her town. Since golf is tied to higher status, I think that it also suggests that she is reaching for something more.

So far, Miss Kelly seems to be shown as strict and controlling, especially at work. She judges Eilis and others a lot, and seems to act like she's better than them too. Her attention to every small detail makes Eilis feel watched and limited. Colm Tóibín uses her to show the pressure on Eilis early. I believe that this will be one of the reasons why she leaves for America to escape the constraints back home.

In Brooklyn, Eilis seems to help hold her family together. On page 3 Toibin writes, “As her mother washed the dishes, Eilis dried them,” she helps without being told. She has supported her family in quiet ways like this a couple times already. I think that the author does this to show her caring nature early on in the book and that when she leaves for America later that this will really hurt their family.

By the end of the book, Dex has clearly changed. At first, they feel guilty about how humans treated the robots, so they avoid asking Mosscap for help. As the story continues, Dex begins to trust Mosscap and work alongside it. Becky Chambers does this to show that growth comes from understanding and connection. She suggests to us readers that healing the past starts with building honest relationships.

I’m really interested in how the robots are made from parts of older robots. They carry small pieces of memory from the past. But if they share the same parts, how do they become someone different? This is like people. We inherit traits and stories from our families through generations, yet we still become our own person. I think Becky Chambers does this to explore what truly creates identity in humanity.

I really like Mosscap. He is thoughtful and surprisingly smart, especially when he talks about animals and wilderness trails. Still, I’m a little suspicious because he seems almost too interested in humans. I think Becky Chambers does this to make us readers curious and create tension. By making him both wise and mysterious, she shows us that trust takes time and that understanding others isn’t instant.

I found Dex's meeting with Mosscap very unexpected and meaningful, because the moment is quiet instead of dramatic. I feel like Mosscap is a very important character and one the author would have introduced in a bigger moment. By keeping the meeting calm and thoughtful though, Chambers shows us readers that understanding grows through listening. This reminds us that change often begins with small, honest talks.

In the first half so far I’ve noticed how Becky Chambers loves to focus on small moments. She writes about Dex slowly making tea, engaging in deep conversations, and walking quietly along the forest. Instead of big action, she gives us stillness. I think she is trying to do this to show us to slow down and look for and cherish these small moments that our society usually skips.

In A Psalm for the Wild-Built, crickets are mentioned frequently at the beginning of the book. They have an underappreciated role in our ecosystem and are often viewed as background noise. I think Becky Chambers does this to mirror Dex’s job as a tea service which is quiet, steady, and easily overlooked, yet still meaningful just like a cricket.

I think the whole situation and Jim's advice feels ironic in Chile. Even as Changez feels isolated and judged for who he is from himself and the others around him, he’s told to block out his emotions and focus on performance. I think this shows how Underwood Samson values efficiency over empathy, treating workers as tools rather than people. Chenez doesn't like this and this is why he gets driven away.

I’m starting to get why Mohsin Hamid made the main character's name Chengez. This is because he is constantly changing. Chengez sounds a lot like changes and this is what Chengez keeps constantly doing in this book, he changes his personality and act to fit into the rich model of an underwood samson employee and to match the American society.

I’m interested in how American culture has influenced Changez’s way of thinking. Small changes, like focusing on status, money, and outward appearances instead of relationships, lead him to see his own home and personal life as less meaningful. Even when he realizes this, it shows how much his values and perspective have shifted, reflecting the pressure he feels to fit into our American society.

Changez appears to have everything figured out, with a strong job with Underwood Samson, a relationship with Erica, and a high social status. However, this success feels forced like it's the american dream but not Changez's. He changes how he acts and hides his real feelings to fit into American society, he's almost pretending in order to feel accepted.

Page 119 shows more about Jim’s character. I think Jim represents what Changez could become if he fully adapted to American culture. They have similar jobs and backgrounds, and Jim seems professional and educated like Changez. He also appears to have little or no social life, which makes him similar to Changez.

It's interesting to me how Erica is still stuck thinking about Chris throughout the book so far, which keeps her distant from Changez. Changez really cares about Erica, but she cannot return his feelings. I think Hamid includes Erica to symbolize America, someone/thing Changez cares about but who cannot fully accept him, especially after 9/11, showing his sense of rejection, not belonging, and being out of place.

I was very interested in the interview with Jim on pages 6–15. His questions surprised me because they felt very personal for a job interview. I think Jim asked them on purpose to see if Changez could get past his emotions. Jim will likely keep teaching Changez this lesson, and Changez will need it later in the book when a problem arises to control his feelings.

I think the author was very strategic when naming characters in The Reluctant Fundamentalist. A prime example of this is with Erica. Erica’s name sounds a lot like “America,” and the author did this purposefully as she almost represents and acts like the country. She seems kind and exciting to Changez at first, but she is emotionally distant, showing that America welcomes him but does not fully accept him.

I noticed how the author Mohsin Hamid stresses competition in the United States. Page 4 shows this when Changez describes Princeton “lifting her skirt” for recruiters. This image suggests that these universities sell themselves to win elite jobs for students. Hamid is criticizing the system here in the U.S. that values status and profit over learning and development.

When Wes sits alone in his office after confronting Uncle Frank, Larry Watson makes the room feel weighted with more than just silence. It’s a moment where Watson shows us that justice isn’t clean or heroic, it’s painful specifically in the case of Wes. His stillness represents his thoughts about how this will change everything around him in his life.

On page 102 Gail searches frantically through her purse after Wes tells her that Uncle Frank is locked in the basement. Watson shows her digging for a solution that isn’t there. I think it's a useless action that reveals how lost she feels, she’s reaching for anything that might make this situation make sense.

Wes has been collecting evidence for some time now but seems to not want to convict Frank. Wes has to face the difficult decisions of favoring his brother or doing his lawful duty for his job. I think Larry Watson does this to show how difficult Wes’s job really is and how he may not be able to handle this. In the second memory in the prologue it shows Wes in distress. Larry Watson is eluding this may be coming up.

I think it’s concerning when Davey kills a magpie on page 72. He talks about feeling the power and being almost engulfed by it. I think Larry Watson put this in too foreshadow about David's future. He’s falling into that classic theme that the book brings up all the time about power structure as he feels this power. He may crave this power to the extreme like Uncle Frank when he grows up.

On page 58 when Davey, Gail, and Wes pull into Davey's grandparents house for dinner Larry Watson described Uncle Frank's truck being in the driveway looking older and more battered than usual. I think that this is referring to Frank himself at this time as he is looking older with the stress of having a chance of being caught and ruining his perfect reputation that he's tried to show his whole life.