Chapter 3 and 4

“When I first envisioned myself on the island, a noble creature enshrined among the illiterate masses working in primitive conditions that would have warmed the cockles of Henry Thoreau’s heart, I did not consider my compulsive need for friends and good conversation.” I chose this sentence because I felt that I could really get a sense of how Conroy felt on Yamacraw Island. I think all readers are able to get a sense of his loneliness, but at the same time are able to realize how dedicated he was to his students, because no matter how bad, depressed, or lonely he felt, he never left his students.

                In chapter three, Conroy explains about the school “library”. None of the books found in the school library had any information that the students could relate to. Since most of the children couldn’t read to begin with, Conroy brought in encyclopedias and a sears catalog which turned out to be a favorite among all the students. Their reading time turned out to be a question and answer session. The students would ask questions dealing with the pictures they found throughout their books and Conroy would give an answer. Along with the daily readings, Conroy would always listen to the daily news with his students. Whenever the class learned about something from the news, Conroy would point to the specific location on the map where the incident took place and tell the students a quick fact about that location.  Conroy began what he called a pep rally, where he would ask the students a series of questions and the all the students would call out the answers. Most students seemed to be doing very well memorizing the answers to Conroy’s questions. There were five, however, that would sit back and call out the answers only after the others called them out first. Upon questioning these students Conroy found out they couldn’t count to five or even say their ABC’s. Conroy began to work with these students individually by creating games that would be able to help get them up the level of their classmates.

                In chapter four, Conroy begins to explain about what he did with his time on the island when he wasn’t working with his students. He took daily walks to the beach where he would swim and visit Bloody Point, and would also swim off Mr. Stone’s dock which, unfortunately was surrounded by sharks. Conroy begins a friendship with Zeke Skimberry, and his cussing, but loving wife Lou. It’s during this chapter where we can begin to see Conroy’s loneliness and need for companionship. Fortunately for Conroy, he finds love and companionship in Barbara Bolling Jones, his neighbor in Beaufort. Shortly after meeting Barbara, Conroy finds out that her husband was killed in the Vietnam War and is pregnant with her second child. Overtime Conroy began to fall in love with Barbara and they married on October 10^th, and honeymooned on Yamacraw Island. It was decided that Barbara would stay in Beaufort with the children and Conroy would stay on the island and commute home every weekend. The separation from Barbara only made Conroy more depressed and lonely on Yamacraw Island, which eventually led to his daily commutes from Beaufort to Yamacraw Island. 

The Water is Wide- Chapter 1 and 2

The sentence that stood out to me as being an extremely well written sentence was: “The forest outside the perimeter of the schoolyard was insane with insect voices and the dark seemed darker than any place I had been before.” I picked this sentence because when I read it I felt like I was actually in that schoolhouse with Conroy. I could actually hear the insect noises as well as see the darkness surrounding the schoolhouse. I think Conroy did a good job describing certain situations throughout his book in ways that make his readers feel as if they are there with Conroy at that given moment. 

                In the first chapter I was amazed at how honest Conroy was in telling his story. He spoke about his younger years when he would ride around in his ’57 Chevy and throw rotten watermelons at the black people in his community. I know that we as a nation have come a long way since the 50’s and 60’s but when I hear stories like this I honestly can’t fathom why anyone would do this to others just for enjoyment. Even though I don’t think that Conroy ever mentioned regretting the ways he behaved in his earlier years, I feel as though showed remorse in many ways. A couple examples being, trying to teach black history to his high school students at a time when “teaching a black history course was as common as a course in necrophilia”, as well as choosing to teach the black students on Yamacraw Island.

                I found chapter two to be very interesting. Honestly, I was not that shocked at how little the students knew, but at the way Mrs. Brown felt about her students. I expected the students to know little to nothing due to the fact that this was the whole purpose of the book- to read about how Conroy made an impact of the lives of students on Yamacraw Island. What I didn’t expect was the way Mrs. Brown spoke about her students. She described them as being “slow, lazy, retarded, and people who just can’t get ahead in life.” She also went on to say that the students need to be whipped, and that the “retarded people need to be pushed and whipped harder than anyone.” I felt as though Mrs. Brown didn’t have any hope for her students, and gave up on them just like everyone else already did. Unfortunately, I don’t think Mrs. Brown realizes the negative impact she is leaving on these students, and I believe her to be innocently ignorant to the issues around her.