CHAPTER 7&8 Characters and plot
Chapter 7 Characters-
Orpah- In Chapter 5 Orpah begins to come out of her shell and interact with the family a lot more. She begins to see that Toloki is acting “funny” (pg.228) towards her. After realizing this she begins to go out of her way to try and win his attention back. Towards the end of the Chapter Orpah plays her sitar in public for the first time in her life. This brings tears to Toloki eyes, and when they return home Orpah and Toloki share a sensual moment in which Toloki sees what the “mark of the Irishmen” is.
Ruth- Ruth “the tsunami” (pg.226) begins to build her relationship back with Toloki after she is informed at the funeral for the young child killed in the meth lab accident, that Toloki’s “Professinal Mourning” profession is in fact in the bible. She also shares a bit of information about Mahlon’s mother and what happened to her. This is when we realize that Ruth may have a big thing about “long black hair”. “I think pretty black hair is a big thing with Ruth. I remember on a few occasions when she was telling me of Abednego’s descendants she would add with great pride: “They had pretty black hair and high foreheads like white people.” (pg 222). Her attitude improves towards the end of the chapter, when she realizes that Toloki has quit hiding Orpah’s artwork from her.
Nathan- Nathan’s role in the book becomes more pronounced in this chapter. He and Orpah have “puppy love , but it could have developed into something serious”. He and Toloki go on a turkey hunt in the woods, where Nathan begins to confess some things about the relationship Orpah and her father have that Toloki is curious about. He gets mad at Toloki at the end of the chapter and calls him out on having an eye for Orpah, “You don’t think I don’t see the wat you’ve been eyeing her?” (pg 235)
Obed- He is his normal argumentative self with everybody, but we catch a glimpse of him becoming a citizen of the community when he read a paragraph from the letter that St. Paul wrote to the Romans (pg. 200). This impresses Ruth to no end, and she begins as she begins to tear up. Obed also shoots a hen during this chapter, which offends Nathan highly. Obed also is still up to his scams moving from one to the next when he gets bored with his last one. We also see Obed begin to create feelings for a ms. Beth Eddy who lives at the sorority house in which he is painting as his punishment.
Beth Eddy- she is Obed’s crush that lives in the sorority house in which he painting.
Sister Naomi- she is the mother of the child who was killed in the Meth Lab explosion.
Brother Michael- He oversees the funeral, and looks through the bible for proof of Toloki’s job of being a “Professional Mourner”
Mahlon Quigley- During Chapter 7 he looks for Ghost Orchids when Orpah becomes obsessed with them. This gives note to the face that he will do anything for Orpah and is very over protective of her. We find out that Mahlon doesn’t like Toloki and has been trying to sabotage his stay at his house since he moved in, but Orpah has been stepping in and ruining his attempts.
Toloki- Throughout the chapter you can see that Toloki is falling in love with Orpah, but wants to supress his feelings because they are interfering with his mourning, “As for me and Orpah: I have given up on her,” (pg. 230). He begins to ignore Orpah and this makes her try even harder to get his attention. Later in the Chapter Toloki attends the bluegrass festival, in which he watches Orpah play her sitar and his feelings begin to get the better of him. When they return home he goes to Orpahs room and discovers what the “Mark of the Irishmen” is when he sees Orpahs blonde pubic hair. After discovering this, they “cuddle on her pink duvet. Nothing happens beyond that” (pg 237).
Starts off at a childs funeral that Toloki is publicly mourning. Obed did a lot for him to be able to mourn at this funeral. Obed reads a passage that makes Ruth like Toloki’s profession finally. “She looked at me and smiled. The Bible had finally convinced her of the legitimacy of my profession.” (pg 201) The next day Ruth teases Toloki by calling him “Son of Egypt” (because people were calling him that after the service) as the have sassafras tea and she explains its history. Toloki didn’t go to hunt with Obed and Mahlon that morning because he is squeamish so instead he goes to the Center to quilt. He is there for awhile when Nathan comes in to take him hunting since Nathan hadn’t gone with them earlier either. Toloki tries to get out of it again when the ladies say he doesn’t have a license to hunt and Nathan reassures them he will only watch. On the car ride you find out Mahlon started a community to save the elm trees. Nathan kills a turkey and explains you cant shoot the hens because you will be fined . They find their kill and take it to the station. On the way there Nathan says he is waiting around for Orpah because she will come around someday and they were good together as former lovers until Ruth barged in and told Orpah to focus on studies. He also says Mahlon does anything to make her happy and now he is looking for a special orchid that she saw and liked.Toloki says nothing about the night visits to prevent spreading gossip. At the station Obed and Mahlon run in just before the station closes. Frantically Obed reveals he shot a hen and had to get rid of the evidence and Nathan gets mad at him. The next day they have a barbeque and Nathan comes with his two kids. Nathan and Obed makeup. While Toloki is helping Ruth in the kitchen they get into a conversation about Mahlons mother. She married a black man and ran way so her parents declared her insane and sent to the Ridges where she died, was buried and numbered. You learn Obed really likes going to Beth Eddy’s and they love listening to his stories and fascinated he is related to Nicodemus. Orpah gets closer by eating dinner with them often and tries to talk to Toloki but he has given up on her. They go to the Silent Chinese Auction together and Mahlon doesn’t like seeing them together. Orpah bids for a gnome to give to Mahlone from Toloki because she tells him her dad doesn’t like him and he has been trying to get him out of the house. She names an incident where her dad hid the key to the basement that Toloki recalls. Nathan and Orpah go together to the Appalaichain bluegrass festival together where she plays her sitar publicly for the first time. Everyone loves her and she gets upset with Nathan for trying to “manage” her. She demands Obed take hr home and Toloki insists that he does so. Nathan says something to Toloki infront of Orpah about how hes aware of tolokis feelings for her. Back home, Orpah invites Toloki to his room where they sleep together naked.
Chapter 8 characters
Ruth- In this chapter we see that even though Ruth has begun to dislike Toloki for corrupting her family, she doesn’t want Toloki to move out. She is going on rough times also during this chapter with the rest of her family. When Toloki tries to give her a token of money she declines and asks him for some gingham from Africa so
her quilts will sell like “hotcakes” (pg 263)
Mahlon- the “medium man” in this chapter. His hatred for Toloki peaks in this chapter, as he is told about Toloki’s infidelity with his daughter, and also with Orpah’s daily visits to his RV. Towards the end of the chaoter Mahlon discovers Toloki is listening in on his and Orpah’s memories. His stories come from the ghost trees that play such a profound role in this book.
Obed- is still trying to find his next “get rich quick” scheme. He sees himself as the savior for the town of Kilvert, “Obed sees himself as the new fletcher, although his methods will not be Fletcher’s” (pg 259). He wants to bring a casino to Kilvert, so he travels to Connecticut to get some advice from a Mr. Kerzner. He never finds this Mr. Kerzner because he is in the Carribean and blames this on Toloki. (pg. 257)
Sister Naomi- dies from her addiction to meth. Her skin had lesions on it and looked as if she had been “bobbing for French fries” (pg. 249)
Orpah- She comes to visit Toloki at his RV on a daily basis. She won’t stay the night with him even though he hints at it. All of her drawings have got a new theme of ghost orchids. These pieces of artwork as said to play a song, “the collages play a song” (pg. 255). She and her father are still having there affair. Toloki gets caught spying on them during there act of infidelity.
Sol Kerzner- “South African who had taken advantage of apartheid laws and established casinos in South Africa’s own black reservation.
Toloki- He moves out of Ruth’s house and into an RV this chapter. He tries to help out Ruth during her hard times, she wont accept his gift. As he listen’s to Orpah’s sitar while he is trying to sleep it drives him mad, “And it does to me what it did that first night” (pg 263). He gets ot of bed to get closer to the sitar, he catches Mahlon going to Orpah’s room dressed in a militant outfit. He begins to spy on them and gets caught spying but is invited into the room, “Why not come in if you wanna hear right?”(pg. 265), to view Orpah and Mahlon’s “memories”
Ch.8 Plot
Medium Man looks for a ghost orchid at night. “When they think he is fast asleep or performing his memories for the spirit child they unfold themselves…” (pg 238) Ruth lets Toloki know her and Mahlon know about what happened and don’t like it. He asks Orpah about it and she says she told Mahlon and blows it off my acting innocent. Toloki goes to the center and everyone there knows about it too. He buys two rotary cutters and rulers one for him and one for ruth. Obed is really interested in his casino, Ruth is convinced Toloki is making her children defiant and evil. She tells them that they will have nothing to do with him once he moves out. Toloki publicly mourns another death. Sister Naomi- mother of the child in chapter seven. Toloki buys an RV because he feels it is time to get out of the house. He gets help from Nathan and Obed. Nathan wants him to move out too because he thinks he has caused the family trouble. Toloki keeps his RV on the Center’s property. Orpah cries when he leaves, Ruth says it is against her wishes and it is an insult, and Mahlon says “Don’t let the bed bugs bite.” In his RV he looks at some of Orpahs new pictures and thinks of one of her collages as a song. Orpah and Obed visit hi often and tell him about there being no food in Ruths house. Toloki visits Ruth with money saying he wants to buy a quilt. One night he feels he hears Orpahs sitar even thoug he knows he is too far away. He goes and spies on her and he sees Mahlon go to her room dressed up again. He gets close to the window to listen and Mahlon is telling her a story about MAsa Blue Fly and the Absynian Queen. He suddenly draws the blinds to reveal Toloki spying. He invites him in assuring him and Orpah that he knew he has always been spying. Orpah is reluctant to let him join and does not want him there.
Questions
- 1) We know how much it bothers Toloki that they treat Orpah like a child and call her a girl. Do you think Orpah has anything to do with this? Why?
- 2) Why do you think that Orpah is so nice to Toloki and wants to be around him all the time in the chapter but at the end she is rude and mean towards him?
- 3) “I want them pictures to tell a story. Like back in them days if something happened there’d be a song wrote about it.”- Orpah (pg 255) After hearing this quote, do you think Orpah has more in common with her mother than they both think. Why or why not.
8 comments:
1) I do think that Orpah plays a big role in her being treated like a child because I think that she likes the attention and hasn't really ever tried to except more responsibility. However, I also think that the family and everyone around treat her like a child and as long as people treat you that way well you will continue to act in that manner.
2)I think that Orpah obviously had a crush on Toloki and has had a growing crush. However, after their night together I think she just decided to become stand offish. And the stories with her father are something that she likes to keep personal and a secret.
3)Orpah and her mother absolutely have more in common than either of them want to admit. They both share a passion to tell a story through artistic abilities. Also even though it is each on their own ways I think that they are both very proud of their heritage and that in itself is a bond that if they would let it happen would probably reveal a lot more about themselves to each other.
1. I think Orpah is still a child at heart. for being how old she is, she really does act pretty childish.
2. I think that maybe she was feeling a little crowded and wanted to be alone with everything going on with her dad.
3. I think they do have a lot in common. They are both very artistic.
1) Orpah is treated like a child because she acts like a child. plain and simple. She is 40 years old and lives at home, she is unmarried, and draws pictures all day. I actually sometimes forget theta she is 40 and think she is about 15-16 years old.
2) She is a fickle girl and likes to play games. i think she is mad because toloki is intruding on her memory time with Mahlon.
3) on the level of storytelling with art, yes they are similar, but they do not connect on it at all.
1) Oprah is a little girl and that's all there is to it. Influences from her family has helped this along. She can't be everything that her parents want because they're not even sure what that is. They don't want her leaving home.. but yet they want her to get married and grow up. Is it possible to do all these things at once? I don't think so.
2)Orpah is just trying to keep her tradition with Mahlon just between those two. I think this contributes to her being a little girl. Children don't want to share their chocolate.
3)Orpah and her mother have very much in common. They don't want any answers but their own and everything is going to go their way. They're both little girls in a sence. I don't think they both want the same things in their lives, but they are both artistic in their own ways. Ruth has quilting... and Orpah has drawing.
1. I think because of the way Ruth has been treating Orpah she is still a child. Even though she is an adult when reading the book I almost imagine her as being a young girl because of the way she acts. Also I think Ruth treats her this way because they have alot in common and are both stubborn.
2. I think Orpah acts this way because she has a crush on him. Because she has a childish personality she doesn't know how to act so she turns mean toward him.
3. I think they defiantly do have more in common, which is why they fight. I think they each want their patterns to tell a story, Ruth just wants it to be in a traditional way.
I think that Orpah does play a large role in her being treated like a child because she enjoys getting attention as seen by her crying everytime something negative happens and she never really takes responsibility for anything.I think she's around him so much because she obviously has a crush on him and at the end of the chapter she is withdrawn from him because she wants to keep the stories from her father to herself. I do believe that Orpah and her mother have more in common then they think based upon how they look at the past. Overall this was a good presentation. Very insighful. well done
I feel that orpah's percieved childish behavior is due to her mother's oppressive nature more than it is a mental disability such as retardation or something of that nature. Being a creative mind in a household that isn't too accepting of creativity and decenting opinion can cause other psychological trauma though
orpah isn't sure about her feelings, that and toloki is this interesting charactor that she may be both interested in and put off by his different cultural background
Orpah and her mother are sometimes too much in common, hence some of their conflict arises from two very strong personalities clashing
1. Yes, I think Orpah has everything to do with it because she goes along with it. If she changed the way she acted then I think people would see that and treat her like an adult.
2. I think Orpah does this because he likes him when they are alone but as soon as other people are around I think she gets scared and acts rude towards Toloki.
3. Yes, I do because even though Orpah wants to change the tradition by adding pictures to the quilts, the pictures represent the past. Meaning that Orpah does want to include the past, just as Ruth always is, but I think Orpah wants to do it in a different way.
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