Munger Eamon Barkhordarian

Period E 2/4/09
Contemporary Heritage

Reading Log #3
‘What,’ said Mr. Cruncher, varying his apostrophe after missing his mark—‘what are you up to,
Aggerawayter?’
‘I was only saying my prayers.’
‘Saying your prayers! You’re a nice woman! What do you mean by flopping yourself down and
praying agin me?’
‘I was not praying against you; I was praying for you.’
‘You weren’t. And if you were, I won’t be took the liberty with. Here! your mother’s a nice
woman, young Jerry, going a praying agin your father’s prosperity. You’ve got a dutiful mother,
you have, my son. You’ve got a religious mother, you have, my boy: going and flopping herself
down, and praying that the bread-and-butter may be snatched out of the mouth of her only
child.’
-(Chapter 1, book the second, page 41)

I really was interested in this chapter in “book the second.” In this chapter, Jerry

Cruncher begins the day by yelling at his wife for “praying against” him; he throws his muddy

boot at her as a result. His wife prays for him every day because she knows what Jerry does as

part of his job. At night, Jerry goes to the graveyard and digs up graves and sells them to doctors

so they can experiment and do research on the organs. This is one form of money Jerry receives

and uses for the family. I believe Mrs. Cruncher is religious to some extent and doesn’t believe

what Jerry is doing is good. I think she thinks Jerry’s late night job is something his wife thinks

is against god’s will, and so, she prays for him every day. Jerry cruncher hates how she is

praying for him every day, and in this scene, throws a shoe at her that was quite dirty. He

believes her prayers are unlucky and are bad for him. Yet, his wife loves him so much she prays

regardless of how much he abuses her.