Southland Reflection

Throughout the entire novel I had always questioned the direction that Revoyr was taking regarding the plot of the story. As I read, I began to notice that, like many other interesting plots, the main story involves an event that takes the reader by surprise. In this case, the discovery that it was not Lawson who pushed the boys into the freezer but Thomas may have revitalized the interests in the readers who were losing faith in Revoyrs narration skills. Furthermore, I was incredibly disappointed with the ending of the novel and I wish that Revoyr wouldve at least included an epilogue to surmise the aftermath of the encounter with Alan Silverman (Deputy District Attorney). Despite these minor grievances I rather enjoyed the book and found the metamorphosis of Jackies character quite entertaining at points in the novel. In particular, I found it interesting that Revoyr herself stated that Jackie was a reflection of all the bad qualities that Revoyr possessed. However, in the novel Jackie does redeem herself by rediscovering her lost family pride and by solving the case behind Curtis Martindales murder. Since this is the case, has Revoyr redeemed herself in any way to parallel Jackies transformation? Questions set aside; I did enjoy some of the supplementary events that accompanied our reading. One of the most memorable events was the instance when Mo Nishida came to talk about his experience in the internment camps (and he came back for the poster presentations). The greatest line I ever took from that event was Dont do something until you think about its consequences seven generations down the road. This statement implies that we, as a society, are very narrow-minded and that we do not plan for the consequences of our actions. Further still, our livelihoods may be at stake because of the unsustainable habits we set forth into motion. On the other hand, events like the poster project demonstration shows me that many of the young minds today think about the issues plaguing our society and how said issues can be abolished. Finally, the main idea that I took from this book, the events, and Revoyrs presentation was that I should not give up on a goal just because there is an obstacle as there is always a solution to get past any inconveniences.