Hall 1

Cartoon Physics, Part 1

Nick Flynn

Children under, say, ten, shouldn't know

that the universe is ever-expanding,
inexorably pushing into the vacuum, galaxies
swallowed by galaxies, whole
solar systems collapsing, all of it
acted out in silence. At ten we are still learning
the rules of cartoon animation,
that if a man draws a door on a rock
only he can pass through it.
Anyone else who tries
will crash into the rock. Ten-year-olds
should stick with burning houses, car wrecks,
ships going down -- earthbound, tangible
disasters, arenas
where they can be heroes. You can run
back into a burning house, sinking ships
have lifeboats, the trucks will come
with their ladders, if you jump
you will be saved. A child
places her hand on the roof of a schoolbus,
& drives across a city of sand. She knows
the exact spot it will skid, at which point
the bridge will give, who will swim to safety
& who will be pulled under by sharks. She will learn
that if a man runs off the edge of a cliff
he will not fall
until he notices his mistake.

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Jaleise Hall
Smit
12 AP
January 8, 2015
Cape-less Heroes
Recall a time when a young child had attempted to explain to you their side of a story and
you simply gave them no thought. Now, remember when you were a toddler and would always
get into some type of trouble, yet when you tried to explain to your parents the truth just cut you
off? You swore that once you grew up you wouldnt be anything like your parents, you would
always listen to all sides of a story, yet with age you tend to see your own opinions as superior to
others and ignorance becomes unavoidable. Adults rarely believe a word a child says and brushes
off adolescent opinions as foolish and inexperienced. In both literary selections, Pigs in Heaven
by Barbara Kingsolver and Cartoon Physics, Part 1 by Nick Flynn, there is a common theme
that although adults have lived longer and seen more, children actually prove to be wiser than
their elders, deal with far more issues than any adolescent should, and are the worlds true
heroes.
In the novel Pigs in Heaven (sequel to one of Kingsolvers more recognizable works, The
Bean Trees), readers are reintroduced to the Greers and all their acquaintances. The novel
centers on young Turtle Greer and the struggles she faces all sprouting from the fact that she is
Cherokee. Once Taylor and Turtle appear on Oprah and a member of the Cherokee Nation
notices this obvious Cherokee child in the hands of a white women, she immediately takes the
initiative to bring Turtle back to Cherokee lands and separate her from Taylor claiming that she

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knows whats best for Turtle and insists that Taylor hasnt the first clue on how to raise a
Cherokee child. Adults always seem to think they know far more than youth. Taylors main goal
in life is to just be the best mother she could possibly be to Turtle, so she watches what her
adopted Indian daughter consumes and always tries to make sure Turtle is safe. In fact, because
Taylor thought milk was the perfect food. Vitamins and calcium and everything, so of course
she encouraged Turtle to drink the substance daily (Kingsolver 295). Little did Taylor know,
most people of minorities are actually lactose intolerant and the constant consumption of milk
had caused Turtles stomach aches for the past 3 months. Even when Turtle tried to express her
discontent with milk and other dairy products, Taylor would not take the time to listen to young
Turtle and evidentially caused Turtles pain.
In Nick Flynns poem Cartoon Physics, Part 1, the same idea is expressed that
distinguished adult and child apart from one another. If a man draws a door on a rock / only he
can pass through it. / Anyone else who tries / will crash into the rock, (Flynn 8). In this line of
poetry, Flynn is trying to simulate ignorance in adults. The man in the poem draws a door ideal
for only himself expecting everyone else to be able to perceive the door in the same way he does.
This mimics real world issues where man fixes problems with the world when really they either
are just trying to help themselves or they ignorantly believe their issues are the same or worse of
those of others. Here, as well as in Kingsolvers novel it is apparent that adults are oblivious to
see more than one way, other than their own, that some elses opinions and morals may be more
prominent. Flynn is suggesting that man sees things in one way and is unaware that other may
not have the same view points on a particular subject.
If you can recall from the preceding novel by Kingsolver, The Bean Trees, Turtles birth
mother died leaving Turtle with her aunt who then forced the 2-year-old onto Taylor Greer while

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she sat in her car one night in Oklahoma City. Since this strange first encounter with each other,
Taylor and Turtle have grown inseparable, but it didnt take much for the law to catch up with the
pair sending them broke and on the run from the Cherokee Nation. Turtle is now forced to face
grown-up situations revolving around fortune, claiming that, Lisa Crocker made fun of my
pants She says I wear them every day The other kids have more than two paris,
(Kingsolver 287). In the three years shes spent with Taylor, Turtle has had to cope with so
much. Clearly, she still possesses abandonment issues as well. Why should a 6-year-old have to
worry about clothes, money and food when theyve barely even lived yet? Children under, say,
ten, shouldnt know / that the universe is ever-expanding, (Flynn 1). Flynn is trying to show
recognition to the fact that the universe is extremely complex and that children should be
spending their time exploring the world around them rather than knowing of its dangers and
attempting to save it. Both Kingsolver and Flynn are able to demonstrate how, unfortunately,
young children now a day have to deal with grown-up issues. Children are being stripped of
their childhood innocence and being submerged into real life issues at an early age.
Some heroes dont wear capes some heroes are less than ten years old! While touring
the Hoover Dam, Turtle notices a man fall down the spillway. Because Turtle is the only one
who notices, no one, except for Taylor, believes that she actually saw someone fall. After all,
who could believe a 6-year-old girl; children always make believe anyway, right? When Taylor
and Turtle go to the police with the news of the man who fell at the Hoover Dam spillway the
police claim they cannot search the hole due to the fact there is not witnesses. We have a
witness. My daughter is the witness, (Kingsolver 19). Once they finally do find someone who
believes their story despite the fact that its brought to them by a child, they are able to rescue the
poor man from the spillway. Flynn, just as Kingsolver, seems to believe that children can be

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heroes, (Flynn 15). Flynn talks about how children just know when something is going to go
wrong and are able to stop a crisis before the situation becomes too traumatic. Children are
always there saving the world as silent heroes. Kingsolver and Flynn suggest that in contrast to
the worldwide idea that adults are here to protect and nurture the children, that children are
actually the ones performing heroic duties while the adults are the beings in distress.
Yes, children have not lived as much as adults and, of course, at ten we are still
learning, however, childrens minds are far more incredible and intelligent than they are given
credit for (Flynn 6). Many citizens of the adult world carry on through life thinking theyve
acquired some great amount of knowledge of life. They feel they just know theyre always right,
but children are able to recognize our errors and potentially could save adults from themselves if
they paid attention to the adolescent mind. If a man runs off the edge of a cliff / he will not
fall / until he notices his mistake, (Flynn 25).