Sunday, November 9, 2008

The Ball

Why is the ball (pgs. 115-116) so important for the story? What does it mean?

15 comments:

小Q said...

I think this ball is a part that represent a good time away from the dust storms and the heart of helping pther although they are already poor that they still raise money for infantile paralysis. And at this time everyone enjoyed their timeliked having nothing to worry, free from a lot of worrying, carring things. And I think that this time is important because it make this time like a happy time in this despressing days.
by*David

Chelsea said...

I think the ball represents the short period of good times they had during the dust storms. At that period of time, Billie Jo and her father can forget about everything they had been through lately and try to have a good time. Also, the ball is some kind of comparision to the past. Last year, Billie Jo had played the piano in the ball, but this year she can hardly play it; her mother was still alive at that time and they are expecting a baby, but now both her mother and the baby are dead. This is a very contradictory feeling. She tries to enjoy the ball and forget about what had happened in the past, but everything around her reminds her of her mother and her badly burned hands. Another thing that the ball represents is that the economy seems to be better. This year, the ball had raised more money than last year, meaning that the policies of president Roosevelt are working, everyone is gaining faith to the government.
Chelsea :)

Benny said...

In the story, Out of the Dust, there are many details that fit with music, including piano and ball. In my opion, the ball symbolize the happiness and hopeful feeling. I think it try to make a contrast with the days that suffer from the dieth of her mom and the dust storm.
Ball means the unforgetable impression that the happy life, before. It is impotant because it is a comparation beween the happy and bad life.

Balabin Balaboom said...

Memory is so important to everyone, included Billie. As she thought about the good times with her mom, it makes the comparison between the exciting ball and the disaster of Dust Bowl.

This ball may emphasize the hopeness and happiness in the future time, althought she was in this kind of hard time, it gives, or represent the chance to Billie, and show the hopeness in the afterwards of this book, that's what I thought!

Linda said...

I think the ball this year made Billie Jo felt a little complicated. In last year's ball, Billie Jo played the piano, but this year she couldn't play because of her burned hands; last year her mother was still alive but this year her mother was gone. Yet unbelivably, Billie Jo thought she was actually having a good time at the ball. This part of the story to me represents a better life condition: the ball had raised more money than last year. And this also means that everything is getting better, the government is more trustful than ever, and everyone gaining back their faith and hope.

linda :^)

Leon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Leon said...

I think the ball in the book represents a time of happiness and hopeness, compared with last year and the painful of her mom's death. She remembered last year, when her mom was still alive, they were excited about the baby coming, she played the same party. But today, her mom and the baby were both dead. I think it is a little ironic. In conclusion, I think the importance of the ball is the short period of happiness, but not always depressed!!

iris said...

The Ball was held at the day that President Roosevelt was born. This was the time for them to share happiness. Although The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl made their life really hard, they still gave hopes. The Ball represented a belief, a belief that they would pass the hard time and live happily after. The Ball may also be a sweet memory for Billie Jo and the town people. The party might be the only happy time during the drought. After the nightmare, they would appreciate the time that everybody came together and celebrate for the president’s birthday.

Unknown said...

I think the balloon represent the happiness and hopeness that Billie Jo once had. At the Birthday Ball, Billie Jo thinks of her mother, the excitement about her little brother coming, Joyce city and Arley. They are all the happiness that she once had, yet she lost it now. And The ball bring a dream of happiness to billie Jo, like there's no dust, no debt, no all the trouble she has now. One thing I think is quite interesting is that at the end of p.116, Billie Jo imagine that her father laughed twice. Th ball just like bring her back to the past, when she still gets along well with her father.

+Amy Yang+

奶油桑 said...

I think the ball is a carefree, joyful and peaceful during the serious depression and the dust storm. It tells us that Billie Jo and her father enjoyed the president's ball. They had a great time. They danced and whirled happily, and they enjoy the time. It also tells us that they raised more money for infantile paralysis. I think it shows the strategy that Roosevelt made began to work. The ball let the people forget the hard time and their painful memory. They just think of the happiness. This seemed a hopeful time in the depressing days.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Eric~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unknown said...

I think the ball represent a precious time for Billie Jo, or everyone. In p.116 it said that the folks were almost free; it shows that they all enjoyed the dancing and...music! I think music could give them hope during the difficult time, and also help release their preasure of dust, preasure of debt and preasure of fields without wheat. I think during this time, Billie Jo was lost , too; because last time, Ma was with them, the baby was still alive, her relationship wth Daddy hadn't changed, and she still could play piano. But it all changed, changed into the worst. She might memorised the days they had before. But above all, it shows a hopeful time for everyone.

Amee said...

In the tough time, people might feel frustred about the world, in this time, if there is a thing that can make people happy, the hope in everyone's heart might come back, they might think that there are still some wonderful in this time. I think the ball means the power that can let people go forward

Gary said...

In the story during the ball every one dressed as pretty as they could. Every one enjoyed dancing then Billie Joe started to think of the time being together with her mom and how they expected the baby would come. The ball made people happy and forgot those entire worse things that happen before. Last year Billie played piano in the ball when her mom was still alive. But this time, because of the accident Billie could hardly play it. We felt sad about these bad things.

Tim said...

I think that the ball had meaning of the good times and happinesses Billy Jo had before. She played the same party for last year, it was really a wonderful time for her, but the mood this year was completely different, depressingly, it was full of sorrow, seemed that all of the hope was taken away

Jenny佳 said...

The ball is representing the good time. You don't have to think a lot. You can just play, play and play. During the Dust Storm, there are many thing that we don't like. Maybe the ball just can make them happy.