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Men We Reaped (Escaping Reality (Escaping the reality of their economy and…

- - - - The hurricane in this instance is a lot like the story as it plays out as a whole. Furthermore, when talking about a hurricane, they usually happen pretty fast and leave destruction in the end which if we look at what happened in Houston and Puerto Rico, can be far more devastating than the actual occurrence of the hurricane. The effects are far worse than the situation itself.
      - Memory is an interesting term in this instance. This hurricane which they escape from can be equated to the curse or the ghost that haunts Ward's community. Just as it happens extremely fast and causes extreme effects afterwards; we can infer then that the memory will never go away and that they town will somehow drag them back (see memory in part two)
    - - Even when they try to do the right thing and get help like Ronald tried to or go to the military and become more disciplined, the town does something to call people back and the result is that they remain stuck in this hole. Ronald was trying to escape his reality and his depression by seeking help and we can infer that the town had not provided it. Thus, the only way out was the ultimate escape for Ronald; yet, just like a hurricane, this would lead to devastating effects.
  - - - The only reason they are drinking now is to forget about the past. They are trying to forget about the situations which have led them to this point in time. This is one aspect of escaping reality while it may only be for a short and and the failure of these coping mechanisms because of what happened with Roger. Furthermore, it is interesting that they mention after all of this drinking and doing drugs that they have one foot in the grave signifying that they are closer to death; the question now becomes did the coping mechanism work for them at all? No, because only for a short time they felt that they could experience this escape and even then, they knew that they were not on the right path.
    - - Similarly to the other passage, this passage describes why they continue to drink and do drugs to escaping this reality. Perhaps it is by more than just to forget the men they have lost and it is because they are not able to seek what they need in order to succeed. Furthermore, by using the language of illusion and mercy, the passage would suggest that the there would never be anyone who could help them and they are continuously stuck in the hole of what the town does to people.
- - - - The systems in place are not beneficial to the individual especially when he is trying to better himself so he can succeed in the future, Systems and Cycles are very similar in this way that systems can lead to cycles and this is an instance right here of how that can happen in that the systems in place like the education system which does not help many to prosper in their adulthood. This ultimately allows for the individual to become more illiterate allowing for jobs such as selling drugs which does not help the economy in any way and they cycle would continue for everyone in the community
    - - When understanding the systems, it is important to not the system type thinking and in this case, the thinking is that because unemployment is high and as are illiteracy rates in the community, there is less money put in because it is seen as less valuable and less profitable which then allows for the infrastructure and economy as a whole to take a hit in the town which is why C.J. was stuck by a train.
    - - What does this have to do with systems? It is more than the community meaning it is not like what is talked about on this page in that because Wards father had to grow up before he actually could grow up, he would want to have more freedom when he is older rather than being stuck with Wards mom and siblings for the rest of his life. This fatherlessness is common according to Ward so the men in her life had to take on greater responsibilities. Allowing the cycle to to continue of the lack of fathers in the community
    - - This again has to deal with system type thinking in that the community is seen as having low value and so are the individuals, therefore. This relates to the fatherlessness which was mentioned above and the rest of this which is mentioned above as well. This is the ultimate result of when a system goes badly in that it would cause people to increase their self-loathing aspect like Ward and Ronald; thus, the systems in place create the cycles which lead to someone dying which is evident not only through this chapter but all of the other ones as well.
- - - - This relates to the idea of the cycle of the economy and how because the education is bad, people drop out, illiteracy rates increase, unemployment increases, causing economy to decrease and allowing for no more money to go into the schools.
    - - This is a prime example of how these coping mechanisms can ultimately fail the people who are trying to cope. Also it perfectly summarizes the vicious cycle in that as they continue to grieve and drink and do drugs to cope, one is bound to develop addictions and overdose causing more drinking and doing drugs and the cycle would continue until someone would realize that its not working
    - - In terms of cycles, this passage suggests that the only reason they do these things like drinking and smoking is because they want to escape their reality of the situation and they couldn't handle the fact that all of them were dying. Thus, by continuing to drink and smoke, this would cause perhaps people to get addicted and overdose and the whole cycle would continue
    - - This relates back to the idea of what happened to Ronald in that even when someone tries to do the right thing, no one can escape the curse that is bestowed upon the community because Demond did nothing wrong, he was working when he got shot but because he was perhaps involved in a court case, this caused him to die. This signifies how this cycle of death would never cease and it would continue for perhaps however long it takes to increase the economy and then the systems within the town and community