Final Blog post OR

We learn in the last seciton of the book that Brom and Ichy are really the sons of Tom, and Ren is the nephew of Tom. This development is interesting because it gives a new meaning to all three characters, who before this, were pretty much alone in the world. But even with their newfound relations, there was still trouble between the twins and Ren. One day, Brom and Ichy were thinking of traveling back to St. Josephs in the hopes of bieng adopted. Ren, because he thought that it was his duty to tell them, told the twins that no one would adopt them because their mother killed herself. Tinti describes the fight and the aftermath as, "Brom threw himself forward with a cry, He hit Rens stomach and the two went falling back into the house, a jumble of legs and arms. The jar slipped and smashed on the floor. Ren landed hard, sprawled next to Mrs. Sand's money, and something broke loose inside him, and he began to fight with all his strength- kicking; punching with his good hand, elbowing with the other- then felt his ankles yanked from underneath, and Ichy was on top and pummeling him, and the boy was strong, much stronger then Ren ever thought he could be" (Tinti 280). 

This quote and part of the story shows that there is a right and wrong time to alert people of certain truths. In the case of Brom and Ichy, when they were trying to start their life anew at the orphanage was not the time to alert them of their mothers' suicide, there is a possibility that Ren was bieng a little bit selfish here. He might have wanted Brom and Ichy to stay with him instead of leaving, so he had to pull out all the stops in order to accomplish his goal. Later, Tom, who is the twins father, interrupts the fight. Tinti writes, "A flood of icy water splached over Ten's head and clogged his ears...Tom was leaning over them with a rain bucket, and he swung it now over his head and knocked Ren on the side of the face as Brom and Ichy crawled away, soaked and dripping. "Leave them be!" Tom shouted. "Just stay away from them!" (Tinti 280). A father obviously always takes the side of his children, and in this case it was no different. We as humans must not think of only ourselves, we have to consider other people as well.

The good thief post #5

Since I last posted, the threesome has grown a little bit, to include former companions of Ren's from the orphanage and a troubled youngster, Dolly. Brom and Itchy (who were the twins that escaped from the orphanage) found Ren after a long search. Dolly was also with them, he was the man who Benjamin dug out of the ground, the novel never says but I am pretty sure he was in some type of coma. The section of the book that I read really explores the morality of digging out peoples' graves, and this section right here displays the details of the process and what effect it had on Brom and Itchy. Tinti writes, "Sarah, wife of Samuel, had been buried in her wedding dress...Ren tried to focus on the dress and not her face, which was terrifying- her skin stiff and cold as wax, the hair like straw...Her lips were deep purple, slightly open, and pulled apart...'I want to go home' Itchy cried. In the end they rolled her onto her face, severed the back ties, and took the dress from behind, Ren cutting along the seams...Itchy becan to pray under his breath, and Brom soon joined him. Our father, who art in heaven. Ren turned away toward the neighboring grave and saw the naked body of an old man on the ground, his penis like a soft piece of rope, his eyes open and staring" (Tinti 218).

To commit an act such as this in general is terrible in itself, but for children to have to experience the exhuming of graves on a daily basis, just for the purpose of thievery, is atrocious. The lasting emotional scars that can come from something like this will affect these pre-adolecents for the rest of thier lives, and may even cause them to have problems of their own. Benjamin and Tom, the two adult theives who are behind this buisness, already have an obviously low sense of morality and dignity, but to manipulate young children to assist you in matters like this breaches the farthest point of morality. Ren was origionally claimed by Benjamin, and he thought at first that he was bieng put in the arms of a loving father who would show him a good life, but he ended up bieng chosen because of the sentimentality of his missing hand. This passage, and novel in general, shows how life is not fair at all and most of the time, circumstances are forced on you without you bieng able to control it.

OR post #4

In the beginning of the section that I read, Ren and his companions are leaving the town of North Umbrage and were proceeding to the hospital to start a new collection of revenue. They had gotten a tip earlier in the book that a certain doctor was looking for newly deceased bodies to research, and would pay well for the job. It would not be an easy task, though, filled with all kinds of dangers. The three of them proceeded to go to the hospital, where Ren was supposed to be the connection between the two thieves and the greedy doctor. While inside, he got a little taste of this doctor's character, which was an interesting one to say the least.  A row of portraits hung in one of the hallways leading to the operating room, and Tinti describes what Ren infers as, "The man in the portrait was touching his chin, posed in the middle of some illuminating thought. Ren tried to imagine what this thought could be. He guessed that it was scientific in nature, but the more Ren studied the portrait, the more he realized that the man didn't look intelligent at all. He looked hungry. He was probably thinking of sausages, and Ren was nearly decided on this when a scream came from down the hall" (Tinti 130). It is obvious why this man may want corpses to explore, this quote gives a hint as to how this doctor might be obsessed with human anatomy to the point that he does not care about the moral implications of his actions. 

When Dr. Milton sees Ren's arm (or lack of one), he notices that the person who amputated it knew what they were doing because they blocked the arteries while they were cutting it off. He then proceeded to ask Ren if he could take a "sample" of scar tissue from his wound, which Ren reluctantly agreed to. After taking a thin slice of skin off of Ren's stump, Dr. Milton told him how scar tissue was different from normal skin because normal skin interlocks in fine, tiny, scales, while scar tissue is more rugged and lacks hair follicles and glands. Ren feigns interest and finally is asked to leave, but to come back every week at 10 so their meetings seem less suspicious. As he is about to leave the building, a nun who he met earlier sees him and approaches him. She engages in conversation with Ren, and asks him if he is a Christian. He replies yes, and she agrees to pray for him, while interlocking him in a warm embrace. Tinti describes Ren's feelings afterwords as, "The nun rested her palm on the top of his head. Her hand was warm and soft but also strong, and Ren could imagine all the good work it had done... Sister Agnes was standing over him, and he did not want to move until she tok her hand away" (Tinti 136). This quote exemplifies the strong need Ren still has for a loving, religious figure in his life even when he is accustomed to the company of thieves.