The Night Wanderer Entry 6

I finally finished the book. The final part of the novel is very interesting. It was Pierre who found Tiffany. At first, Tiffany tries to run away, but then she gives up after Pierre finds him again by the lake. Pierre shows her how to find arrowheads and lets her feel and think about this place, think about this place’s history, where the first nations lived for hundreds of years. Then he tells her about his story without holding anything back. But after the story, he finally loses control and almost killed Tiffany, but soon he recovers and helps Tiffany home. A mile away, Pierre is eager to see the sunrise. The sun peek boldly above the horizon and it is glorious.

The novel finally ends. A symbol is the arrowhead. It represents the history of the first nations. It is the evidence that they existed. There is the irony of Pierre is the one that disturbs Tiffany’s life, but also the one to fix it. His occurrence made Tiffany distress and it worsens her relationship with her father, but in the end he actually changed Tiffany. He taught her a lesson and saved her from her helpless state. Tiffany was a very naïve, selfish, independent girl, but now she becomes more caring. She sees the world in a different way. She realizes how lucky she is compared to other unfortunate people. She is a dynamic character that undergoes a permanent change in her character.

I like this novel, partly because I am interested in fantastical creatures like vampires. This novel never makes you bored. It is happening very close to our everyday life so I understand their motivation and their thoughts. I am amazed by how the author can present a piece of history in such a fascinating way. It contains many facts blending into a fiction story. I like the characters and they author’s style. I also learned many things from this book. I get to know better about the lives of first nations both today and before. I see how they are being treated and how they fight for themselves. It is way better than reading the history textbook. Other things are like how to look at our lives. We are getting almost everything we want, and what else is there to complain for? The story flows smoothly, and every part is eye-catching. I recommend this book to anyone who likes vampire and supernatural fictions, or anyone who wants to learn about the first nations in an interesting way.

The Night Wanderer Entry 5

When Tiffany gets back to her house, she realizes that her father has discovered her absence, and he left a note that says, “Tomorrow morning, I want to talk with you. – Dad.” With all the stress, she calls her mother, but feels worse after it. In the morning, Tiffany quarrels with her father again, and finally decides to leave home. After that, Keith and Granny Ruth tried every way they can think of to find Tiffany without success. When it’s dark, Pierre came out and starts chatting with Granny Ruth and found out the whole story. Tiffany is hiding in an abandoned tree house, feeling sad and cold with all kinds of thoughts in her mind. She heard some noise, and then she falls out the tree house.

The story reaches its climax when Tiffany finally runs away from her home, leaving everything behind. It is the point when Tiffany finally breaks down and gives up. The reader can feel the intense madness going inside her. Then the story slows down when she is finally alone in the tree house. Again the author used pathetic fallacy to reflect the emotions of Tiffany. The night is dark and quiet, and she is scared and confused. The tension relaxes with the change of time of day. Reflecting to the prolog of the story of the good and evil wolf, Tiffany now is feeding the evil one with fear, anger, self-pity, and so. It shows the other theme of good and bad of the novel. More flashbacks are used to illustrate how Pierre became the vampire and his unending journeys.

The story is somehow as I expected. From the tension between Tiffany and her father, I can see something big is coming up. I feel sorry for Keith when he tries to find Tiffany everywhere in the village. His lack of communication is causing him too much trouble, and he only realizes what he has done after he done it. Although I can understand how he is having a hard time with his wife, I still think he should get over it and fix his problems at home. I am relieving to see Pierre chatting with Granny Ruth. I felt pity when Granny Ruth is dreaming about her old days but without anyone to talk to, so when Pierre starts to chat with him, I feel she finally can find someone to talk to. The description of the forest in the dark is also amazing. The author uses similes and metaphors to make me feel like I’m in there with her. He successfully creates the mood of the story.

The Night Wanderer Entry 4

Now I am to Chapter 15. Tiffany is heading back to her house and she accidentally ran into Pierre. They chat, and Tiffany gets the impression that he is indeed strange and it makes her feel uncomfortable. Dale and Chucky are not the most welcomed people in this community, and they disappears that night after meeting this stranger. When Tiffany gets home she is being grounded because of hiding the report card, but she successfully escapes from her room to meet up with Tony. Pierre continues to wander around in the night, refreshing his memories of him going off with the white men hundreds of years ago. Tiffany and Tony goes to a restaurant, and Tony suddenly suggests breaking up. Tiffany is so upset and just decides to walk home by herself.

There are again many flashbacks. They tell the story of Owl leaving his village to an adventure that will never end, about him learning about the new world and meeting the young French girl. Men vs. society conflicts are very obvious in the novel. It is mainly the first nations against the discrimination from white society. Granny Ruth is fighting to protect their culture, but still losing, and Tiffany trying to blend in but still can’t. Conflicts of man vs. man are between Tiffany and her father and her with Tony. It leads out to another theme of the novel, which is about trust. There is no trust between Tiffany and Keith. Keith doesn’t trust her so he doesn’t let Tiffany do anything, and in response, Tiffany continues what she does but never bothers to tell her father. The bond between Tiffany is also breaking. Tiffany is too suspicious of Tony having another girl, which worsens their relationship.

To this point, the story becomes more exciting. Tiffany is having too much pressure from school, her family, and her boyfriend. Her life is getting worse and she seems unable to cope with it. She is in a vicious circle. She might finally collapse. She acts on the impulse and destroys everything. I think her reaction towards breaking up is too strong, throwing fries and ketchup into his car is not a good way of dealing with this kind of situation, although it is very funny to read about. This is a typical reaction act from an overstressed teenage girl. Too bold, it is all I can think of while reading. Sneaking out of the house is also a bad decision. I can already imagine what will happen when her father finds out. This section makes me laugh, and I can’t stop wanting to know what happens next.

The Night Wanderer Entry 3

The story continues as Tiffany gets back home and thankfully gets her room back. Pierre in the basement starts recalling his childhood memories and then he disappears into the woods. On the other side of Otter Lake, people are seeing “monsters” that shouldn’t exist. In the morning, Keith is going duck hunting, and he meets Pierre. They chat until Keith leaves. When Tiffany wakes up, her grandmother asks her to take the laundry downstairs to the washer. She sees the basement is unusually dark, but before she can peep inside, Granny Ruth called her upstairs. (97-98) Then she goes out to visit her friends. Later when Keith gets home, there’s a power failure. He goes in to Tiffany’s room to get some batteries and accidentally discovered Tiffany’s report card. He is very angry of her bad marks. And Tiffany is also having trouble getting along with her friends after she ditched them.

When Pierre is thinking about his past, the author used flashback to present it. It uses first person to describe the life of a boy named Owl. It tells the story in a more realistic way. The author also used flashback to tell the story about Tiffany’s mother. The timeline is switching back and forth. The novel contains many verisimilitudes. In there it mentions about University of British Columbia and places like Wal-Mart and McDonalds. It brings the reader more into the story because it just happens in our everyday lives. There is a motif of darkness. It reoccurs many times in the novel, from the first time when he was on the plane, to his encounter with the citizens, then to the basement when he sleeps, including the dog’s reaction towards him. It reflects him as a dark and troubled person. It creates the mood of the story.

This part of the novel didn’t develop much in these few chapters, but it makes me want to know what will happen when Tiffany goes back home to face his father. As a teenage girl, communications with our parents are usually not very good. Hiding bad report cards from parents might not be unusual for some people. The book shows a good example of what might happen in a family, doesn’t matter they’re first nation or not. Furthermore, we learned about Pierre’s childhood life. Now it is not limited to the 21^st century, we are able to know what the first nation’s life is like hundreds of years ago, when white men were not yet in Canada. It is interesting to know their lives and culture. And then when they came, the reactions from the aboriginals. I was not fear as I expected, some people are excited, and thrilled for adventure.

The Night Wanderer Entry 2

As I read more into the story, the plot is more developed. The man from Europe is just the one renting Tiffany’s room. While he’s at the airport he broke two fingers of a thief that wants to steal his wallet (36-27). On the other hand, Tiffany is battling against the spiders in the basement, and finally gives up and goes to a party with Tony, ditching her other first nation friends. Some of the citizens in the reserve are already encountering this newcomer. Both of their reactions are terrified, like a prey being watched by a predator. When Pierre arrives at Tiffany’s house, Granny Ruth sees him and thinks he looks like an Indian. When Keith introduced him to Tiffany’s room, he rejected and suggested to sleep in the basement. At the bush party, Tiffany is not having much fun. Tony is spending much time away from her, and other people are talking about her behind her back. She tries to talk to Tony on the way back, but only gets a kiss in response.

There are many foreshadowing in the novel. One of them is: “Darker than most of the migrating passengers, as if he came from an ancient time where white people were unknown.”(36) It is foreshadowing his native ancestry and the abnormal time he came from. Imagery is used to describe the encounter of Pierre and the citizens. There is the sound of his voice, the view into his car window, and the creepy feeling they have when seeing him. There is a dramatic irony when Keith tells Pierre, “Hell, you can hang from the roof for all I care.”(57) Because Pierre is actually a man who will make him care. Pierre has a very special background history, and which he might actually hang from the roof. It is pathetic fallacy to describe the dark woods at night. It shows the aura around the man. It is dark, peaceful, and mysterious. It reflects the inside of the man.

The story is still very engaging. I like this kind of spooky style. The descriptions are very detailed. It feels like I’m in the story with them. The way they tell it makes me want to know more. Granny Ruth and Keith’s reaction when meeting Pierre is very funny. Things are too unexpected for them to know what to do. From the bush party part, I learned how first nations are being treated, and it is actually true. There are intolerances in this world and one of them is towards the aboriginals. They are being treated unfairly but no one is doing anything about it. It makes me think what I have done to people who are different, and what should be done. They are just ordinary people and what did they do wrong?

The Night Wanderer Entry 1

I started reading this book called The Night Wanderer for my Independent Reading. It is by Drew Hayden Taylor, a member of the Curve Lake First Nations in Central Ontario. Chapter 1 and 2 is basically the introduction to the story. The novel starts by a man taking a plane going to Toronto. Then it introduced our main character Tiffany Hunter along with her grandmother Granny Ruth. Tony is Tiffany’s girlfriend, and apparently Tiffany’s father, Keith, is not happy about her having a white boyfriend, because Tiffany’s mother, Claudia, ran away with another white man over a year ago. After Tony drove Tiffany home, she found a note on the table that asks her to move her bedroom to the basement. When her father comes home, he explained they are going to rent her room to a man from Europe. Tiffany is very upset, and while she sits in her room, she starts thinking about the times she spends with Tony.

The novel is written in omniscient point of view. The point of view is switching form one person to another, so the reader knows what everyone is thinking. In the prologue, there is a metaphor of two wolves, each represents the good and evil side of human nature. They are fighting against each other until one of them wins. It reveals one of the themes of the novel. In the first chapter, the author created a mysterious atmosphere by describing the man’s unusual behavior. His seatmate thinks that: “But something about her seatmate disturbed her mood. The man in the aisle seat seemed…dark.”(2) The characterization is indirect presentation. For the exposition, the author clearly describes Tiffany’s situation. As the story goes on, the background might be a key for the characters’ reactions.

I think the story is interesting. The story is about a girl that is the same age as me, and I feel some connections to her. Her actions are just like a normal teenage girl around us. The characters all have their own personalities: the strange man from Europe; the very knowledgeable first nation granny; the father that is having trouble getting along with his daughter. The story gives us a sense of what it’s like in the reserves. The first nations seem just like normal people. The younger generation is starting to forget the old language and only the elders are trying to protect what is left. Some of the Anishinabe or Ojibwa appears in the text, and they make the novel more realistic. This is a good book to read to know about first nation lives in the 21^st century.