While reading this portion of the book, God Don't Like Ugly, by Mary Monroe, I began having trouble understanding a few things in the story. One being, Rhoda's personality. I don't understand how at some times Rhoda is an excited and fun person, then a young and reckless child doing things that are way beyond her age, to an angry young women killing an old man. For example, one thing that surprises me is how at such a young age, and only being with her boyfriend for such a short period of time, Rhoda is already having sex. Annette explains, "Rhoda and Otis cut class right after lunch and sneaked off to a motel, so I had to suffer through the afternoon without seeing her between classes. I was thoroughly disappointed that sex had become such an important thing with her" (192). This example of Rhoda's action perplexes me because for such a young women, who has so much going for her, I am surprised that she would act the way in which she is, especially when she is completely aware of the way her best friend, Annette, feels about sex.
Another example of Rhoda's actions and personality surprising me in the story is at the point in time when Annette says, "I didn't see or talk to Rhoda for two days. She didn't call me or come to my house and was "out" each time I attempted to reach her. 'I needed some time alone,' she explained a day later at school" (194). Being fully aware of Annette's situation at home with Mr. Boatwright, why would Rhoda treat Annette, who is supposed to be her best friend, this way? How could you look at your best friend who you know is dealing with hell and back, and ditch her to hang out with you're new boyfriend, or because 'you need some time alone'? Up until this point in the story, I actually favored Rhoda's character and the fact that she befriended Annette, despite the fact that no one else was friends with her. The topic of one of my previous posts actually states many things about how I admire Rhoda for being such an amazing person, but now I only feel as though she is being a terrible friend to Annette.
One last example of Rhoda's behavior that surprised me was when she told Annette that she was going to make them both tea, and left the room, and out of spite, killed Mr. Boatwright. I understand the fact that Mr. Boatwright is a terrible man, and actually does deserve what he got, but I don't understand how a girl of Rhoda's age could commit a murder and be completely fine with it. Annette explains, "Rhoda stood up too and looked me straight in the eyes, and told me, 'Yep. I-just-killed-Buttwright.' I couldn't believe my ears" (203). After reading this part of the story, I was literally in shock. I couldn't believe the fact that a girl in high school had the power to walk into a room, and kill a man without a problem. Although Mr. Boatwright isi a downright evil man and does deserve to rot in hell, I feel as though it wasn't Rhoda's place to put him there. I did not expect this type of behavior from Rhoda at all while first being introduced to her character. I figured that she would help Annette during this rough time, but never go to this extreme. In conclusion, after reading this section of the book, God Don't Like Ugly, by Mary Monroe, I have many questions about Rhoda's actions and personality changes through out the story. How can a sweet, and beautiful girl, turn into a bestfriend-ditching murderer in a short amount of time?
I, myself cannot believe how irresponsible Rhoda is by cutting school just to have sex with her boyfriend in a motel. Rhoda, as you pointed out, has so much going for her in life, and I feel as if she’s going to end up throwing it all away for some boy. I also had favored Rhoda from the very start of her and Annette’s friendship. But now I’m not so sure how I feel about her, it’s almost as if she’s turning on Annette. I was completely shocked when Rhoda killed Mr. Boatwright. The fact that she was able to kill a man with no problem is extremely disturbing. She really wasn’t thinking of how extreme killing Mr. Boatwright was. But she needs to realize that you can’t take back death, once you kill a man that’s it, there’s no coming back from that. Rhoda’s life could very well be ruined; she’s very luck no one found out the truth.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your point-of-view on Rhoda in that she has multiple, opposing personalities. One minute she is Annette's caring and kind best friend and the other she becomes a cold blooded murderer. It's very shocking how quickly she can change, too. I can understand why Rhoda would kill Mr. Boatwright, but a murder is still wrong and especially at such a young age! If the book did not clarify Rhoda's real age, I would assume that she is far beyond a teenager. It just seems like she is really on a downward spiral for someone who has so much going for her. She drops everything for her boyfriend, and goes out and does reckless and horrible things like there is not one thing wrong with that. She lives a double life almost. On the outside it looks like she has everything, but clearly, on the inside she is pretty messed up.
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