Blog Post 7/8

Part I.

The judges monologue is very depressing. He’s very descriptive on how the Bronx is disgusting and he seems to focus only on the bad. While reading this I felt so disgusted that I wanted to throw up. Afterwards, I had to tell myself this is not the only thing that happens, there is some good in the world even if we don’t see it. It makes me realize that people tend to weigh the negatives more heavily than the positives.

Part II.

The two cases are completely different and went to the same judge and Judge Soderberg had complete different reactions to the two cases. He was overjoyed at having the tightrope walker case. He gave Tillie 8 months in prison for an old charge and only gave the walker a fine of less than two dollars because he believes his walk was a “meaningful monument.” Since there were reporters present for the tightrope walker’s case, Soderberg was more strict than usual because he was under the scrutiny of the public.

It connects the two events and forever binds them. Jaslyn even carries an old photo of the tightrope walker’s famous walk between the towers because this event happened on the same day as her mother’s death and “the sheer fact that such beauty had occurred at the same time” is what attracted her to the photo. She says it’s “One small scrap of history meeting a larger one.” I feel as though this book purposely connects peoples stories to show us that affect and impact we could all have on each other. It also shows that beauty surrounds us even when things are going wrong.

Part III.

After reading the prologue over again, I have determined that what has been bridged is the tightrope walker and every character in this book. He was in the same courtroom with Corrigan, Tillie and Jazlynn, which then affects the Jazlynn’s daughter Jaslyn, his judge was Claire’s husband, Solomon Soderberg. In every characters story, we can see that the world keeps on spinning or everything keeps moving forward which is what I feel is the connection.

A bridge that surprised me and unsettled me at first was when Gloria went back home to her apartment and saw social services taking Jazlynn’s children. In that moment I wasn’t sure whether she was just going to let them be taken or if she was going to step up and make them her own. I feel like if she hadn’t stopped social services from taking them that Jaslyn and her sister would’ve had totally different lives, Gloria raised them with more opportunities than they would’ve had if she had allowed them to be taken.

I think pretty much everyone is surprised that Lara ended up marrying Ciaran but it made me really happy (I guess it made my heart sing) that she left her husband for him and that she moved on, her ex was an a**hole. Jaslyn and Pino honestly made my heart sing (I know it probably doesn’t qualify as a bridge but let me have this), she went from basically fearing men because of her mother and grandmothers history as hookers and then meeting this guy and instantly becoming enamored and attracted to him. Their communication and conversation were also pretty funny and adorable.