5 Funny Part in the Book of Orphan Train

BOOK REVIEW
ORPHAN TRAIN - CHRISTINA BAKER CLINE

BOOK RATING : 5/5!

So, like the last two books I've reviewed, Orphan Train also has a questionnaire at the back that I've decided to answer. I really do love this book so much; the history, the drama, the love. It's so worthy of a prize that I feel compelled to talk about it nonstop in this review. Even after I've answered the questionnaire. I don't know how long that'll be but I am determined

Question 1 : On the surface, Vivian's and Molly's lives couldn't be more different, but in what ways are their stories similar?

I believe that Vivian and Molly both have a lot in common and it was hard for most to see that because of their appearances. But Vivian and Molly both lost their family early on in their childhood and were both forced into the harsh cruel world of abandonment that also led to so-called care-givers that nobody seemed to realize weren't caring for them at all. They grew up feeling like it was hard to trust anyone and always feeling lonely. And I believe that their stories, when told side by side, you can see that they are basically the same.

Question 2: In the Prologue, Vivian mentions that her "true love" died when she was twenty-three, but she doesn't mention the other big secret in the book. Why not?

I think it's sort of the same reason she didn't tell Molly at first about May. She hadn't told anyone because she was worried that if she told anyone..May wouldn't be just a memory of her and Dutchy anymore....it would become real. And she was afraid if it was real that she would lose everything again. It took a lot for her to finally tell Molly the whole story and it was only because of how close their stories interlocked. She was finally ready to let herself have hope of meeting her daughter.

Question 3: Why hasn't Vivian shared her story with anyone? Why does she tell it now?

I find it funny that this is basically what I was saying in the paragraph before...but I'll just repeat myself. She didn't really think anyone would fully understand eerything she's been through, or for that matter, care. It's just been a part of who she is and what she's been through that she stayed silent about everything. Then, enters Molly, who has gone through the same sort of troubles and she sees this struggling young girl who is so curious about her life, that she just lets loose everything she's been holding in. It is always easier to tell something to someone who can relate.

Question 4: What role does Vivian's grandmother play in her life? How does the reader's perception of her shift as the story unfolds?

Well, Vivian remembers her as an iconic figure...the only family she has left after the fire, even though she's leagues away. It's like a piece of a puzzle that has gone missing and it can't be complete without, which is why she clings so tightly to the cross that her Gram gave her before Vivian left for America. Vivian clings very hard to that cross and won't let anyone take it away from her on the train or at any other place she's sent to. It's her history, and that's important for someone who's lost practically everyting. It was easy for me to like her Grandma at the beginning because that cross was something that kept Vivian strong throughout the book...but as she tells the story of how her Gram basically told her family to leave and never come back, it kind of made me not like her that much anymore. If she'd been there for her family, even when Vivian's mom was acting crazy...that fire never would've happened.

Question 5: Why does Vivian seem unable to get rid of the boxes in her attic?

Well they're important to her. They are pieces of her life, her history, how she ended up where she ended up. It would be hard for anyone to get rid of their lives and just move on. I certainly would cling to things like an old yellow coat that was too big for me but kept me warm because the person caring for me at the time was being nice to me and not wanting me to freeze. It's memories that make us who we are and when those memories are backed up by items that spark those memories...it's not easy to let go of them.

Question 6: In Women of the Dawn, a nonfiction book about the lives of four Wabanaki Indians that is excerpted in the epigraph, Bunny McBride writes: "In portaging from one river to another, Wabanaki's had to carry their canoes and all other possessions. Everyone knew the value of traveling light and understood that it required leaving some things behind. Nothing encumbered movement more than fear, which was often the most difficult burden to surrender." How does the concept of protaging reverberate throughout this novel? What fears hamper Vivian's progress? Molly's?

They basically resonate the same. They both have the same fears that the people that take them in won't appreciate them and they'll kick them out. For Molly it was probably a bigger fear because it happened more often but Vivian too had one particular issue where she had to pick up as much items as she could while being shoved out into the cold and had to leave many behind as she ran very far and ended up getting pneumonia for her troubles. So both have the fear of losing everything important and always have the fear that they are going to be cast away like stray dogs begging for scraps.

Question 7 : Vivian's name changes several times over the course of the novel - from Niamh Power to Dorothy Neilsen to Vivian Daly. How does each name represent a different phase of her life?

Well one thing that I noticed about Vivian throughout the novel is that she sort of has to adjust to each life like a chameleon does to his enviornment around him. She really had no say in her name being changed from Niamh to Dorothy. It was the choice of the family that took her in. After that, she really didn't cling hard to her original name because she knew it might change at anytime. Which it did indeed, more than once. At one point she switched back to Niamh but then...again to Dorothy after claiming it was alright if that was her name. It seemed though, that she was never happy with each new name. It just seemed like a new part for her to play. Her life did get better though, as the story progressed...despite the fact that she lost her husband to the War and gave up her baby out of fear. Still, The Neilsens taking her in changed her life completely and pulled her out of that slump and even though she never felt like their child...she did take the name of their lost daughter. So, in that way she morphed into a new persona as well.

Question 8 : What significance, if any, does Molly Ayer's name have?

I guess the biggest I can think of is that she doesn't have to change her name, ever. Even though she's pushed around from place to place...she gets to keep her name, and her identity...even if she doesn't really keep a firm hold on her true self throughout her life. Eventually she finds her way back to the real her as soon as she meets Vivian.

Question 9: How did Vivian's first-person account of her youth and the present-day story from Molly's third-person-limited perspective work together? Did you prefer one story to the other? Did the juxtaposition reveal things that might not have emerged in a traditional narrative?

Well since the stories were so similar they worked together quite seamlessly. Everything that was told, I noticed, related to another and new information kept streaming out that made everying click together that had been kept in the dark before. I loved Vivian's story the most because she had such a big background based in the horrors of losing your family and being forced into a life where people tell you that you're a hoodlum for the color of your hair and how you speak. She wasn't accepted into the first set of people looking for children because of that and I don't really think that that's fair because in my opinion, red hair is gorgeous! I find that Molly's story, although truly amazing, wasn't as in depth as Vivians. Her story seemed to have more of a power behind it and it was told more in depth as well. That's probably why I liked it more. I just loved how the story was told from two different perspectives because both stories were so similar that they played well off of each other.

Question 10: In what ways, large or small, does Molly have an impact on Vivian's life? How does Vivan havce an impact on Molly's?

I believe Molly gives Vivian a reason to remember and a reason to pull the past out of it's shell and discover what she was afraid to let herself discover...like what became of her family. She gives Vivian a reason to look towards the future rather than be stuck in the past. Like after many years, Vivian finally learns to use a computer thanks to Molly. In the beginning of the story she was so against any new form of technology. At the end, she thrives on it. Now Vivian's impact on Molly is even greater, in my opinion. She understands what Molly is going through and is able to offer her story as proof that she knows what she's going through and in the process she gives Molly a reason to apply herself and find the real person inside of her that she hides behind her Goth persona and the lying and stealing and altogether rebellious attitudes she had with her foster parents. Vivian gives Molly a reason to excel.

Question 11 : What does Vivian mean when she says, "I believe in ghosts"?

She has always been haunted by the deaths of her family members over the years that it isn't hard to figure out the reason that she says this. In her mind, her family members are haunting her. Her dad, brothers, mom, husband. To Vivian, their deaths were unfair and cruel and cast her into a state of fear and loneliness.

Question 12: When Vivian finally shares the truth about the birth of her daughter and her decision to put May up for adoption, she tells Molly that she was "selfish" and "afraid." But Molly defends her and affirms Vivian's choice. How did you percieve Vivian's decision? Were you surprised she sent her child to be adopted after her own experiences with the Children's Aid Society?

I wouldn't have given up my child because, after losing so many loved ones, it would be hard for me to do the same with someone who's alive and well. I see though where she's coming from. With all the problems she had to go through, it really changed her ability to hope. She was so afraid that history was going to keep repeating itself...so she gave up May. I wouldn't have done it, but I understand it and I don't fault Vivan for what she did.

Question 13: WHen the children are presented to audiences of potiential caretakers, the Children's Aid Society explains that adoptive families are responsible for the child's religious upbringing. What role does religion play in this novel? How do Molly and Vivian each view God?

The view on God was placed very highly in this book. The interlocking of fate and destiny is a big theme in the story and it's basically giving the reader the image that God has our lives in his hands and when it seems like he's not paying attention or that everything is going wrong...he moves another object around and you end up exactly where you're supposed to be and all the happier for it. Religion in this novel, gives the young straggling orphan hope and it's always good to have hope when you have nothing. It's sort of obvious that Molly and Vivian have different viewpoints in Religion. Vivian believes while Molly doesn't. It seems though in the end that both have a much better standing point on what their destinies are.

Question 14: When Vivian and Dutchy are reunited, Vivian remarks, "However hard I try, I will always feel alien and strange. And now I've stumbled on a fellow outsider, one who speaks my language without saying a word." How is this also true for her friendship with Molly?

It's quite obvious, actually. Molly has gone through the whole rigamarole of not being accepted and tossed out into a new situation. When Molly comes in and starts to reveal all the little tidbits about herself...Vivian sees that Molly and her are very much alike in their circumstances and out pops her story as well.

Question 15: When Vivian goes to live with the Byrnes, Fanny offers her food and advises, "You got to learn to take what people are willing to give." In what ways is this good advice for both Vivian and Molly? And in contrast, what are some instances when their independence helped them?

Learning to trust people obviously leads to forming friendships that can build up a person's self-confidence. Especially in those who've been abandoned. It's a necessary survival technique to have to rely on others once in awhile when you're destitute. In contrast, it was good of Vivian and Molly to be independent in certain situations...like Molly walking out when Dina was going to have her sent to another home or when Vivian was pushed out into the cold...the first thing she knew to do was run right to the schoolhouse. Both characters have such a strong independant personality that really helps them throughout the book.

Question 16: Molly is enthusastic about Vivian's reunion with her daugher but makes no further effort to see her own mother. Why is she unwilling (or unable) to effect a reunion with her own family? Do you think she will someday?

I believe it's all a matter of time really. I mean if it were me, and I had just found out that my mom was in jail, I certainly wouldn't want to rush to go see her either. I'd want to wait until she had her life somewhat together before visiting. Molly especially, doesn't want to ruin her chances of having a better future by visiting her mom and drudging up bad memories.

Question 17 : Vivian's claddagh cross is mentioned often throught the story. What is its significance? How does its meaning change or deepen over the course of Vivian's life?

Vivian's cross is where she came from; Ireland. It's a part of who she is and that's very important to vivian throught the story. Remaining who she is...deep down inside. She'll always be an Irish girl. Throughout the story...certain characters. Like Mrs. Neilsen and Dutchy come into her life and give the cross more meaning. Mrs. Neilsen helps her clean it so it looks nice again after so many years of it being filthied up in bad situations. And then when Dutchy goes to war, Vivian gives it to him for him to have a piece of her when he's gone. It is an imporant part of Vivian and she still wears it after ninety years.

So I have answered all of the questions now and I officially am worn out because there were A LOT!!! One thing I wanted to mention that I didn't already was how sad I was about Dutchy's death. I expected it when she said he was going off to war...I just knew. But it never fully hit me until the words showed up on the page. It's always sad when true love is ripped apart by death. Always.

I'm going to keep this short and sweet because the review has run a little long. So here we go. THIS BOOK IS AMAZING. I reccomend it to both History buffs and drama lovers. It's got so many different facets and the two stories connect so well. I applaud the author and give the book a big two thumbs up!

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Source: https://oh-cheezit.livejournal.com/131211.html

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