Diana Jones 86-125(Chapters 8-11) Thoughts

         Chapters 8 through 11 brought up a few issues that we can relate to our world now. First off, the difference in morals in this other world is becoming more increasingly noticeable. There are several examples throughout the text to point that out but I found one that I think was note-worthy. In the beginning of Chapter 8 Lauren talks about Bianca Montoya being pregnant and she goes on to say "If all I had to look forward to was marriage to him(Curtis) and babies and poverty that just keeps getting worse, I think I'd kill myself." This shows the suspected thought processes of, what I imagine is a good portion of the community. No one wants to be in this poverty and live this way, they would rather die than have to live in such conditions and follow the norms and low moral standards that are popular in the community. Lauren is starting to want to leave the neighborhood more and more after Keith's horrible death. There should always be a hope for better, even in the darkest hours, one should always seek better. I think that Butler is subtly trying to tell us that life is too short to settle for less. Contradictory to that, I think that Butler is making many other points with this alternate world such as, when our minds change to survival mode, our morals change as well. When our morals change, we shouldn't try to hold on to something just because we want things to go back to the way they were like Cory does. We should adapt and change our ways and thoughts to what is necessary to survive and thrive as best we can overall.