John Grishams A Painted House Essay -- Essays Papers

John Grishams A Painted HouseJohn Grishams book, A Painted House places the reader inside the walls of a simple home on the cotton fields of rural Arkansas. Within the first few pages, the authors description of the setting rapidly paints a picture of a hard working family and creates a shared concern with the reader about the familys struggle to meet the basic necessitate of life. The description of the dusty roads, the unpainted board-sided house, the daily chore requirements and their lack of excess cause the reader a reaction of empathy for the family. Although the story takes place in a dusty setting very unfamiliar to most readers, the storyline is timeless and universal. Most every angiotensin-converting enzyme has a desire to meet the basic needs of life, embrace their family ties, and chance on others and ourselves proud. The crux of this book is that it does an excellent job in showing the reader through others examples and hardships to persevere and never give up . The title of the book, A Painted House is based on the actual farmhouse in which the Chandler family resides. It was an old house. It was a fine house that had never been painted. For this particular family, paint - like have meat with every meal - was a luxury. It was not a requirement to have a painted house. It was not a sign of laziness as the reader might initially expect. It was a sign of being frugal with money. In this bold example of persevering and never giving up, Mr. Grisham demonstrates to the reader that one cant have everything. The story is told through the eyes of seven year old Luke Chandler. Luke lives with his parents and grandparents on their rented farmland in the lowlands of Arkansas. It takes place during the harvest indurate for cotton in 1952. Like other cotton growers, these were hard times for the Chandlers. Their simple lives reached their zenith each year with the task of picking cotton. Its more than both family can complete by themse lves. In modulate to harvest the crops and get paid, the Chandlers must find cotton pickers to help get the crops to the cotton gin. In order to persevere, they must depend on others. They find two sets of migrant farm workers to assist them with their efforts the Mexicans, and the Spruills - a family from the Arkansas hills that pick cotton for others each year. In variation the book, the reader learns quickly that l... ...ily is residing in the Chandler barn where the Mexicans first stayed. Luke and his parents are traveling to Michigan in order for Lukes father can find a job in a automotive assembly plant, and Lukes grandparents are staying at the old farmhouse with the desires that the whole family will be back together soon. The hope from the reader is that all of the books characters will someday find true happiness. These folks work hard and our characters seem to deserve more than they soon have. Most readers can appreciate this feeling because its a feeling sh ared by everyone. In regards to the unpainted house At the end of the book, plainly a corner of the house needs create to be complete. It would have been very easy for our author to have completely finished in painting the house. However, thats not what the premise nor the promise of the book contains. There is a big difference in completing a challenge, and being successful. Although lifes problems and challenges are never ending, the success in dealing with a challenge has more to do with the way it is done than in its completion. The joy is certainly in the journey when reading the novel, A Painted House.