A painted House by John Grisham
In his novel A Painted House, John Grisham tells the story of theevents of one summer as viewed and interpreted by a young boy, LukeChandler. The book presents a view of how a group of people interacttogether: a cotton-growing share-cropping family, the transient workersthey hire to help them pick the cotton, and their neighbors. The storydelineates the social status and interactions between the various groups:share croppers, "mountain folk" who come down to help with the picking, anditinerant migrant workers from Mexico. In the process, Luke learns to lookpast surface assumptions about people. This is reflected by the emphasis onthe surface appearance of his family's house -- whether it is painted r In the view of the people who inhabit Grisham's story, a painted houseis superior to an unpainted one, and reflects increased status, because apainted house can only be afforded by those who could spend extra money onpaint instead of necessities. Luke's grandfather believes that paintingone's house is a sign of vanity and a waste of good money, while John'smother has always dreamed of living in a painted house again some day. Thereality is somewhere in between: with or without pai
But Luke makes unfortunate discoveries as well. Luke is quite torn about what to do. He hints at his budding understanding,however, when he talks about getting his Saturday night bath whether heneeded it or not, and observing that the dirt on his skin somehow seemed tooffend her. Hank picks up a piece of wood and kills thesharecropper with it. He adores Tally, but Tally let him see her bathe nude in thecreek, and thus is a complicit in Luke's growing list of sins he must hidefrom others. Louis Cardinals, but all baseballis followed closely. I dreamed of the day when I would be out there, hitting homeruns and making incredible plays in centerfield. The surface Luke, the good little boy who never tells a lie, has justcome into conflict with the deeper Luke, the one who must make hardjudgments and whose outside appearance no longer reflects who he really isinside. In this scene hereflects the types of judgments regarding other people that those aroundhim make: the Methodists should lose not base on their ball-playing abilitybut because of one trait. Seven-year-old Luke has discovered moralambiguity. His parents and grandparents still do not know who is paintingthe house. It's a hard journey for him, complicated concepts for a seven-year-oldboy to sort out for himself, because class distinctions are everywhere. In one scene, Luke watches a game between two churchcongregations, the Methodists and his own Baptist church.
Common topics in this essay:
Civil War,
Luke Chandler,
Mexican Luke,
Baptist Luke,
Tally Trot's,
Tally Trot,
Louis Cardinals,
Tally Luke,
Tally Hank's,
Tally Tally,
painted house,
luke learns,
beyond surface,
social status,
luke's family,
pick cotton,
view people,
surface appearance,
tally luke,
ricky girl,
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Acceptance Essays
