LITERATURE ANALYSIS #3

THE VOW BY KIM CARPENTER

TOPIC(S) and/or EVENT(S)

1.

a. This book is about a young couple who suddenly experiences a tragedy where Kim and Krickitt, husband and wife, and main characters in this story, are involved in a bad accident that sends Kim through the windshield. Her injuries include horrible brain damage that cause her to forget her life as she knows it. Krickitt is devastated as they have only been married 2 months and this happens. He must make her remember why she loves him.

b. After experiencing a major head injuring causing memory loss, Kim forgets her whole life including her husband, so Krickitt must help her remember their love. 

2. Kim Carpenter wrote about this event, because it was a huge hardship she and her husband were faced with. She never regained her memory so her life was changed incredibly after that accident. Her and her husbands lives during that time were hard and dramatic. Writing about it much later, the readers can infer that she is now in good state in her life with her husband. She has recovered as much as she could and felt this traumatic story should be shared.

3.     This book appealed to me because first of all, it's an amazing love story where the man overcomes the odds to win the girl. Though she was his wife already, in Kim's mind she wasn't. Therefore Krickitt was forced to win her over against Kim's ex husband. The love story background was the big attention grabber to me. Also, the fact of knowing the story line from the major movie forced me to want to read the real story without the Hollywood twist. A true story like this was hard to believe so I had to read and find out.

4.   I found this book to be very realistic. With the movie that followed the book alone, a story this severe had to be true. But, of course, you can't trust everything you "see". The movie wasn't my solid proof.  Her condition and  state of being following the accident  was very realistic. Brain traumas happen all the time and her story didn't seem exaggerated or overdone. Kim told it well so that  such an event was realistic to readers. The only part that seemed questionable to me was how she only remembered her life up to a certain point and then NOTHING after. I don't know how the brain works, however, so maybe that is possible. But it seems strange

PEOPLE

1.Kim had two personalities in this book. The person she was before the accident, and a whole different person after the accident. The person she turned into after the accident was the same person she used to be a couple years back while still living with her family and while saying another man. What I'm curious about, because the book left me hanging, is if she transformed back into her real self that she was. It was like a split personality in the book.  I am curious as to how I would see Kim myself. I wonder if she really is owning up to how those personalities came across.

2.     As described in the above. Kim Carpenter had two personalities. Because they were so different, I would like to analyze both characters. Young Kim first. This is the Kim that lived with her parents around the age of 20. Here, Kim had a great life. Everything basically handed to her. She was going to a top law school in Chicago, she lives in a nice house with her family. She was engaged to her love of the time. Kim was well mannered and put together. If I had to describe her in one word, it'd be preppy. Then she has a so called "mid life crisis" in her twenties. She realized this is not what she wanted. She felt suffocated in that life. She had dropped out of law school, broken off the engagement and moved out of her parents house. But, this didn't happen on good terms with her family. After this she didn't speak to them for years. This new  Kim that developed was ARTSY. In one word that's her. She went to a school of arts to become a sculptor. But she portrayed her artsiness I'm her lifestyle as well. She ha cut her hair short as well as died it. She also changed her style to a very chic look. Baggy clothes but always fashionably put together. Kim was living and caring and an all together amazing person to be around. This is who  Krickitt fell in love with. 

3. Here, I will talk about Krickitt. Though I didn't characterize him above he was an interesting character. He was fun loving and open. At first he was shy but really opened up to people close to him. He was also artsy. What made him interesting was his ability to never give up. Even when all odds were against him. His wife didn't even remember him and for that matter, like him. After the accident Kim wanted her ex boyfriend back. Krickitt NEVER quit pursuing what he wanted. He also demonstrated this in his recording studio. Though his business was majorly failing, he had a passion for it and kept pursuing and pushing for what he loved. I adored his attitude.

1. One example of indirect characterization is when Kim describes her father through her own dialogue to Krickitt. First off, she didn't speak much of him, but when Krickitt was curious one day, Kim opened up slightly. She gave hints that she really didn't like her father or appreciate him because of an incident that happened. From the beginning of this book, this is the information readers receive. Kim does this because of her bad relationship she has with him.
Another example of indirect characterization is when we meet Kim's ex boyfriend, Jeremy. We only know him by his actions, no paragraphs of description are used. From a couple encounters, I personally concluded that Jeremy was similar to "preppy" Kim. He was well off and in a sense close minded. He was used to one way of life and anything different was wrong. Also, he is manipulative. He used Kim's accident to try to rekindle what they had years ago. I decided that Kim indirectly characterizes Jeremy because he was no longer of importance in her life at the time of writing this novel.
Two examples of direct characterization in this book were Krickitt and her older sister. She used long, lengthy, and descriptive passages for these two people. I believe this had a purpose. Her purpose was showing the readers the most important and meaningful people to her at the time. Also, the fact that they were the MAIN characters played a huge role. 

3. The protagonist is most definitely dynamic. I'd say that both Kim and Krickitt are actually. Kim changes greatly in regards to her situation it is predictable and understandable. Her personality changes help create this dynamic character. Also, after the accident, trying to find out the person she was, and the person she WANTED to be were what led to her being dynamic. She underwent some great changes so figuring her "new" life out heavily impacted her. Krickitt was also dynamic for some of the same reasons. Because of his wife's severities, he had to make adjustments. He became depressed for a period, understandably, but when he pulled out and decided he had to act, he again changed for the better. He took on an attitude and stuck with his go-getter mentality until he felt achieved. The accident made him take a whole new outlook on life.

4. After reading the book I came away feeling like I knew Krickitt. For starters, his actions are everything a girl would like in a boyfriend. His caring and sweet demeanor made him recognizable amongst other characters. Also, his mentality he took on towards the end of the book made me want to be him! Yes, be him. If I could have a conversation with this couple know and see how their lives have changed and even what happens after where she left us in the book. I want a sequel novel!!!

STYLE

1.  Kim Carpenter didn't use many tools because her novel was mostly story telling in a form of this happened then this. One example of foreshadowing she gave her readers, however, is when she is telling her husband, Krickitt about her rocky relationship with her parents. We know that some event occurred to hinder their relationship. Later in the book, after Kim's accident, when she forgets all about the problem that had occurred with her family, readers can assume that somehow Kim is going to find out again.

2.  The author uses lengthy descriptive paragraphs to describe settings, characters, or situations. For me, this is more effective because readers can get a true feeling of what is going on instead of assuming and filling in holes that may have been left out in dialogue. With this, we can create a picture in our head and imagine what is going on at the moment. It helps to connect with not only the author's story, but the other characters as well.     

3.     To create mood and tone, Kim Carpenter uses unintentional pathos. Considering the severity of her accident and the following situation, readers can't help but feel sympathetic towards her. This is how she appeals to the emotional side of readers. We also can sense a mood through her dialogue and the set up events. When she tells us how many things Krickitt does wrong in a certain day, and then continues with an awkward argument between two "strangers" we know that the tone at this moment was very confusing and awkward for Krickitt at the time, and later Kim as well. 

4.     I believe that Kim's attitude toward the subject was triumphant. She is able to tell her story because of her success and her over coming of a horrible incident. She is not regretful or negative towards what happened, but rather positive on how it had changed her and Krickitt's lives in a good way. They were able to recreate a new love story. :') She wasn't looking for any sympathy from others. She just wanted to tell an amazing, story of how her and her close ones overcame the impossible.

5. The author offers pictures in the middle of the novel of her present family. Her kids are included along with Krickitt, so I do know that her and Krickitt still managed to stay together. Also, the major motion picture supplies a major amount of evidence in itself. Neither of these things affected my belief of the situation. I believed before and the pictures just provided a cute thing to look at while the movie provided my thought to come to life.

ENDURING MEMORY

      I will forever remember Krickitt's attitude towards this whole situation. It was so unrealistic in a sense the way he was able to maintain such a POSITIVE attitude when everything in his life seemed to be falling apart. He really solidified the "theory" that if you want things to happen, you got to make them happen, and they will. I wish I were as half as positive as he was if I were ever in a situation like him. Granted, many people tend to pull through a positive outlook on life and even more value. An example of this is cancer patients. Krickitt, though not directly injured, was effected greatly by this and it was even as if he was the one injured. But, his mentality all the way through the journey is what I will remember.

BONUS
In my book, the main character, Kim, learns a lot about her self. She learns that everything happens for a reason. She feels that the accident was supposed to better her and Krickitt's relationship, which it did. She felt it was supposed to show her that all her huge changes in her "previous" life were meant to be. Such as dropping out of law school, moving out, and dumping her fiance-to-be. In this experience she sees that all these things were supposed to happen for her and that her life was truly better off. I know that this is true because Kim even said so herself. She went into depth on her accident and what it meant to her and what she learned, and this is one of the major things that she took from this.