My Pool Keeper The story I chose was Lifeguard by Barbara Scott, I think that I can relate to this story the most out of the 3 1 had chosen to read. And it has more meaning to the story then just what's written. It has more internal problems with the two main characters, Chris and Mike as they both are facing their own family events. The 3 things I chose to speak about were the symbols, theme and my personal connections to/of the story.
After the seminar and hearing what other people chose for symbols in the story, I liked the symbolism in the story even though there may not be a lot.I think the pool both holds some meaning for Chris and Mike. The pool to Chris is something that's been constant for him in his life, even when his father left him and diving has been the main reason he went there so frequently in which he eventually became the lifeguard at the pool. Being at the pool every day for Chris has helped him work hard and do better in diving to prepare for his tryouts for the city team which he really hopes to be a part of. For Mike I think it really lets him escape the reality that his parents are gone for a while, as he's usually a very happy and bubble person.
After he accident he wasn't that anymore, but he still did his weird thing in the pool. I think it showed that even though he's quiet right now, he's going to be alright. When Chris father put his hand up to the glass before he left, it was kind of like a goodbye to me. The putting your hand up on the glass thing has been used a lot in movies as a way of saying goodbye to a loved one, and adding more of a dramatic effect to it. The glass is like an emotional barrier between Chris and his father, he was never really close to Chris and even more so now.
He hasn't seen his father for 6 years and he suddenly appears. I think his father can see that. The theme in this story is facing your problems and pushing through/ loosing people. I think that nowadays it's very common to have family problems, and obviously as goes loosing friends. Chris and Mike are both going through quite a lot in this story, but both are different stories.
As teenage boys they are dealing with more adult problems, but they both came out of it as a stronger individual.A part of growing up is having to deal with family and real world problems. At the end of the story Mike is still going through and trying to be more comfortable being happy and his usual self instead of being quiet and to myself, Chris doesn't feel bothered with his father anymore and has become more understanding and caring towards the people in his life. I think in a way Chris had to see his father again to move past him and decide that if his father really wanted to be in his life he would actually do something other than Just watch him at the pool.And that loosing people is Just something that happens in life and it's not in your control whether it happens or not.
Being the youngest sibling, I tend to look up to my sister and also cling onto her at times. I get why Mike likes being with Chris it's Just ice being around older people sometimes, because you learn new things while being with them. Like for me my sister helps me with my school work when I'm having difficulty, it Just so happens that she understands the subjects I'm weak at really well.Seeing her go through high school and now university helps me for the future because I kind of end up knowing what to expect and what to do. For her she had to do all of this first, then me being the younger sibling I had quite a lot of questions to ask when I was about to go to high school.
And I liked that she had helped with things and dealt with my questions. I get why Chris gets annoyed at Mike though, I have a lot of younger cousins and have to take care of them during family gatherings etc. ND well I get quite short tempered with them but feel bad about it later. Luckily with little kids they aren't as hard to apologize to such as adults.
I chose to title this "My Pool Keeper" as it reminded me of the movie "My Sister's Keeper". At the end in my opinion both Mike and Chris helped each other through it all. Seeing Mike go through what he did made Chris realize that he needs to be nicer to this kid and not just see him as someone who pesters him at the pool.
