Campion AP Lit

 After finishing Kavalier and Clay, here's my six-word summary of the book as a whole: Joe and Sammy escape their troubles. And if I had ten words: Joe and Sammy escape their troubles and follow their hearts. The biggest theme of this novel is escape, and throughout the novel, Joe and Sammy find themselves constantly escaping their realities, often refusing to face the truth. The novel starts with Joe's escape from Prague, traveling through Europe with the Golem to flee from the Nazi regime. Later on in the novel, after hearing about the death of his brother Thomas at the hands of the Germans, Joe tries to escape his anger and guilt by enlisting in the military, ultimately leading him to the most desolate, isolating place possible - Antartica. Ultimately, once Joe returns to New York, Joe has to escape his fear and hesitation to return home to Sammy, Rosa, and his son Tommy, escaping the immense solitude of his Empire State Building apartment.  For Sammy, his journey of escape...

 It is safe to say the Clay family that lives in Bloomtown, NY is not your average nuclear family, with not your average family dynamics. The only son of the family, Tommy, is unaware of the identity of his true father,  while still addressing Sammy Clay as "Dad" despite the knowledge that he is not his biological father. Not to mention the fact that Sammy and Rosa, a seeminly normal couple, are not in love with one another, with Sammy attempting to hide his homosexuality and Rosa still in love with Joe, or at least what memories still remain of him in her mind. Both Rosa and Sammy are attempting to escape from their true desires under the veil of suburban America, trying to blend in with their upper middle-class neighbors and conform to American social standards. As a middle-aged woman during the mid-20th century, Rosa feels as though she is expected to fulfill the role of the household mother and Sammy feels as though he must conform to the social norm of heterosexuality, l...

JOE'S CLASHING LIVES: PAST VS. PRESENT      Ever since Joe made the journey across the Atlantic to take refuge in America, he has felt unrelenting guilt  living a comfortable, at times lavish, life in America while his family suffers through the Holocaust in Europe. While Joe's primary goal in entering the comic book business was to acquire enough money to free his family from the shackles of war-torn Europe, just as the Escapist would, he eventually realizes this task would be easier said than done, intensifying his guilt and frustration. To combat these emotions, Joe thrashes the Nazi regime in his comic books, fighting the "funny-book war." Joe knows there is little he can do to make a significant impact in the course of the war in Europe and genuinely help his family, so he fights with all he has through the heroes of his comic books, hoping to instill the unceasing anger he feels towards the Nazis in his readers. However, even this isn't enough to satisfy Joe...

 Social Issues as seen in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay pg. 1-225 Economic injustice  Throughout the first third of this novel, Joe and Sam have made incredible strides in their comic book endeavor, achieving great prominence in the industry. However, despite the fact that Joe and Sam have spearheaded and facilitated the growth of Empire Comics, with little help from their bosses Sheldon Anapol and Jack Ashkenazy, an initial contract signed by Joe and Sam has given Anapol and Ashkenazy rights to their characters and authority over their work, leaving them an unfair allotment of the company's earnings. While Joe and Sam have made more money than they likely ever thought they would,s and are financially well-off, they have expressed frustration as they watch Anapol and Ashkenazy live lives of luxury, especially given the global conflict occurring in Europe. For example, Joe was enraged at the "impotence of the money" assumed by his bosses, as it only served to...

After reading the first 80 or so pages of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay , I have been absorbed into the lives of Josef Kavalier and Sammy Klayman, watching their very distinct, yet not totally dissimilar, stories intersect. However, as I read through the blog post topic suggestions, I saw one regarding the front cover. I hadn't taken a second to analyze, or even thoughtfully look at, the front cover of the book. When I reluctantly picked up this book in early July, I skipped as fast as I could to page 1, hastily skipping over the cover. As I look back at this fascinating book cover, here are some of my thoughts/observations:                                              First of all, I noticed the comic book layout of the cover page. After just reading the chapter where Chabon takes a prolonged break from storytelling to discuss the state of comic books in...