Hooraaay! I'm going to talk about whales, a big yet indirect part of Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher. Now, I'm specifically going to rant on about Humpback Whales. I might get into other species later, but Humpbacks have a very important role in this book, so they have the, er, sea-floor. (<--baaaad pun)
Humpback Whales have a very speical way of communicating: they sing. They send out eerie, but beautiful and peaceful songs that can be heard by people, other whales and all other creatures for miles and miles around in all directions. This way of communication comes in very handy when a whale gets lost from the group, or simply to communicate with other whales within reasonable distance. Whales are, obviously, mammals, since they give birth to live young. Many mammals display a need for company of their own kind from time to time, and who can blame them? Humans are the same way. Whales are among the top ranks of my favorite animals (which is a VERY long list, believe you me) for their grace and peace of mind. And the Humpback is one of my top favorites because of it's beautiful song.
The Humpback Whale gives Whale Talk most of this story's depth. At least, I think so. That's the only reason I chose to read it, I admit; ^ ^ because of the Whales. I read the backs, and none of them seemed too interesting, so I picked the one that had to do with one of my favorite animals: the whale. Real difficult decision, right? Well too bad, that's just the way I think. My life revolves around animals and the wild places still left on Earth. That's what one is supposed to do with their life, right? Follow their heart, and their passion? Well, I'm going to go where the wild animals go. ....And I'm getting off topic AGAIN....really must stop doing that...Actually, that may not be as off topic as it seems. T.J. followed his heart and got his friends letter-jackets, and his non-biological father followed his own and tried to make up for running over the baby by doing what little good he could do for the world. That's what Whale Talk is all about really, finding your place and doing what you can from that place.
The song of the Humpback Whale helped T.J.'s father get over (or at least live with) running over the baby with his truck. He thought about it, and figured out that if everyone would just tell others what they felt, what they thought, then maybe there would be less trouble in the world. Also, if people would just listen to others problems, maybe they could talk it out, and maybe people wouldn't strike out in desperation to be heard. I think a lot of the problems could be solved if we all acted this way, like whales. If we all just talked to be listened to, and listened to those that were speaking. It would be a start to world peace, something I'm sure we would all like to see in our lifetime.
And now to end with one of my favorite quotes: "You have to live with Mother Nature, but Mother Nature doesn't have to live with you."~Anonymous
4 comments:
I admit, I also enjoy whales, and a major factor for me was wanting to know what on earth whales have to do with racism. While the whale talk thing and how it works is an interesting breakaway, and it amkes you think, I don't think it's that major a part of the book. I think it's just sort of a coping mechanism and some fleeting thoughts for T.J.
Very interesting. And hey, a girl's gotta fill up space, right? lol
In elementary school, I studied whales. I thought they were fascinating. But in a way this topic DOES relate to the book, (in whatever miniscule way) because, obviously, the title is Whale Talk! There is also a fleeting mention of whales in the book and how they relate to one another and communicate to eachother. They have a very unique way of doing it, and maybe they wanted to make a point of just how different the two species communicate.
Beautifully put, Whaletalker. We studied whales in elementary school as well, and i got to take home the giant paper blue whale!!!!!But alas, yes, the whales were used in Whale Talk as a way to get the point out that maybe if we'd all just communicate, that perhaps we can all understand eachother and get along.
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