Sonny and the money

Throughout the novel The Flowers we get to know Sonny very well since its told from his perspective. We find out somethings about his background and past. In the beginning of the story we find out that Sonny is basically on his own. Sonny tells us ". . . I made my own dinner and lunch and did my shit without nobody" (5). His mother never really took care of him, he was forced to do things for himself when he was really young because he could only depend on himself. His mom was always out somewhere " It was that my mom, if she wasn't at her job, was out on dates and whatever" (5). Being that young and not having a real parent, you learn to find ways to fend for yourself and become independent more quickly then other children.
Sonny is brought up this way, which also makes him violent in a way and seems to show he is tough. Sonny witnessed abuse in his home ". . . She'd go after Ceci with belts or wooden hangers or whatever  was near" (5). Because of all the terrible things that happened to Sonny throughout his childhood made him who he is now. I think he steals because  he needs to provide for himself with food and its something for him to do. He knows its wrong but Sonny tells himself ". . . just put away for necessary things, it wasn't as bad" (49). From there once he just gets worse, he steals more and more from Cloyd, Deep down in his mind he regrets it " I wish I didn't but it was done" (159).
Sonny can do a lot of things with all that money he stole. He seems to spend a lot of time at the bowling ally but he doesn't have to pay since the owners give him everything for free. Sonny could spend it on Nica. Buy her things she doesn't have and can never afford. Give her things that would make her happy when she is living in that apartment all the time with yelling parents. Nica is the one person Sonny really cares about and focuses on. He dreams about going places with her and he seems to do that a lot. He wants to take her away. I think that's what he is going to decide to do with the money. He will spend it wisely on something or someone he cares about because it took a lot for him to take that money. He seems to regret it so I think he is going to spend it on something that's worth it.
 If I was Sonny I wouldn't have stolen anything from anyone or my stepdad. Since he did I think I would just return all that money he stole from Cloyd. Its not too late for him to go back and put it where he found it. If I got caught at least I did the right thing and finally put it back without touching any of it. If Sonny were to decide to make this choice it would make things less complicated in the future when Cloyd finds it missing.

significance of the car salesman

After reading more then half of The Flowers, we get to know all the tenants a little better. One tenant that stands out is Pink. He sells cars in front of the apartment building and has a scar. Sonny always seems to run into him every once in a while. There relationship builds further in the book and Pink asks Sonny to make a deal with him. Pink tells Sonny "...all I need is you to listen for me is all. Be some wide-open ears. I'm speaking of your stepdad" (139). Pink wants someone who can give him information on what Cloyd is up too. This is where Pink comes in the story. Pink wants Sonny because he can give him that information he wants and needs. These two characters connect when Sonny takes the keys to the car Pink offers him "...but I didn't give him the car keys. I put them in my pants pocket" (140).
Before Pink came to Sonny with the deal, Cloyd was talking with Bud about how he isn't sure about the guy who sells cars to blacks. Bud says " I don't like them being around my home" (110). Bud goes on and gets Cloyd to never let blacks live in his apartment building. Sonny gets really annoyed with them after this conversation. Now that Cloyd has this in his head, he might start taking action and try and stop Pink. This is why Pink goes to Sonny.
Now that these events have occurred I think Pink is going to be a very important character as the story goes on. Sonny will either back down from Pinks offer or stick with it. If he chooses to stay, it might lead him into some serious consequences with Cloyd. Things might end violently because Cloyd is starting to drink more and more " I didn't want to. He was drunk" (109).  Even though Sonny is trying to say away from him Cloyd still has all the power.
Another possibility is Sonny's mother could disapprove of him being involved with Pink. She already questions him after she see's them make that deal " What were you doing out there?" (140). She might take action so Cloyd doesn't find out because all she wants is peace with her husband. She doesn't want to make him mad; she tries to avoid it. Another thing that could happen is Sonny keeps information from Pink and causes a fight or an argument with him. He has to choose his family or Pink. He can either help out Pink or stay loyal to his so called family. I have a feeling he is going to choose Pink because he already hates Cloyd and he has no reason to not take the offer. Cloyd gives Sonny nothing and now that Pink offers him the Bel Air he is finally getting something by doing Pink a favor. Sonny knows Cloyd will never pay him for the work he has done. So Sonny can have a car and still steal money from Cloyd without him knowing. If he chooses this deal he will be risking something and I think that's what makes it difficult for him to give Pink a solid answer.

#2 pick a scene

A scene I can relate to personally is when Sonny's mom starts asking Sonny to help her before Cloyd  and his client arrive. His mom gets really paranoid about Cloyd like she is always doing something wrong. She tries to hide that she didn't make the salsa and gets Sonny to help her out. She asks Sonny to take out the cans and hide them and offers him money so he can go out to eat instead of staying home while Cloyd an his client are there. Sonny teases and jokes with his mom by telling her that he will rat her out about how she didn't make the food (Gilb 76-82).
I can relate to this scene because I do the same thing with my mom. We could be doing something together or I'm just in the same room and I will spit out little comments to joke around with her. She will ask me to do little things sometimes when I'm in the kitchen with her. She will ask me to set the table, take out the trash, and many other little things and I'll ask her how much is she going to pay me for it or if my brother is in the room I'll say why don't you make him do it. Sometimes she doesn't care but other times she will take it the wrong way and get mad at me. I guess it depends on if its a good day or not. My brother will do the same thing and try to get her to make me do it.
I think the author is trying to show that Sonny's mother is very uptight because she wants to impress Cloyd and his client, she doesn't want to disappoint him. She starts to hide things from him because he keeps telling her that she uses too much toilet paper and that upsets her. I think she thinks that she doesn't fit with Cloyd, that she isn't good enough for him. So she tends to try to make everything peaceful by telling Sonny not to bug him about paying for the work he has done and telling Sonny that she will pay him if he really needs it. The relationship of these three people aren't very good. There is bad communication and it seems to be fake. The author wanted to show how their relationship affected Sonny and his mom. Throughout the novel its only going to get worse or better and its going to affect Sonny in some way.
The two interpretations are similar in a way because Sonny is really only trying to joke with him mom like he used to before she married Cloyd. It seems like he could be able to have that joke with her before but now he can't because she is so paranoid about not disappointing her new husband. With my mom she knows its a joke but sometimes gets annoyed with it. So both mothers take it in the same way at different times. It is different because my mom isn't trying to impress anyone while Sonny's mom is doing everything she can to make her marriage and family work.

Predicting what will happen to Sonny

After I got fifty pages into the book I learned a lot about Sonny. Sonny seems very aware of his surroundings and the people around him. He observes people and tries to understand their lives and how they live. He doesn't really show himself off to other people; he keeps to himself.  Learning how Sonny is I think Sonny is going to go through a lot in this novel. I think he is going to face many challenges with his new stepdad, his mother, and all the tenants. They will all be a big part in his life and maybe they will all  show him things that are new to him. All the tenants live different life styles and Sonny will end up learning something from each of them while he is interacting with them. One thing that stood out to me was Cindy and Nica. There is something about them that pulls Sonny in. I think he will grow more close to them and that will stir up a conflict between each of them. Maybe Sonny will get too close to both or one of them and that will cause confusion for him or others. I think his stepdad and his mother's relationship will not be so smooth. Sonny may be challenged with that and will have to decide if he wants to stand up for his mom or not since his stepdad has all the power. Or his mom could grow apart from him more and go against him with her new husband. Somewhere in this novel something will blow up and cause problems for Sonny. This is what I predict will happen but for all I know this story thats being told could end up differently.

I am Londa

My name is Londa McDonald. I am nineteen years old and  I live in Hollister. I live with both my parents and my older brother. I graduated high school in 2010 from San Benito High School. I am currently attending Gavilan College and I hope to transfer to a four year college. I am undecided on what I want to major in but I'm looking into child development to see if that's the direction I want to go in. When I have free time or when I'm not in school I like to read, cook, play basketball, travel etc. During the break I finally got to go take a trip to New York to visit a really good friend of mine. I have never been there before so it was really exciting for me. Being able to see the city in person was really breathtaking. I see it in movies and pictures all the time but when your actually there it just comes to life. It is really different there then California. Everything and everybody seems to move so much faster then us. Here in California it is calm compared to New York. I only stayed there for six days and I'm planning on going back as soon as I can. I have traveled other places but for me nothing has beaten the city.
Another hobby I mentioned earlier is I like to read. Only certain books catch my eye and interest me. In my previous English classes I have read The Outsiders, Macbeth,  A Thousand Splendid Suns, Kitchens God's Wife and many more. I really enjoyed all of these books because they all had a strong story and many meanings found in them. When I'm not reading a book for a class I usually will find a book that I will enjoy. I will not always pick books like the ones I read in class but I will usually pick fun books to read on my own. My whole family loves to read no matter what it is. My brother and my parents are always reading something. My family is very close but the person I'm closest with is my older brother. He is going to be twenty-two this year. We do a lot of stuff together like go to the movies, concerts, or we will just go out to eat. We used to fight a lot when we were younger but now we have a better relationship and I love it.
Another hobby that is a big part of my life is cooking. I love to cook and make new recipes. In high school I  took a cooking class and it was so much fun to learn new techniques. We made everything from pizza to candy. After I took that class I got into watching pastry shows. I'm really interested in culinary but I'm still undecided about what I want to do. It is between child development or culinary school. Right now I'm just working on my general education so I can transfer to a four year school that has a good program for what I want to major in.