I'm not quite sure how to start off a response to this book... The whole thing was heart-wrenchingly terrible. I think what made it so terrible for me was the fact that the problems that were faced were caused by a lack of communication, and that is all too real. Kathy first got her house taken away from her because she refused to communicate with the county. The Colonel never communicated with anyone any of his plans, not even his own wife. And when she did find them out, he abused her because he was so stubborn and wanted his own way. This book is scary because the possibility of something like this happening is very likely. Our culture has a terribly hard time communicating with one another and because of this miscommunication tragedies, like the one in the book, could occur.
One of the problems that's very noticeably caused by miscommunication was Lester and Kathy's assumption that the Behrani family was rich and was just trying to make even more money off of selling a "stolen" house. This assumption fueled Lester's hate for Colonel Behrani because he was viewed as a dirty thief; "this man who was looking down at his hand resting on his leg, at a gold ring there with a red stone in the center. A ruby? Lester could feel the muscles tightening around his eyes and mouth... Lester took a breath. 'Do you really need this tiny place?' 'This is none of your business, sir'" (Pg. 271). "this rich prick was not taking him seriously and that would have to change starting now" (Pg. 278). Mr. Behrani was only trying to take care of his family, Lester didn't know that they only had a few thousand dollars left and that was why he was trying to sell the house for a profit. Communication between the two parties was absolutely necessary because assuming things gets you no where, and obviously ended up hurting everyone.
But Lester and Mr. Behrani weren't the only ones who refused to communicate: Kathy refused to relate anything going on back to her mother, or even talk to Mr. Behrani herself to try and iron things out. Without anyone in her life supporting her besides Lester, Kathy felt alone. But it was her own doing that caused it. With a family behind her, and people with stable heads on their shoulders, everything could have ended out much better. Or, even if she decided to talk to Mr. Behrani before threatening him or shouting at him as she drove away their problem may have been able to be ironed out much quicker and without the fatalities that occurred. But they were both stubborn, and both refused to talk to the other. I also want to mention the fact that Mr. Behrani acted very self-righteous around his family, as if he had done nothing wrong. It wasn't his fault that Kathy was going off the deep end because her fathers house had been stolen from her, it was because "Americans: they are not disciplined and have not the courage to take responsibility for their actions. If these people paid to us the fair price we are asking, we could leave and she could return. It is that simple. But they are like little children, son. They only want things only their way" (pg. 172). But it wasn't just Kathy that wanted her own way, he was doing the same thing. He, too, was like a little child struggling to have his way.
By the end of the book, after everyone was dead and she and Lester were both in jail, it still seemed like she didn't really learn anything. She lied to the other women in her jail, making them believe she was a mute just because she didn't want to talk. She lied, again, to her mother about what happened to her and why she couldn't talk. She also realized something about herself towards the end of the book: "it was me letting Lester finish what we'd both started, letting all this happen so I could put off facing my mother and brother with the news that somehow Dad's house had slipped through my fingers: I'd been willing for Lester to do anything so I could put off that moment of judgement" (pg. 356). Her refusal to communicate with anyone in her life resulted in her losing everything she had and a family losing their lives just so she didn't have to tell her mother she lost the house and her husband left her. And even after all of that, she still refused to tell her mom the truth.
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