Black Flies Post #6

In this last section of Black Flies Ollie's character finally comes together to make a delightfully happy ending. Earlier in his career Ollie applied to college for a medical degree and was denied, but this year he tried again. He studied for a very long time and took the test, and passed. Although he was only being a paramedic as a filler until the year when he was accepted to college he was hesitant to say yes. He felt a strange bond to the job that he once dreaded and didn't know if he could stop. I find this very interesting and a huge example of character development. At the beginning Ollie hated the job and wanted to quit, but after seeing the difference that he makes in the world, he really began to enjoy his work. This job opened his eyes to the real world and gave him and life experience that not many people have the chance to experience. This job is disgusting and traumatizing but the way of life that Ollie had to conform to taught him about not only himself but about the society that he was living in. The book ends while Ollie was on a job, attempting to save a girl in a flooding building he was thinking about his future, and then and there he knew that he had to go to medical school. Right after he made this crucial decision he found his patient, the girl. He looked at her and noticed, "Impossibly pale skin, mouth open, eyes staring blankly in the dim, flickering light- she was dead" (180). He knew that he had to act fast to if he wanted the chance to save her, and his partner wasn't responding to him. So he got out the shocker paddles and after multiple tries she finally came back to life, Ollie had finally earned his save badge. His job gives out badges for achievements that the paramedics do. Although earlier in his career he had saved a patient, he needed help from Rutkovsky so it didn't count, but for this girl he saved the twelve-year-old girl all by himself. I was very pleased when Ollie finally succeeded. He has been working extremely hard, putting up with the taunting, and has devoted his life to his work and it was a spectacular ending to have him finally reach his goal. Although many of his coworkers haven't been taunting him in the past couple of months, they didn't fully respect him, until he received his save badge. The final theme of this book is that if you work hard, and have the drive to accomplish something, you can do it. I'm a strong believer in this theme and it was the perfect ending to this gross yet fabulous story.

Burke, Shannon. Black Flies. New York: Soft Skull P, 2008.*Black Flies should be underlined

Black Flies Post #5

In this section of Black Flies by Shannon Burke the job and mental aspect effects Rutkovsky mentally. One hot summer day the men are called to help a mother that is giving birth to a "still born" baby, this woman is a crack addict, takes methodome, is HIV positive, and is giving birth to her baby two months early. When they men get there the baby is born and Rutkovsky says the baby is dead, while he is dealing with the baby Ollie is talking to the mother. The baby is taken down to the ambulance where another paramedic determines that "the dead baby is breathing" (117). Soon later Rutkovsky is fired, all the men are questioned but Ollie says he saw nothing and he was talking to the mom the whole time. The job began to get to Rutkovsky and ultimately altered his thinking. He always wanted the patient to live and to be comfortable but at this moment he didn't want the baby to have to live in that sort of environment. Although he had a "valid" reason for his actions this is extremely out of character for him, and really shows how the job has effected him immensely. A few weeks later the paramedics get a call to help a man in a park that had shot himself, it was Rutkovsky. The fact that he didn't have his job anymore and the things he had seen changed him and his view on life completely. He wasn't able to deal with all the tragic things he had seen so he killed himself. His coworkers thought that the way he killed himself in a "joking" way, he shot himself in a way that would ruin his face, and in a park that he knew his friends would respond too. The job of being a paramedic took a huge toll on Rutkovsky's and every other mans life as well. I really hope that this job doesn't do the same for Ollie. I think that the job that these men are doing is extremely honorable and selfless. They are willing to give up everything to help people and a community that they aren't affiliated with at all. This job takes a huge toll on theses men and women's lives, and they aren't commended enough for the amazing work that they do. The things that they experience are tragic and no one should ever have to see that but they deal with it with care and sophistication.

Burke, Shannon. Black Flies. New York: Soft Skull P, 2008.*Black Flies should be underlined

Black Flies Post #4

In this section of the book Back Flies by Shannon Burke, Ollie has began to fit in with his coworkers, but what he calls "normal" has dramatically changed. After working the job and proving himself to his coworkers, Ollie is now accepted and almost liked by the other men. He is teased no more than any other guy, and is seeming to enjoy his gruesome and peculiar job. One this that is apparent in all the paramedics is that they all seem to have gone a little bit crazy. Not only has Ollie changed what he finds normal but all the paramedics have. One day Ollie realizes "Of knowing without even thinking about it the progression of lividity, rigo mortis, and gradual decay. And all of this the normal routine of our day" (91). Here Ollie is admitting that all the crazy and disgusting things that he sees are now what he finds normal. I find this weird but also a sort of dedication to the job. No one should ever find organs falling out of a body normal, but when they do there is something very wrong with the situation. Although this is disgusting I find this very dedicating to the job. Not everyone would be able to deal with the terrible things that these men see, and by changing what they find as the "norm" they are then able to deal with what they must to ensure that they will do their best work and ultimately save lives. Not only are these men changing their views on the world but they are also becoming a tad bit insane and proceed to act in very strange ways. First of any one who finds bone sticking out of a wound or seeing a brain normal to a days work there's something very wrong in your head. Yet these men then do very weird things, like talking to everyone through a puppet. Marmol, one of Ollies coworkers, says with his puppet " 'Talk to Papi!' Marmol said. Then with they puppet, 'Whats the pain feel like?' " (92). Marmol was trying to keep his mind off of the diet that he was on so he decided to talk to everyone, including the patients, through a puppet named Papi. "Normal" people don't talk to others through a puppet, well unless their clowns. This job effects not only the time that these men have but it changes their minds and how they see the world. This book is very intriguing due to the fact that I have never heard a story of a paramedic, and I never knew that how much of an effect it could have on these honorable men's lives.

Burke, Shannon. Black Flies. New York: Soft Skull P, 2008.*Black Flies should be underlined

Black Flies Post #3

In this section of the book Black Flies, Ollie is starting his third week as a paramedic and is beginning to understand how the job works. Ollie is clearly the one to pick on at the station but he is beginning to realize that he isn't the only person who isn't well liked. There is another man, Phelps, who had been working at the station for eight months, is a very kind nice man who loves his job and is thrilled by it as well. Due to this happiness and eagerness to be at work the other men aren't fond of him and always give him a hard time. One day Phelps's partner put a transfer slip in Phelps's mail box. A transfer slip is a form the workers fill out and give to their partner if they aren't happy with what their partner is doing. Phelps's partner wasn't fond of Phelps and didn't want to work with him any more, so he filled out a transfer slip and gave it to Phelps. When Ollie sees this he knows that it's not the right thing to do because Phelps is a good worker and loves his job, yet due to Ollie's status at the station he wasn't allowed to interfere with the situation. This transfer slip is rude and extremely embarrassing for Phelps, but unfortunately his coworkers didn't stop there, in addition they put a dead maggoty dog in the front seat of his car. Ollie returns home that night and talks it all over with his girlfriend, Clara. Clara got in to med school, while Ollie did not. Clara believes that Ollie is an amazing medic, but he didn't get in to school because he wasn't confident. Clara isn't fond of Ollie's new job because she thinks it's not helping him become more confident, so Clara tells Ollie that if he wants the other guys to like him he has to give them something to like and respect. The next day at work Ollie and Rutkovsky see a boy walking down the street with a trail of blood and a dog following him. While the other medic's help bandage the boy's wound Ollie goes to check on the dog. They had successfully locked the dog inside a parking lot, and the friend of he injured boy was about to shoot the dog when Ollie walked in. Ollie took out a sandwich and gave the dog pieces of it, and soon the dog let Ollie grab him by the collar. The police took the dog away and the owner of the dog came to the scene. The man was crazy only caring about his dog, and not apologizing to the boy or thanking Ollie Cross. While the EMT's were standing there Rutkovsky told Ollie good job, but rather than calling him his nickname, Coroner, he called him Cross. After this name change every one had a little more respect for Ollie, changing his situation. At the beginning of this section Ollie was insecure with himself, and this attitude radiated off of him giving his co-workers a reason and opportunity to make fun of him, but by the end of this section he proved himself on the job. Ollie was brave enough to take care of the dog rather than killing it, and this action earned him respect. No one else wanted to even go near the dog. but because Ollie had the strength to confront the dog showed his partner that he was serious and was confident. Ollie also realized that he wasn't the only guy on the job who was getting a hard time, but he did realize that he could control it. He proved himself to everyone and created a better environment for himself at work. Hopefully Cross will now have and easier time at work, and will be able to stay this confident and continue to progress in his work otherwise he will never have a chance at getting into med school and possibly becoming a doctor at a hospital. I'm very happy to see that Cross is learning to adapt to his new environment and learning how to deal with all the obstacles that he faces while working in Harlem.

Burke, Shannon. Black Flies. New York: Soft Skull P, 2008.*Black Flies should be underlined

Black Flies Post #2

In the book Black Flies, so far all the reader knows is that Ollie is a new paramedic struggling to deal with the gruesome and disgusting scenes he encounters in his job of being an EMT. At the beginning we don't know much about his life before his job of being an EMT but later on we get some more insight. Ollie went to college and didn't get in to medical school right away, so he decided to take a year off and become a medic and apply the nest year. Ollie is not only struggling with the horrific events, he is struggling with how his co workers deal with the situations. His partner Rutkovsky, isn't fazed with any of the tragedies he sees, and even has bars under his badge to prove it. Ollie asks Rutkovsky, "... he only displayed a single black bar over his badge...From when I was in the war. It's a kill bar. For a confirmed kill"(16 Burke). Ollie has a difficult time wrapping his brain around the idea that Rutkovsky had killed anyone, and isn't even fazed by it. Ollie continues to be ridiculed about him being new, but one day he gets his chance to prove his skills to his co workers. Burke writes, "I lines up behind the head, set the laryngoscope up, and went in with the scope, trying to find the vocal cords. I couldn't see them" and later Ollie received help from Rutkovsky "Now! Rutkobsky hissed. I stabbed inward with the tube... As the air went in the guys skin flushed and his heart rate went up into the sixties..."(12, 13 Burke). At first Ollie is scared and doesn't believe he can accomplish the job, so he receives some help from Rutkovsky and ends up completing the task and saving the man's life. Although Ollie saves this man's life all his coworkers still make fun of him because he wasn't confident and almost killed the man.

The gruesome details are still there but the story is getting much more interesting. The story is beginning to get some plot behind the basic idea and is really becoming interesting. I'm curious to see how Ollie deals with all the pressure that is put upon him, if he will crack or rise to the occasion. I also enjoy how Burke writes about how Ollie is trying to cope with this new job, but leaves out how others cope with all the blood and gore. I'm really interested to if the views of the other workers and even Ollie change later on.

Burke, Shannon. Black Flies. New York: Soft Skull P, 2008.*Black Flies should be underlined

Black Flies Post #1

I'm reading the novel Black Flies by Shannon Burke. This book follows the story a man Ollie who is new to his profession, being an EMT. Ollie is a new guy so he is not accustom to all the gore and death that is experienced in the job, because of this he is made fun of by the veteran EMT's. This book has a huge amount of detail making the scene's very easy to visualize, even though they might be gory and terrible to think about. A crime scene is described, "A half dissected cadaver lay on a steel table, the interior cavity of the body exposed, the organs visible. the grayish formaldehyde poled in the folds of the plastic wrapping, and all around us high shelves held jars with floating hearts, brains, kidneys, fetuses, and encephalopathy babies"(8). This line was an amazing description of a tiny room with jars all around the walls. While reading this I had a vivid picture of the scene in my head. Although this isn't the best picture to have in your head, it enhancs your reading and understanding of the book. In this scene Ollie is unable take it all in, the gore and death is too much for him to handle. Due to his incapablility to handle all the graphic deaths his coworkers taunt him and ridicule him, they even go so far as putting a dead decaying pig in his car.

At the beginning this book seems as thought the plot is thin, but as you read on the story becomes more and more interesting. Not only does the graphic deatailing enhance the story but it gives the book "style" and makes important details and parts to the story stand out even more. Burke has done an excelent job putting this extremely difficult and gory job into terms that the reader can begin to understand. Although I'm only at the beginning this book is very intriguing and is very well written. So far I'm enjoying the book Black Flies.

Burke, Shannon. Black Flies. New York: Soft Skull P, 2008.*Black Flies should be underlined

Outside Reading- Post #6

After Christmas Frank's father finally gets a job, but then looses it his first day. Then rather than returning home to his excited family, he spends all the dole money at the pub and comes home drunk singing Irish songs. Frank, Malachy, and Angela are extremely disappointed with Mr. McCourt and don't accept the penny he tries to give to them as an apology gift. Frank's school gets a new head master who hates answering questions, and there just so happens to be a boy in Frank’s class who loves to ask questions, so he's always in trouble. Franks amazing conscience helps him to send a message to his class mates. One day at school he finds a raisin in his lunch and every one begs him for it, but rather than giving it to the normal kids he gives it to the other poor kid in his class, Paddy. In a few weeks it's time for Frank’s first communion. He's extremely excited for this because he will get money to spend on the movies and sweets, but unfortunately he throws up his communion wafer and misses the money collecting part. They get to the heater and Mickey pretends to throw a fit and Frank is able to sneak into the movie. Much later Frank is forced with the decision of going to the university and getting an education or getting a job to support his family. He chooses the job so that his family can finally have an income that they can depend on. Throughout this book Frank has grown immensely as a person. He has an extremely difficult life and it would be much easier to stoop down to terrible and low levels; but him his mom and his brother are very good people and it shows through their actions. Frank selflessly gives his sweet raisin to the other poor and hungry boy in the class, doesn't retaliate to the teasing that he experiences, and chooses his family over himself. Frank has an amazing sense of what is "right" and is strong enough and courageous enough to follow through with his beliefs. I feel that Frank McCourt is an amazing role model for everyone. He had a terrible life, but grew up to be a successful, smart, and courageous man. This book was an amazing story and I would recommend this book to everyone who is looking for a great book!

McCourt, Frank. Angela's Ashes. New York: touchstone, 1996.

Outside Reading-#5

Some time passes as the McCourt family is accommodating to their new home, but with the dole money decrease things are still as hard as ever.  Two weeks before Christmas the boys return from school to find that their house had been flooded.  So they are forced to move in to the top floors apartment which they call Italy, because its hot and dry. The next day Angela goes to the butcher to get meat for the family to eat on christmas, but all she could afford was the meat on the head of the pig.  Unfortunately for Frank he had to carry the pig head home and on the way he saw some of his friends who made fun of him for his poverty.  On Christmas day the boys go out to fetch some coal scraps so that Angela can cook the pig, but they convince a landlord to give them real coal for free.  They then have to drag the coal home in the rain and are once again made fun of because of their poverty. The boys go home and celebrate a great, and happy christmas with their family. 

I find it amazing that these boys are able to stay true to themselves and stay out of trouble with all the teasing they are experiencing.  Unfortunately people judge others on their appearance and the amount of money they have, so consequently the McCourt boys are ridiculed endlessly.  The school is really making a difference in the boys lives, although they haven't made friends they are staying out of trouble and learning an education.  The McCourt boys are very strong and I believe smart as well.  They haven't had any good examples of how to act or what to do in their lives and yet they are two respectable boys.  I also find it amazing that this extremely poor family is still able to have a great and joyful christmas.  Usually people judge their christmases on the amount and quality of the gifts they receive, but that's not what christmas is about.  If a family like the McCourts can find the true meaning in christmas, and make it a splendid and enjoyable day, anyone can.  I'm really anxious to read about what happens next!

McCourt, Frank.  Angela's Ashes. New York: touchstone, 1996.