Within the first few pages of Jude I related to his feeling of uselessness after his aunt explains that "I am obliged to let him earn any penny he can," (12) because I have been mooching off my parents for twenty years. I know that part of a parents job is to take care of their offspring whether it be financially, physically or emotionally but I am ready to repay them for the decades they have spoiled me. I also relate to Jude with his passion for reading, and once, in high school when one of my teachers switched to a private school, I begged my parents to send me there. My college dream is to take advantage of what I have been given while learning everything I can about everything.
Also, like Jude, I take pity on animals. While I don't have any current pets, my heart breaks when I see a stray cat/dog or a bird who didn't get the crumbs in time. "'Poor little dears!' said Jude alound. 'You shall have some dinner--you shall. There is enough for all of us...Eat, then, my dear little birdies, and make a good meal!'" (14). I can't help but give money to a homeless person when they are traveling with a dog.
"Christminster is out across there, by that clump. You can see it--at least you can on a clear day. Ah, no, you can't now" (18). Somedays I feel like I am so close to achieving my college dreams, like they are right in front of me and all I have to do is follow the path that I can clearly see. Others, I feel completely lost, my mind foggy and dreams faded and invisible to me. Jude happens to climb the roof on his way to Christminster yet he chose a day that was a rare cloudy one, in which his sight remained unseen. (Could this be foreshadowing?)
During my last few weeks at high school, I felt just as Jude did in the fact that I was ready to leave Dallas and head to Austin. I felt embarrassed that I seemed to hate my hometown so much and was ready for a change, to leave everything behind and begin my college career. "He was getting so romantically attached to Christminster that, like a young lover alluding to his mistress, he felt bashful at mentioning its name again," (21). I would get practically giddy when people asked where I was going to college, and would talk about how cool Austin was basically like I was talking about a boyfriend.
My absolute favorite part is at the end of 1-3 when Jude talks about Christminster. I think it is a poem that can be duly used to describe Austin, its' inhabitants, and its culture.
"It is a city of light
The tree of knowledge grows there
It is a place that teachers of men spring from and go to
It is what you may call a castle, manned by scholarship and religion
I would just suit me" (23).
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My focus was on Book 1, and I especially love the last part because of its soap-opera theme. Arabella--what a biotch, doing what sadly, lots of crazy women do in love: Fakes a pregnancy to get a marriage then admits it was a lie afterward. This is definitely no one of my college dreams--tricking someone into marrying me. I hope to eventually marry, but what is the hurry. YOU ARE ONLY A KID ONCE. PLAY AND DON'T TAKE YOURSELF TO SERIOUSLY!
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