Barry's piece- Amber Cleave

OK, I need to take a big long deep breath after reading Barry's piece. I think I might not have breathed more than a few times while reading the article. It is very heavy. Some things I noticed 1. The reader doesn't really know what is going on until the third paragraph, so we are anxious to read and figure out what is being discussed. As well, the reader never really knows what is going on, because the question and focus of the piece doesn't have an answer. 2. The main question is Justice, or what is justice, or how does one figure out what is just. 3. There are some intimate details which obviously can only be known by strange questions such as "What did he look like when you saw him"- the answer being "Concern, he saw, strained his face". This is helpful for myself in knowing what are good questions to ask a subject. 4. The focus of the piece is not on the father, like I originally thought, but rather the focus is on the judge. This was an interesting twist because at first I did not expect the article to head in this direction. 5. The paragraph which describes finding Gage is brilliant. There are four long sentences followed by two short sentences. The paragraph is short, detailed, and ultimately simple and honest. The very last line, "In his eyes were frozen tears" brought tears to my own eyes. My heart stopped and I grasped for air. The paragraph made me feel like I found the body. It froze me to my core. I really like this piece and think it might be the most effective piece we have read this quarter.

Comments

[Minhquan Nguyen]

Can I just say, way intense. I think the pacing of the piece was just incredibly well-done; it conveyed both the sense of urgency and the unbearable suspence the piece required. What I found interesting was even though you knew from the very beginning that the judge had ruled Paul to serve time in jail, during the piece, you still felt an incredible amount of suspense to his decision, even though it was written after the decision already took place. Furthermore, I thought it was extremely well done the way the article continued to flash between the present time (involving the court decisions and arguments) and the past (the initial loss, the search, the suspicion of Paul's abduction, and the discovery of the body)--it switched back and forth without losing the pace; you went with the tension and pace of one and just as easily returned to the other without any problem, so I thought that was just brilliantly arranged. I also thought that the quotes that were used were perfect in how haunting they are and how much they conveyed. It was interesting that the quotes were quite large, actually, because I used to be under the impression sometimes that quotes should be rather short. One thing that I did have to wonder about is that it seems like Siegal is writing from several different points of view at the same time in great detail--so I wonder: how did he manage to accomplish this without use of powers of teleportation?

[Yao Xu]

I agree with everything Amber and Minhquan says about the article. The article does a great job provoking empathy from the readers. I really felt the guilt of Paul Wayment, the complexity of Hilder's decision, and the Gage's fear as he walked out into the snow trying to look for his father. I wanted to be there, in the story, to protect Hilder from all those people who blamed him for causing Wayment's suicide. I felt Hilder's guilt as he tried to repent himself from the crowd and from blaming himself for his father's suicide. I love how Siegel connected all the characters together. Hilder understood Wayment because Hilder has children of his own and he went through his father's suicide and feared Wayment may do the same. Adkins on the other hand, also understood Wayment because Adkins lost his eight year old son in an accident. I think the fact that these people understood Wayment's position also made the ruling harder and Siegel did a great job in allowing the readers understand the judge and Wayments side of the story.

[Enny Van]

What I felt was the most moving, complex aspect of this article was that the focus was never too much on Paul Wayment and even Gage. They were just victims to a "tragic mistake" that swept both of them in an irreversable current. And the beauty of that was that you got a sense of the intimate world they had shared together out in the woods, in their vegetable garden, never one without the other...always together. And the people could always watch from a far, could always feel that love but never know exactly that world. Just like the neighbors, just like the observers. The article gave that sense to the reader. One could feel the love, what they shared and wrap themselves within that and struggled along with all the people in the case to bring out that aspect while bringing that hard justice in to factor too. A father who is so tormented, he can't scream of how much it was a mistake. By not making this a profile on Paul Wayment, it put the readers in an even harder position, to read this through the eyes of the judge who as tormented.

It is so multi-layered, multi-faceted, so gray that elucidates the complexity of the case as such.

[Wileen Leu]

So heartbreaking. This piece kept my nerves on edge, and even when I wanted to stop to reread a certain paragraph, I couldn't help but move on to see what happens next. I agree with Amber and Minhquan that the piece is arranged brilliantly. I also thought that the story was going to be about Paul and Gage, and was suprised that it ended up being about Judge Hilder. The story brings the reader to the scene, and it feels as if I am present, and looking into Judge Hilder's thoughts. The piece is very complex, but at the same time very simple. It is about humanity. It isn't about right or wrong, but compassion and understanding.
The descriptions of Paul were very real and it felt as if his pain was almost tangible. It made me feel as if I can understand and feel what he was feeling, but at the same time I'm only and outsider, and I will probably never know the pain that he felt. The ending was very hard for me because I keep expecting Paul to make it through, to keep his faith. But I suppose I'm going into fiction mode again. What I really want to know is what that letter Judge Hilder's father left said.

[Jessica Beard]

Oh my gosh...I absolutely love stories that pull at the emotions of the reader. Obviously, the contents of the story itself is an absolute tragedgy, but the way it was written is so perfect. I couldn't stop reading it, even the interruptions didn't sway me too far from the suspense of the story. What I found interesting is that I found myself somewhat forgetting about Gage, the innocent victim in the story, and focusing more on Paul, the innocent perpetrator. I agree with Nicole about how Barry made the scene of finally finding the dead body of Gage so surreal. It was like I was there and saw his two little feet sticking up from the snow. The image that I created in my mind I will never forget and it touched my heart deeply. In consequence, I think Barry did an excellent job in making his scenes vivid enough for his reader to envision them in their heads. I think he really connected us as readers to the story. Another thing that I found interesting was the length, or lack thereof, of his sentences. They were short and direct. Sometimes I think that can be annoying, but it proved to be successful in this case because it kept the suspense level up. I really have no critiques to this piece...so far my absolute favorite.

[Jeffrey Hong]

I just really enjoyed how you got a sense of the inner turmoil that the people, especially Hidler was going through. By giving various perspectives on the issue Barry sort of tries to lead you to own conslusion and indecision. I think this article is a good example of how the narrative sturcture itself can reflect the emotions of the characters in the story.

[Sandy]

Can someone direct me to the download of this piece? I would like to read the entire story.