Josie's Relationships With People In St example essay topic

ENGLISH ESSAY - discuss the changes taken place throughout Josie's relationships with people by the end of her HSC year The changes taken place throughout Josie's relationships with people by the end of her HSC year has changed dramatically. Her relationship with her Nonna, Michael Andretti and her social school relationships with the girls from St Martha's slowly changes as she starts to mature and realise that she needs to open up her heart and accept who she really is, and to understand other people instead of blocking people that are different to her off her world, which stops her from realizing that she is already widely accepted by the rich snobs in St. Martha. At the end of her HSC year, her relationship with Michael Andretti changes Josie's and everyone's view of her illegitimacy. In the beginning of the book, she is furious at him for how he wrecked Christina's and Josie's life, dreams and socializing. Christina was kicked out of the house when she was pregnant and her dreams of being an artist was flushed down the drain when she was pregnant with Josie. For Josie, she had been teased by and talked about her illegitimacy when Michael wasn't in Sydney.

"For him to actually exist was mind boggling. Sometimes I think his a myth.? Chapter 1 pg 15. "I don't care about him I wouldn't care if he was sitting in this room with us now. I'd look straight through him. We don't need him.?

Chapter 1 pg 16. Although Josie feels this way in the beginning, she ends up meeting Michael Andretti and her hatred towards him changes to nervous and excited at the fact she is meeting him. "I felt sick at the idea of meeting him, though at the same time I desperately wanted to.? Chapter 2 pg 18. "He's a barrister and although I didn't want to, I like him a lot. He's honest and not a hypocrite and I sometimes want to hate him for what he did to my mother eighteen years ago.

I mean you could change heaps couldn't you?? Chapter 16 pg 153. Fortunately towards the end of the novel, Josie and Michael's relationship become closer and closer. They go out for dinner, go on a holiday to Melbourne and ends up staying at his house in Balmain, every so often.

"I'm still shocked by how fast things are going between us? I never really thought I would respect my father.? Chapter 17 pg 156. Michael also starts to build up his love and affection for his one and only daughter.

"Because if I pretend you didn't exist you won't go away. So I'd like to get to know you better.? Chapter 13 pg 125. Josie's relationships with people in St Martha's were her most concern and that were because of their class differences. Josie also wanted to be respectable which makes her acceptable by the rich snobs.

"My biggest problem, though, is being stuck at a school dominated by rich people. Rich parents, rich grandparents. Mostly Anglo-Saxon Australians. Who I can't see having a problem in the world... however they were smart, they moved out of the inner west and inner city and became 'respectable? Being respectable has made them acceptable.?

Chapter 1 pg 6. "A world where I can be accepted. Please God, let me be accepted by someone other than the underdog.? Chapter 2 pg 32. "I felt disadvantaged from the beginning? chapter 1 pg 7.

"We grew up in the midst of the snobs of St Martha's and discovered that somehow brains didn't count that much. Money and prestige and what your father did for a living counted. If your hair wasn't in a bob or if your mother didn't drive a Volvo you were a nobody. That's where the problem lies between myself and our school captain, Ivy Lloyd.? Chapter 2 pg 21. Although Josie feels very competitive and ambitious and desperately wanting to be accepted by others at St Martha's in the beginning of the novel she slowly loosen up with her competitiveness and ambition.

"I became a bit less ambitious this year.? Chapter 32 pg 260. However with her desperate act of acceptance is dropped when she finds out that she was firstly school captain but Sister Louise gave that position to Ivy because she thought Ivy had the right attitude. This showed that she was accepted and respected by all the St. Martha girls. "I realized that she wasn't Poison Ivy anymore. She was just Ivy.

?" I wanted to say so much to her and that surprised me. Because in the past I had to make up things to say to.? Chapter 29 pg 241. Slowly step-by-step Josie starts to accept others for who they are and not what their family background is, rich or poor. This becomes the same with the girls in St Martha's.

Josephine's family relationships with Nonna have emotionally changed as Josie finds out what happened in Nonna's life in Australia and that she is very similar to Josephine. "I had never thought her capable of dreaming like me.? Pg 222 At first, Josie becomes angry at what happened between Nonna and Marcus Sandford. "Our whole lives just like our names are lies.? Chapter 25 Pg 219. However, after she thinks about the incident she realizes that it was not her Nonna's fault but her Nonno's fault for treating her so bad, that she fell for another man who actually showed his love for her.

"Your grandfather Francesco treated me like one of his farm animals.? Pg 222. "He promised me he would bring her up as his if I didn't embarrass him any more, so I stayed to protect my baby.? Chapter 26 Pg 225. Josie feels grateful towards her Nonna for risking and breaking rules to have her daughter, Christina. "She hadn't stuck to rules and regulations.

Hadn't worried about what other people thought every second of her life. She had taken chances. Broken rules. If she hadn't Mama wouldn't have been born and I wouldn't have been born.? Chapter 26 Pg 226. Due to all of this Nonna and Josie build a relationship stronger and stronger every second of their lives, and Josie now understood and saw that Nonna had great love for her daughter.

"When she got pregnant my heart broke. Not for Francesco or me. For her. I wanted to take her into my arms and hold her. If I could carry her on my back for nine months I would have. But he looked at me wit so much hate and I knew if I tried to help her he would ruin her life.

So I said "Yes, Francesco. Anything you say, Francesco.? Chapter 26 Pg 225. Josephine finds out in the end that she is a very lucky girl, who has a Nonna that loved her baby but wasn't allowed to touch her or else her baby's life would be ruined.

This showed great love and caring towards her baby, but since she was kept apart from her, Josephine understands the pain Nonna went through. As for her mother, Christina, had stuck up to her horrible father and was willing to get kicked out and sacrifice herself for her baby, Josephine. "I was loved by two of the most strongest women I would ever meet in my lifetime.? Chapter 26 Pg 226.

Josie's relationships with people making fun about her cultural identity-Italian also were a major part of Josie's life. She heard racist comments about her cultural identity, "wogs? throughout her life but in Chapter 8, Carly Bishop made a racist remark about her race-Italian. "The night clubs was the pits... they were all wogs they seemed to be everywhere, she snickered.? Pg 81.

Josephine had rituals to follow in her culture, including- that she has to go to her Nonna's place straight after school, hang around the same race, "how come other Italian girls have Italian boyfriends, why can't you be like them?? Nonna. Being respectful and having good manners even while you are arguing is considered in her rituals. "I hate the word 'respect? I think I'll go sick if I hear it again.? Chapter 3.

Although Josie feels this way about her culture and finds Tomato day embarrassing, she finally realizes it is in her and she can't change it by getting all fussy over it. "I resent it most of the time, curse it always, but it " ll be part of me till the day that I die.? Chapter 16 pg 152. This day when she realizes that her cultural identity is something that will be part of her forever, she comes to her senses that becoming use to the rituals will make her life easier.

"If someone asks me what nationality I am, I'll look at them and say that I'm Australian with Italian blood flowing rapidly through my veins. I'll say that with pride, because it's pride I feel.? Chapter 32 pg 259. In conclusion the changes that have taken place in Josie's relationships with people by the end of the HSC year, has changed from a self-centered, competitive, ambitious and pride less in her own culture and an illegitimate to a less ambitious, less competitive, pride in culture, more open-minded and hearted and more acceptable to others by the end of the novel.

They were not sudden changes that occurred in the blue but happened over a period of time. From this novel you can feel that love and care can change some self-centered brat into a perfect role model.