Reading Response for 2/3

Oscar Mendez

*This text has no connection with the moral and sentimental values of the righteous author

*This text is written based upon the story so far

Is this text fair? Why/Why Not?

What if I were to tell you that the bold statement “What goes around comes around” is false? That there is no such thing as true fairness – would you agree? One can infer from the amazing novel by Kate DiCamillo, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, the protagonist Edward is treated with unfairness he does not deserve – and that true fairness doesn’t exist in the world.

If one would do nothing at all but love and respect his peers, should his peers treat him the same way in return? It’s expected, but it won’t happen. Similarly, Edward Tulane, a fine rabbit toy made of china, is being unfairly punished for loving the people who cared for him. The grandmother of Edward’s first owner, Pelligrina, tells Edward and his owner Abilene a story of a beautiful princess who was loved and admired by many, but was soon killed because she didn’t love anyone. Pelligrina, unknown to a conceited Edward at the time, directed the story towards him because he did not know how to love. Complications brought Edward soon to the ocean, where he was rescued by a fisherman and his wife. Edward was left with trauma over his previous experience and learned to open his heart. He began to listen to their stories, and care for the fisherman and his wife - he began to love them. This was different than before, because he had never learned to love Abilene. Eventually however, the world put him through another horrible event, and placed him in a dump. He longed for the former owners he’d loved, but they never returned to him. He was soon put at the hands of a wandering hobo and his dog. The hobo however, treated Edward with love and respect, and Edward again opened his heart and loved them. He listened to his stories and songs, and even came to care for the occasional wandering group that travelled with them. He listened to their stories and remembered the name of their children. The world however, put him through yet another obstacle and made him lost to those whom he loved. This makes clear that the world won’t be fair to you, even though you live it with love. The story of Pelligrina shares one important point, one is nothing if he does not love. If Edward learned to love, why did the world make him nothing? Why did it put him in the position where those who he loved couldn’t get to him? Edward wasn’t like the princess in the story - he loved, and the people he loved, loved him back. He treated people the way he wished to be treated. Why did the world treat him like the dead warthog in the story, as nothing? If fairness existed, he wouldn’t be lost at sea, in a dump, or lost in a valley in the plains. But as we can see, true fairness doesn’t exist in the world.

People pay for their mistakes. One could argue that Edward is being punished by the world because he didn’t learn to love Abilene. The beginning of the book describes the love Abilene had towards Edward. She would personally clean and polish his silk suits and hats. She would place him by the window every day so he could see when she was coming home from school, and she would carry him around with her, wherever she went. Edward however didn’t care whether or not Abilene would do this, because it’s the treatment he expected from those around him. Edward is beautiful. He is made of the finest china, and his ears, legs and arms are made of real soft rabbit fur. He was clothed in the finest of silks and even had his own gold pocket watch. With all the gifts that were given to him, he never learned to be thankful for them. He expected to be pampered to and treated like this because in his own mind, he was “As beautiful as the stars”. He was as the princess, loved by all, but he didn’t love anyone back. He is as nothing, because he didn’t love, this could be the reason for his punishment. This however can’t be true. Edward spent a much longer time with the fisherman and his wife, as well as with the hobo and his dog than he had spent with Abilene. And during all that time, he loved his owners. He wasn’t like the princess in Pelligrina’s story, he loved. He couldn’t express it openly, because he is a toy, but he did internally by listening to all of their stories, the names of their children, and had feelings for them. He was not nothing. He loved his owners back. So why was he treated unfairly? Because true fairness doesn’t exist.

The story of Pelligrina was directed towards Edward, which made sense at the time. But it doesn’t make up for the years he spent loving his new owner, he was something, because he loved. If one loves, and isn’t nothing, why would the world treat him as such? Because real fairness doesn’t exist.