The Running Man Chapter 10 Questions

Chapter Ten:

1. What is it about the Running Man's eyes that strike Joseph? (p.162)
The striking thing about the Running Man's eyes is the unnamed sorrow they contain as they gaze widely at Joseph. Joseph feels surprised by the emotions he finds in the Running Man's eyes because he expected to be filled with wonder and surprise instead. When Joseph recalls the details of that moment he immediately thinks of the way the Running Man's eyes looked; it was as if they had been scalded by some fearful image of the past and the present world appeared only as shadowy shapes moving behind a dark and heavy curtain. The eyes of Tom Leyton are filled with the same kind of sorrow. A line from the silkworm poem echoes in Joseph's mind as he ponders about this: "Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell".

2. Why is Joseph so surprised that the Running Man knows the poem? (pp.165-6) In what way had the Running Man "escaped the box that Joseph had put him in"?
Joseph is surprised that the Running Man knows the poem because the real Running Man is different from Joseph’s preconceived image of him. In Joseph's mind, it is not possible for the Running Man to know such a poem. The Running Man that Joseph imagines has never been to school. The thought of the Running Man going to school, like any other child, bewilders Joseph because the Running Man has always been a shadowy figure fleeting through the edges of his world. Now, because Joseph hears the Running Man recite the words of the silkworm poem, everything changes. Now, Joseph can set the Running Man free from the box into which he had put him. From this event, Joseph learns that people may not be what they seem to be and that perhaps he is only seeing one side of the Running Man. Tom Leyton suggests that the Running Man may be trapped within his problems and they have eventually become a part of him, a part which he cannot escape.

3. What does the story of the foolish son and the maze indicate about Tom Leyton's view on life? (pp.168-72)
The story of the foolish son and the maze indicates that Tom Leyton always thinks about the negative aspects of life and never the positive ones. Tom reflects on the lessons he has learnt during the Vietnam War. He tries to teach Joseph those lessons. Tom says, that if something bad happens to you in life, it can change you into a totally different person. He says that there is always something worse that can happen in life so be grateful for what you have now.

4. How does the end of this chapter build interest and suspense for the reader? (p.175)
The end of this chapter builds interest and suspense for the reader as the author, Michael Gerard Bauer, foreshadows what will happen to Joseph towards the end of the book. The author suggests that Joseph too will evolve from a caterpillar into a moth because there will be events in his life which will change him dramatically. He also suggests that in three short weeks Joseph's old ideas about people and about himself will lie like a discarded skin at his feet and that even though his appearance on the outside will not have changed he will be as different from his present self as a moth is from a caterpillar.

Metaphor of Life

Write a reflective piece on your attitude to life. Are you generally an optimistic or pessimistic person? Do you agree with Tom Leyton that we are all, "Flapping our crippled wings, dreaming we can fly"? (p.155) What would be your metaphor for life?

I personally think I am more of a pessimistic person than an optimistic one. When life throws an obstacle at me I usually attempt to overcome it but if I didn't the first time I wouldn't try again and would become quite gloomy. Someday I would like to change into an optisimistic person because in life you would have to bump into many obstacles. Some are easy to overcome but some are not. If I am always pessimistic then my life could just stop there and I would not be able to move forward. If that happens I would probably become someone like the Running Man or Tom Leyton. However, if I was an optimistic person I would get over it eventually by thinking of the positive aspects of life. This would be a much better approach to the problem than moping around and feeling bad about the mistake.

Yes, I agree with Tom Leyton's saying that we are all, "Flapping our crippled wings, dreaming we can fly".(p.155). My metaphor of life would be "life is a journey but not a destination". Life is something everyone goes through. It can be sweet and pleasant but at other times it may also be bitter and hard. During this everlasting journey we are forever changing and forever growing. Sometimes it is for the better although it could be also for the bad. But there are many destinations and each of them are only a stop which signfies a new beginning.

As we travel through our own journey of life, we see many destinations ahead of us. We start talking about what we plan to do when turn 18, when we get married, when we start working or when we retire. But these are merely events, stations where we change our direction. Gradually we age and we reach the final destination of life which no one returns.

Life is a journey that takes us on a rocky ride. There would be highs and lows, happiness and grief as we make our way through life, going through the phases. But as long as we live, life will go on so why not enjoy life as we venture through it?

Vivid Childhood Memory

Choose a vivid childhood memory, one that has made a strong impression on you for some reason. Describe it and reflect on its impact and importance to your life.

My most vivid childhood memory is my first day at kindergarten. On the morning of my first school day I did not want to go because I was afraid I would not fit in and would feel alone all the time. My mother pushed me and I eventually made it to kindergarten. I hesitated entering the school gates and slowly walked behind my mother, trying to hide myself from the view of the other curious children who were watching us. This event's impact on me has had a real significance because it made me learn that if I try, I can achieve anything. When the teacher introduced me to my other classmates, I bravely started talking to the closest child, making conversation in the only English I knew. To my delight, the other children eventually gathered around me and the first friend I made was the person whom I spoke to first. Although I have long lost contact with him, I still have an approximate image of what he looked like. I am thankful I had known him at that time because without him, I would not have been able to make so many new friends on the first day and would not have the courage to continue to make friends at school today.

The Running Man Chapter 9 Questions

Chapter Nine:

1. How does the description of the two drawings of Tom Leyton (p.140) parallel Joseph's changing relationship with him?
Joseph's original attempt of drawing Tom Leyton has vague, tentative strokes and displays no connection between the drawing and the real person. However, if one compares Joseph's second try at drawing Tom then one can see the improvements. The second drawing is filled with depth through Joseph's artistic talents, but the image on the paper still does not look much like the real Tom because the eyes remain cold and lifeless while the face is impossible to read. The description of the two drawings parallel with Joseph and Tom's changing relationship because when Joseph first meets Tom he knows absolutely nothing about the mysterious neighbour except for the rumours that are told by Mrs Mossop. But as time goes on and Joseph visits Tom a few more times, they begin to develop a closer bond and Tom starts to reveal his true inner personality.

2. How does Tom Leyton's experience in Vietnam affect your view of him?
Tom Leyton's experience in Vietnam makes me feel sympathetic for him and makes me understand how he became what he is now. If anyone went through what Tom did they would most likely do what he does - hide away from the world. Tom's experience explains to the reader why he never talks to people, is the centre of all the gossip and is anti-social (avoiding everyone in the neighbourhood) because he is scared that the "monster" inside him will unleash and hurt someone close to him.

3. Why is Tom Leyton so bitter towards the chaplain and his blessing of, "God's speed"? (pp.147 - 8)
Tom Leyton is so bitter towards the chaplain and his blessing of "God's speed" because he lost faith in God when he stood frozen to the spot unable to move while he watched Mick (his best friend) get blown apart. Tom questions why God didn't help him to move and warn the rest of the men about the explosion so that the men would have survived the war. After all of Tom's experiences during the Vietnam War he now believes that "God's speed" is just a cruel lie and blames himself for being so stupid to think that God would protect them.

4. At the end of Tom Leyton's story, "the world for Joseph tilted so that even the most familiar and comfortable things appeared strange and oblique." Why does he feel this way?
At the end of Tom Leyton's story Joseph feels very surprised because he does not expect Tom's answer. Joseph asks Tom why he was holding the gun if it was not to kill the chaplain. Tom answers that the gun was for himself. In other words, Tom Leyton was going to shoot himself and commit suicide if none of the guards at the Vietnam camp stopped him and sent him home. Joseph felt like the world was suddenly tipped upside down as such because he honestly didn't think that Tom Leyton would ever think of suicide or that Tom's situation was so bad that he would drive himself to death's hands.

5. What insight does the story of Mrs Battista give to Tom Leyton's character?
From Mrs Battista's story we can get a new insight into Tom Leyton's real personality. When Tom keeps the last of the silkworm eggs and stores them in the refrigerator until spring to patiently wait for them to hatch, it shows a compassionate side to Tom. Even though the eggs look dead he still keeps them for Mrs Battista, who died some time ago in hospital from mental problems. Another example of Tom Leyton's kind side is seen when he watches the cleaner emptying Mrs Battista's silkworm eggs into the bin after he leaves the hospital. Tom takes the eggs home and saves them from dying. He takes them home to care for.

6. What does Tom Leyton mean when he says the silkworms have become his "metaphor for life"? (p.154) What does this tell you about the man?
Tom Leyton means that the silkworms mirror what life is really like. Silkworms are born, they live and they die. Their lives have no purpose and no meaning yet they go on with their pointless existence in blissful ignorance until someone tosses them in a rubbish bin. Tom relates the cycle of silkworms to the human life cycle and tells Joseph that we all are moths, flapping our crippled wings, dreaming that we can fly. This reveals Tom's realisation that there is no real purpose for living after his return from the war, where he has seen so many terrible events happening to people.

The Running Man Chapter 8 Questions

Chapter 8:

1. What is Joseph's reaction to the two photographs he finds in the downstairs room? (pp. 125-6)
When Joseph finds the two photographs in the downstairs room he seems surprised to find the Tom Leyton in the photographs different from the person he now knows. The person in the photographs looked happy and had a friendly smile fixed on his face which was completely different to the present Tom Leyton who dull is and never shows any real emotions. Joseph wonders where the real Tom Leyton has gone and whether or not he would be able to come back.

2. After Joseph speaks of the Running Man, Tom Leyton says, "Perhaps you've never seen him." What does he mean by this?
After Joseph speaks of the Running Man, Tom Leyton says, "Perhaps you've never seen him" which implies that people may not be what they seem, for example, Tom Leyton has trapped his personality inside him because he is afraid of his nightmares about the Vietnam War and does not show his real self. As the story progresses Tom Leyton reveals his true self through Joseph's questions about his past.

3. What connection does Tom Leyton make between himself and the Running Man (p.136). Which of his comments regarding the Running Man do you think could also apply to him?
Tom Leyton makes connections about himself and the Running Man by implying that they have both changed. In other words, they may not have been what they are now a few years ago. The Running Man was probably like any other young person during his youth but life's circumstances have led him to be the person he is now. The following comments about the Running Man also apply to Tom Leyton: "devils come in many forms" and "whether you're running after a desperate dream or away from a nightmare, you can never get one step closer or one step further away". These comments are about the hidden fears which eventually become a part of the person if they do not overcome them.

4. How does the ending of this chapter leave us with an uneasy feeling about Tom Leyton?
The ending of this chapter gives the reader an uneasy feeling about Tom Leyton because when Joseph asks him about what the man in the poem was running from Tom answers as though the poem refers to him because he cannot live with who he is and thinks that he is Satan. When Tom Leyton speaks the name "Satan" it is like the cold finality of a boulder rolled before a tomb and it feels like he is applying this statement to himself which brings tension into the room. Tom Leyton thinks that he is like the man in the poem. He is disgusted by his past which is why he stays at home and does not meet anyone else apart from Caroline, that is, before Joseph comes over to paint his portrait. Tom cannot escape his cocoon (his dark secrets about his past) while Joseph tries to help him to come out of the cocoon and to overcome his obstacles.

The Running Man Chapter 7 Questions

Chapter Seven:

1. Where does Joseph feel that he will find the "real Tom Leyton"? (p.113) Why would he think this?

Joseph feels that he will find the "real Tom Leyton" hidden in the boxes situated in the Leyton's underground room .Joseph knows that the boxes in the room contain Tom's good memories, memories of his life before he joined the army and before he was sent to Vietnam to fight in the War. As Tom's sister, Caroline, explained to Joseph, her brother was totally different before he went to war. Joseph was sure that if Tom Leyton overcame his fears and his horrible past he could become the man he was in the scrapbooks, old diaries, photo albums, picture frames and newspaper clippings hidden in the boxes.

2. Tom Leyton is described as looking at a book "like a father at his child's coffin." Explain this use of simile. Do you think it is effective?
This simile is used to link Tom Leyton's feelings about books to that of a father who has just lost his child. Just as a father is looking at his dead child in a coffin so Tom is looking at the book with the same sadness, emotion and expression because the book symbolizes Tom's death, his loss of innocence, the loss of all his pleasures, hopes and dreams. Both their feelings are sad and depressing because they have both lost something which is important to them. In Tom Leyton's instance the book represents his life because he liked to read and play with words. He describes his love of books and reading as "breathing" After the war he completely lost himself as he became haunted by his fears and stopped reading or "breathing" as Tom Leyton had put it. I think the author is very clever and his use of this similie is very effective and appropriate because it emphasises the gravity of Tom's loss of innocence and the trauma he has suffered because of his experiences in Vietnam.

3. After Tom Leyton tells the story about searching for silkworms when he was a child he asks Joseph, "Do you believe in miracles?" How would you respond to this question?
In response to this question I would reply: yes, I believe in miracles. According to Tom Leyton, perhaps people have the wrong idea about miracles. Miracles do not have to be spectacular like those that turn water into wine or make the blind see. In fact, miracles happen in everyday life, although they are slow and tedious compared to the spectacular ones. Miracles could include the way a glacier carves out a valley; even though it might take years it is still a miracle.

Miracles are often the small stuff: a kind word, a supportive call or note, a hug, a gesture that leaves someone feeling a bit more hopeful about others. Whole days, every day, are full of miracles.

Miracles are not always miraculous except to those who receive them. A miracle can be a tender listening ear willing to hear the problems and share the weight of burdens too hard to bear alone. A miracle can be taking the time to read to a child who has no other person there to take the time to do so. A miracle can be cooking a meal for someone whose pantry is empty and then spending time with them just sharing a meal and good conversation.

Miracles can have many faces. Young or old, sick or well, rich or poor, and the list goes on. You never know if during your daily routine, that perhaps you might be somebody's long awaited miracle or just the thing they may have been secretly praying for. When a person's heart is open to the needs they see around them every day, then every day can be a miracle day.