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A Painted House

A Painted House authored by John Grisham was published in 2001. Unlike other works of Grisham, it is not a thriller and instead is a fiction story. The publication was an abrupt and surprising change in the pace of the writer whom since 1991 has always been winning awards book after the other. In his book, Grisham writes about the drudgery and simple pleasures of life in a land of cotton in Arkansas. The book was inspired by his childhood, but Chandler narrates the story. They are always on debt with the landlord as they are unable to raise enough money to sustain themselves through cotton farming in the paper. Chandler looks behind and tells the story of how he had to work in his grandfather's farm when he was of age seven thus resulting in his transition from innocence to experience in life.

In 1952, when Chandler was seven years of age, there was plenty of cotton crops. Farmers even found trouble getting pickers to help to harvest the cotton. Therefore, they were forced to hire trucks to help with the work. At the age of seven, Chandler was expected to spend the entire day picking cotton with the rest of the family. The parents were eager to earn extra money that they could use as a family after settling their debts. Kathleen, who is Chandler's mother feels that the family is struggling a lot and recommends that her husband move to the North and find a job in the factories.

On the other hand, Chandler's husband is reluctant of the idea because he like being independent than being employed. Again, he feels that he needs to stick around for his parents to get along with one another. Furthermore, Ricky, his brother is away in Korea. Nevertheless, even if the brother decided to come back to Arkansas, he is unlikely to live there. Therefore, Jesse feels that he is well off being with his parents in the village. During the period, Chandler's grandfather is forced to employ the Hillbillies as the low wages employees.

Later, Chandler falls in love with Tally, who was a daughter to one of the immigrants. As well, he witnesses the incidence where Tally's brother Hank kills someone as well as the occasion when Hank was also killed, but he could not report the man as he had threatened to kill the mother. The story ends with Chandler and the rest of the family moving from the cotton farm to the industry where the parents secured jobs. It is a happy moment for Kathleen as he dislikes how much he works on the farm to get little pay.

Secrets and Lies

When Luke is seven years, he is innocent and has no lies or secrets to hide. However, as he continues to live in Arkansas, he gains experience in life to the extent of developing several secrets that he does not want to share with anyone else in his life. First, he hides the fact that he ever saw Tally taking a bath from a river. It is immoral for a man to see a naked woman. Again, he learns before the rest of the family that Libby's child is by his uncle, Ricky. Therefore, he is disappointed to know that his family might be related to them. Again, he struggles to keep the secret of the battle between Hank and the Sisco brothers that led to the death of one of the brothers, as well as one which involved the Cowboy who eventually killed Hank. He kept the secret even when he was asked by the sheriff who believes that in the first case he is lying to protect Hank.

Classism

The central theme in the story is classism; people are subdivided into classes according to their standards of living. Of the characters that are negatively affected by classism Luke is the most affected. He is introduced to classism by the rest of the Chandra family members on day to day basis. Therefore, he is following the example set him by judging those that are of lower classes. Again, he is also a judge because of his family. Being from town, Luke learns that Latchers are poor in society. They lacked many resources such as transportation, electricity, and adequate food. Luke degrades the idea of thinking that the Chandler and Latcher family may be related because his uncle impregnated Libby Latcher. "Thought of folks knowing that the Chandlers and the Latchers maybe related horrified me" (Grisham 214)."

Additionally, on learning that Tally ran away with a Mexican cowboy from the low class, Luke judges her "Their beloved Tally has run away with someone they considered low-bred, a dark-skinned intruder from a godforsaken country" (Grisham 366). He did not expect that Tally would choose a poor person over a well-up. Tally and Cowboy eloped into the Northern part because they did not want to be judged.

Conflicts

The book has several incidences of conflict. First, Luke has a dispute with his self when he is ordered by Hank to fetch him water. He does not know whether to tell his grandfather of him being ordered around by the hill boy. Additionally, when he witnesses Hank killing one of the Sisco, he does not know whether he should tell the truth or not. "And I knew Pappy wanted to reach over and shake me by the neck and somehow make the words come out" (Grisham 118. Everyone knew that he was lying for Hank. He is forcing himself to keep secrets on seeing Tally taking shower, witnessing the death of Hunk by the Cowboy, knowing that his uncle was the father to Libby Latcher's baby and the killing of a Sisco by Hank.

Often, people engaged in physical fights with one another. "As Jerry was getting to his feet, Hank with unbelievable speed, kicked him in the ribs so hard that we heard cracking" (Grisham 88). People in society feared Hank. He engaged in a fight with Sisco brothers where he killed one of them. Luke is also beaten up by the Latcher boys because Ricky got their sister pregnant. "Cause you're a Chandler and your Ricky did that to Libby" (Grisham 289). Also, the Mexican Cowboy engaged in a fight with Hank where he eventually killed him throwing him in a river. Libby Latcher is ashamed of bearing a baby at a tender age. "She's a Latcher. She'll have another one soon" (Grisham 307). The society associated Latcher family with bad morals thus making them undesirable people in the community. Luke feels bad that Chandler and Latcher might be related if at all Ricky is the father to Libby's child.

Conclusion

From the story "A Painted House" it is evident that the poor and the rich in the society have never been together. Classism divides people into classes that making those that are high in the community to look down on the poor to the extent of wanting nothing to do with them. The idea of being associated with the poor is always considered shameful just as it is the case with Chandra.

As a recommendation to the fans of the book, the publication is a change from Grisham's work which is quite enjoyable. It is essential to understand that unlike other Grisham's actions, "A Painted House" is not a thriller but still give the same sensation and satisfaction as it is the case from the rest of the author's books.

Works Cited

Grisham, John. A painted house. Dell Publishing Company, 2012.