Prompt: Describe what was either believable or unbelievable about your reading. Defend your opinion.
The novel Things Not Seen I would say is not believable in many ways but does have some aspects that are believable. This mostly has to do with the fact that it's science fiction and what happens is basically impossible to happen in real life, but the author hasn't really developed the novel to make it very believable either. The main character, Bobby, wakes up one morning and is completely invisible. No parts of his body can be seen by himself, or his parents, or anyone in general. I know that this may not seem believable because nobody has ever randomly become invisible before, so it couldn't happen in real life. Though, what makes it more unbelievable it the fact that it just happens out of the blue! I'm sure there is a purpose in this, but right now it makes the novel seem even more unrealistic. Maybe if Bobby started seeing signs that he was going to turn invisible, or his body slowly started disappearing from sight, it would seem a title bit more realistic (still in a science fiction way.) Though, the author doesn't really develop the whole situation, and simply begins with the main character just waking up invisible. Hopefully once I get more into the novel, it will explain more about the reasons or causes of Bobby's invisibility. For now, it just seems like a predicament that is extremely fake and impossible.Another part of the novel that seems unbelievable to me is how Bobby acts in the situation he is in. He has become invisible out of nowhere, yet he still feels brave enough to "bundle up" and head to the library, and later to the hospital to visit his parents! I understand that he would want to see what life would be like if he were to be invisible forever, though I don't think he would be brave enough to travel around Chicago on his first day of invisibility. The fact that everything seems to work out with him going out, is also pretty unbelievable! How do you just leave your clothes in a bathroom stall for a couple of hours, and no one finds them? How do you type something for someone on a keyboard when it looks as if it magically did it itself, and the person typing not notice it? How can you bump into someone on the street, revealing your invisibility, and the person you bump into, just so happen to be blind? Everything seems to work out Bobby, even though he lands in a couple sticky situations, which isn't realistic at all. He would've definitely been caught by then! Along with the fact that every situation Bobby lands in works out, so do all of the lies he tells. Both Bobby and his family don't want to reveal his invisibility to the public, and so they have to tell a lot of lies to cover him up. Instead of telling the police that their son is invisible after Bobby's parents get into a car crash, his mother goes onto say that everything will be fine and she will make arrangements for him to stay with an Aunt. The Aunt she was specifically talking about, lived across the country, and Bobby wouldn't be staying with her. Though even in the hospital, Bobby's mother was still able to cover up the fact that her son is actually invisible, which I don't think is very realistic. The police or doctors at the hospital would end up finding out (maybe they still will!)
Along with everything that seems to be unbelievable in the novel, something that is pretty believable, is the characters emotions/feelings about everything. I feel like all of the characters react to the predicaments that land in or the situations they face, similarly to the way people do in life everyday. Of course if you were to land in a crisis where something very serious happened (like turning invisible) you would be pretty scared and nervous about the situation. You would wonder what would or could happen to you, but you might try to play off and try to push away the fear. A lot of people try to ignore things that bother them, hoping they might just get better or go away. I feel like after the fear set in, both Bobby and his parents tried to push away the whole invisibility situation a little bit. Yes, they were still worried, but Bobby's parents even went back to work, and Bobby was adventurous and went outside of his home and out in public. Until the car crash, Bobby's family did not show maybe as much concern as they should've, even though it would soon become evident that they were very concerned. They handled themselves like families would in real life, and though they were worried, continued on with daily activities and such.
So, those are the ways in which I believe the novel is believable and unbelievable.
I commented on Abby's Blog, Cami's Blog, and Wyatt's Blog.
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