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Such a Fun Age,
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Natalia A.
Here's my personal interpretation: Robbie and Kelly were wrong for going over to Alix's house, but it's an extremely privileged position to be able to call the cops without a second thought to the consequences of what might happen. In reality, Alix should've known that Robbie would get a worse treatment from the cops for being black, but a lot of white people go literally their entire lives without thinking about it. I'm not excusing Robbie - what he did was wrong - but calling the cops on a black teenager is extremely dangerous and can have huge consequences.
Kelly was wrong for putting everyone in that position to begin with. And even when Alix found out that Robbie had never received her letter, she never admitted guilt for doing anything wrong.
So everyone sucks in this situation, but the people who suffered 0 consequences were the white ones - Alix and Kelly. Robbie lost his future.
Kelly was wrong for putting everyone in that position to begin with. And even when Alix found out that Robbie had never received her letter, she never admitted guilt for doing anything wrong.
So everyone sucks in this situation, but the people who suffered 0 consequences were the white ones - Alix and Kelly. Robbie lost his future.
Lisa
This drove me nuts! If anything Robbie was the worst behaved character in the whole story. He knew that note wasn't meant for him and he was not welcome to party at her house and he still did it. What a jerk! And then he was the idiot carrying around cocaine in his pocket which was what caused him to lose the scholarship, but somehow that's Alex's fault?! Don't get me wrong, she was completely nuts, but I didn't think any of that was her fault. If Kelley was such a great guy he should have handled the situation and gone outside and asked the trespassing kids to leave.
Damien Roberts
The larger issue is that Alix then spends the rest of her life trying to prove she's not racist by doing insanely racist things. I am not sure that the author thinks Alix was terrible for doing what she did when she was 17, but that that it was a catalyst for her future behavior.
Stephanie
Other people have answered this question, but I want to add that this is a great example of one of the things I love about this book. The author did an amazing job creating scenarios where lines are blurred and we, the reader, have to critically think. Life is full of messy gray areas, situations where doing the "right" thing is problematic, and moments where questioning your perspective before acting might massively alter the outcome.
Georgia
Yes, but I think that’s a very real outcome in high school, especially when a well-liked black student lost a scholarship to a prestigious university as a result. He was in the wrong for being there but the consequences were pretty bad for his crime of being a dumb teenager.
Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship
Yeah, I think Kelley made way too much of it. Parents aren't home, and 7-8 drunk teens who aren't Alex's friends show up on the property, are rowdy, jump in the pool, and one of them starts climbing a ladder onto the roof? Of course she's going to call the cops, who wouldn't at that point? (Granted, she could've given them a warning first, is it smart for a girl to go out there with 7-8 drunk boys to give them a warning?) Robbie shouldn't have been engaging in that nonsense and especially not while carrying cocaine! Sucks he lost his scholarship, but that's monumentally stupid.
But I think that's kind of the point, that Alix and Kelley are both positioning themselves as white knights defending black people from each other's supposed racism. Both of them behave in some problematic ways, but I don't think race itself is as much a problem for either of them as their own determination to win points by proving their anti-racism.
But I think that's kind of the point, that Alix and Kelley are both positioning themselves as white knights defending black people from each other's supposed racism. Both of them behave in some problematic ways, but I don't think race itself is as much a problem for either of them as their own determination to win points by proving their anti-racism.
Azka
He was high off drugs and had cocaine with him. He didn't lose his scholarship because of the party, he lost it because of drugs. That has nothing to do with race. Anyone would lose a scholarship if they used drugs.
Naomi
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Frances
I just kept thinking of Alex having just spent what she thinks is a special night having sex for the first time with a boy she loves and he not only appears to have shared her note with friends but then wants to go out and join them. She is also probably scared of her place being trashed and of getting in trouble, so just wants the kids gone. I don't think a lot of teens are thinking of the consequences of their actions, and I don't think most white teens would have any idea of what calling the police would mean 15 years ago. Robbie had the worst outcome from this, but hers was pretty bad too.
ashwini
I think the answer here is that she was a teenager and had no idea what to do. A better response would have probably been to let the kids know she was calling the cops if they didn’t leave immediately, give them an opportunity to leave if their own accord. But to still be labeled a racist for what she did at age 17 is a bit over the top.
Katie
Yeah, I think that's like, half the point of this book. Nobody really did anything wrong, but nobody did anything RIGHT either.
Susan
I do not think that at the age of 17 I would have been able to handle the situation that Alix was in. At the age of 17 I was scared of groups of boys and had a real reason to be. (I still am). I can imagine the reaction of the boys to Alix going outside and saying, "Please leave," Yeah, that would've worked.
Also, there are consequences to everyone's actions. Alix did what she thought was best, and suffered the consequences. Why is Alix responsible for the consequences of other people choose to do. Why is Robbie not responsible for the consequences of his actions? Why should Alix be responsible for Robbie's actions? Wouldn't it have been racist for her to consider the race of the person who was acting irresponsible?
Also, there are consequences to everyone's actions. Alix did what she thought was best, and suffered the consequences. Why is Alix responsible for the consequences of other people choose to do. Why is Robbie not responsible for the consequences of his actions? Why should Alix be responsible for Robbie's actions? Wouldn't it have been racist for her to consider the race of the person who was acting irresponsible?
Lina Diquattro
Lisa, did you finish the book? We find out that Alix actually knew the whole time that Robbie didn't know about the letter, nor was it shown to him. She wanted to stay connected to Kelley because of what she felt for him, and her bitterness and hatred is what she used to do that.
My interpretation of this is; she loved him passionately and almost obsessively, he was her first love, he took her virginity and broke up with her straight after and she could never move on from that.
My interpretation of this is; she loved him passionately and almost obsessively, he was her first love, he took her virginity and broke up with her straight after and she could never move on from that.
emi
I think Alix had a point when she asserted she was trying to protect her sister as well as Claudette. As the housekeeper, Claudette would have probably been sacked if Alix's parents came back to a trashed house.
Anne
OR Alex could have told the nanny/cook and asked for help, since presumably Alex’s parents had left her (an adult) in charge and let her decide how to deal with it. But since the nanny was black, Alex said she felt she had to “protect” her (which is racist)
Kirk
Um I'm not trying to be rude but are u a white lady? Yikes.
Mike Chirdon
I don't think this was supposed to be clear be clear cut. Who was right in this situation? That probably depends on who you ask. Alex's peers obviously felt one way, but she wasn't punished by any authority figure. I don't think we are supposed to understand Alex or Kelley as the arbiter of good judgement/right vs. wrong in this novel.
I know what I think about the situation (She was jealous that Kelley was going to start paying attention to the cool kids and was calling the cops because she was mad, not to protect anyone. At minimum, she could have asked them to leave/threatened to call the cops before she actually called the cops. Whether she did it because she's a bad person or oblivious, I think she was wrong to do it), but I think you could appreciate this book and think the Alex was completely in the right and horribly mistreated by her classmates/Kelley.
I know what I think about the situation (She was jealous that Kelley was going to start paying attention to the cool kids and was calling the cops because she was mad, not to protect anyone. At minimum, she could have asked them to leave/threatened to call the cops before she actually called the cops. Whether she did it because she's a bad person or oblivious, I think she was wrong to do it), but I think you could appreciate this book and think the Alex was completely in the right and horribly mistreated by her classmates/Kelley.
Nyssa Sylvania
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Phil
I didn't get that either. Drink + drugs + bunch of teenagers trespassing in a classmate's home while her parents are away = recipe for disaster. In my view, she would have been irresponsible NOT to call the police, not just to protect her parents' property, but because youngsters that are that out of control can often end up hurting themselves - Robbie was actually climbing a ladder, so what if he'd fallen off and broken his neck?! I'm wondering if there is some kind of cultural context I'm missing - there were a few things in the book that didn't make much sense to me, but I'm guessing it would be more understandable for US readers.
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Feb 21, 2021 06:51PM · flag
Mar 02, 2021 03:30AM · flag