10. Overall, A Painted House is an excellent novel. Grisham successfully portrays the lives of a poor farming family during the 1950’s. The story stays interesting and there are always surprises, such as the murder of Hank. The plot is fairly simple, with no confuses chapters or sentences. Its very straightforward because it is from a child’s point of view. I wouldn’t suggest a change in any part of the novel, as it would ruin the story. I would recommend you read the novel. It is one of the few class assigned novels that I enjoyed. The story’s theme, which was centered around dreaming, is very inspirational to me. The characters work hard for their dreams and do not give up on them. The story included comedic moments as well, which kept things funny. The novel was very crazy, with a lot of events taking place and although it took a while to read, I wouldn’t mind reading it again.

“When I pulled my eyes away from the window, i looked at my mother. Her head was resting on the back of her seat. Her eyes were closed, and a grin was slowly forming at the corners of her mouth” (pg 466).

This quote is written about Luke’s mother as they are headed north. She has always dreamed of going to live up north and is finally happy that her dream has come true. A major theme in the novel is dreaming. Luke dreams about becoming a professional baseball player, Pappy dreams of having a successful crop, Luke’s grandma dreams of having her medicines be useful in helping the sick, and Luke’s mother dreams of getting out of the farm life. They feed off of these dreams and that’s what keeps them going. The entire novel is focused around the dreams of the characters and the things they do because of them.

7. One truth about human nature that is revealed in A Painted House is people’s tendency to lie in order to avoid getting into trouble. We see this through Luke and his actions in the novel. Luke lies constantly in order to keep himself safe. He lies to his parents and Stick Powers about Hank killing the Sisco boy, he lies about going to see the birth of the Latcher baby, he lies about Hank’s death, and the list goes on. Also, Luke keeps many dangerous secrets, which is no different than lying. Rather than be honest, he keeps quiet and holds out on the truth.

Another truth revealed about human nature in the novel is curiosity. People are always curious about something, wanting to know every little thing that happens. Luke’s mother and grandma are curious about the mysterious pregnancy of Libby Latcher and go over there trying to find out if its true. Luke is curious about many things, such as the things his parents talk about at night, the dancing women at the carnival, and Tally’s body. The people in the town, especially the church, are all nosy. They always want to know who has been doing what and are digging for answers. An example is the incidence between Hank and the Siscos. People talked about it for weeks, wanting to know the whole story and what really happened.

In the novel, it is shown that man will work hard for the things they want. Luke wants to be a professional baseball player for the Cardinals, so he practices baseball a lot and listens to their games on the radio at night. Pappy and Luke’s father want to have a successful crop, so they hire workers and work hard for a long time in order to make money. Luke’s mother wants to get out of the farm life and works hard to convince her husband to do so. When people want something bad enough, they do nearly anything it takes to achieve the goal.

8.  Innocence/Exposure – In A Painted House Luke starts out fairly innocent. He is a seven year-old with no big worries in his life besides picking cotton. However, throughout the story he is exposed to several things that ruin his innocence. He sees fighting, killing, a baby being born, and a girl’s naked body all in a short period of time. Luke is practically forced to drop the innocence he once had and mature within the time period of the story.

Peace/Violence- At one point in the story, everyone on the farm participates in a baseball game. This means the Chandlers, the Spruills, and the Mexicans all participated. It was a very peaceful and fun atmosphere, with every person analyzing who could play baseball and who couldn’t. There was laughter and smiling and the game was taken lightly. There was no serious cruelty, until Hank stepped up the the mound. He pitched the ball and hit cowboy straight in the ribs, on purpose Things became violent then. Hank began to run at Cowboy and Cowboy pulled out a switch blade, threatening Hank. Of course, Hank stopped once he saw the knife and then Luke’s father interfered and broke up the fight. Just like that, things went from peaceful to violent.

Honesty/Deceit- Throughout the story, Luke is either being honest or deceitful. He has been told so many secrets and doesn’t want to let them out. His mother tells him it is wrong to lie to his parents, but he doesn’t want to tell his parents everything he knows. When Hank kills the Sisco boy and Luke is questioned as a witness, he lies in order to keep Hank out of trouble, in fear that Hank would hurt him. He is deceitful when he goes with Tally to watch Libby Latcher give birth, although he does eventually tell his mother the truth. When he sees Cowboy kill Hank, he keeps quiet and allows his family to believe he was sleepwalking that night. He eventually is honest and tells his Pappy what had happened.

Hate/Love- Luke looks up to Tally Spruill. He thinks she is beautiful and would likely do anything for her. He shows a lot of love for Tally, but he also displays hate for her at time. When Tally runs away with Cowboy, Luke doesn’t understand why. He gets furious with Tally and fills with hate towards her, because she just left him. He also shows hate towards Tally when she drags him out to the Latchers and they take forever to go back home. He begins to hate her when she does things that he deems unacceptable. It’s like a seesaw, one day he may hate her but the next day he’ll love her again.

Tradition/Unknown- There is a lot of tradition in this novel. Going to church every Sunday, listening to baseball on the porch during the evening, going to town on Saturday, and picking cotton during the summer/fall then going back to school are all examples of tradition for the Chandlers. It plays a big part in the novel. However, these traditions end when the Chandlers decide to move up North. They are going to a place that is unknown and new to them, which is scary. They don’t really know what to expect from the North because its unknown territory to them. While the South holds all their traditions, the North holds many unknown things that they will experience once they arrive.

6. –  “I wished i were seven feet tall. I’d hop up there and attack ol’ Samson while the crowd went wild. I’d whip him good, send him flying, and become the biggest hero in Black Oak. But, for now, I could only boo him” (pg 237).

Luke is so small, yet wishes he were big and bad so he could fight Sampson. He fantasizes about being a hero, like most little boys, and the quote is comical.

– “Once again I had asked an innocent question, and because of it, I was banished from the conversation” (pg 109).

Luke was always curious and nosy. He wanted to know everything and often asked too many questions. He doesnt understand that he doesn’t need to know everything and is very naive, which is why this quote was chosen.

– “I was tired of secrets, tired of seeing things I was not supposed to see. And so I just cried” (pg 211).

Luke has been overwhelmed by having to keep so many secrets in such a short period of time. This causes him to cry and its incredible that a boy of his age can handle all that he has. This quote portrays the effect that the secrets he knows have on Luke.

– “I had never seen a woman’s breasts before, and I doubted if any seven-year-old boy in Craighead County had. Maybe some kid had stumbled upon his mother, but I was certain no boy my age had never had this view” (pg 155).

Luke is being exposed to things a seven year-old shouldnt be exposed to. I chose this quote in order to portray that Luke is maturing faster than a boy should have to, and this is all because of his circumstances.

– “‘Repent, ye workers of iniquity! Repent!’ It was Reverend Akers, standing tall with his Bible in one hand while a long, crooked finger pointed out from the fist of others” (pg 235).

I chose this because I think Reverend Akers is a foolish man. He believes himself to be so godly, but all he ever does is complain about the bad in the world and never discusses the good. Here, he is yelling at men to repent for watching women dance as if it will actually work.

– “‘Don’t come out right now!’ I said with as much panic as i could fake.
‘Oh my God!’ she gasped. She wouldve fainted again, but she was already sitting down.
‘Be quiet! I said. ‘Otherwise, he’ll know you’re in there. He’s big and he bites.”

This section is used as comic relief in the story. Luke doesnt like Jimmy Dale’s wife so he plays a joke on her. Its a funny part of the story and I enjoyed it.

– “Ricky had taught me a few cuss words. I usually practiced them in the woods by the river, then prayed for forgiveness as soon as I was done” (pg 243).

Luke wants to grow up and be like Ricky, but ‘ want o be ‘bad.’ He looks up to Ricky and will act like him, but feels bad after he does something inappropriate that Ricky would have done. I can picture Luke cussing in the woods and the praying for forgiveness and its a funny image.

-“Trot said, with as much volume as he could muster, ‘Stop it, Hank!’ … They were startled, and their little joke came to an abrupt end” (pg 75).

Although Trot is little and tends to keep to himself, here we see him stand up for Luke as he is being picked on. It’s a heartwarming section of the story, knowing that Trot had Luke’s back. It was also shocking and unexpected.

–  “They attacked the unpainted house with a vengeance. The six non-painters offered endless advice and opinions to those with brushes. Evidently some of their suggestions were hilarious because at times the painters laughed so hard they couldn’t work” (pg 395).

Although its flooded and they have lost crops on the Chandler farm, here we see the workers still manage to be happy. They willingly help Luke paint the house and they seem to enjoy themselves, laughing and chatting the whole time. It’s a nice picture, and provides relief from all the other stress in the book.

– “When I pulled my eyes away from the window, i looked at my mother. Her head was resting on the back of her seat. Her eyes were closed, and a grin was slowly forming at the corners of her mouth” (pg 466).

This moment is sort of sentimental. Luke’s mother has always dreamed of leaving the farm and going to live up north. She has finally reached this dream and is very satisfied with it. Its a happy day for her, and I like that she has achieved her dream.

5. Through a series of events, Luke’s life was changed and he was forced to mature in ways that children of his age shouldn’t have to. The beginning of this series started with the beating of the Sisco brothers by Hank Spruill. Luke saw the whole thing and the image stuck in his head. He had never seen anyone beat someone else like that so ruthlessly. This event was soon followed up by him seeing Tally bathing in the creek. While this doesn’t seem like a big deal, it causes Luke to like Tally even more and he becomes more curious about a woman’s body. A boy of his age shouldn’t have seen a girl like that and definitely shouldn’t be thinking about it. The next event was Luke’s viewing of the birth of the Latcher baby. While he didn’t necessarily want to be there, Tally dragged him with her and he was practically forced to watch the baby’s birth. Once again, a boy as young as Luke shouldn’t be experiencing things like that.   This was soon followed up by the murder of Hank Spruill. Luke had followed Hank as he was leaving, but then Cowboy interfered with Hank’s escape. Luke watched as Cowboy stabbed Hank to death, robbed him, and then pushed his dead body into the river. As if this wasn’t startling enough, Cowboy catches him and threatens to kill his mother if Luke says anything about the murder.    The whole experience damaged Luke and he clung to his mother for days, unsure how to cope with what had happened. The final event bringing change to the character was moving up North. While we do not know exactly what happens to him up North, we know it will bring change. Luke will be living in the city and the days of farming will be over. He will go to school more often and the atmosphere will be completely different. The North will change him and shape him into the person he’s dreamed of being: a baseball player for the Cardinals.

4. The main character of A Painted House is Luke Chandler,a young seven year-old. Luke lives with his parents and grandparents and is growing up in a tough situation. He’s seen people killed, he is now related to those Latchers, and his family is poor. Being so young, Luke is trying to discover who he is and does this by trying to be like his uncle, Ricky. Luke is fairly nosy, eavesdropping on his parents’ late night conversations and always asking questions about what is going on. Luke works hard picking cotton during picking season, which is a hard job for such a small boy. Luke has already set goals for his future, which are getting out of the farm life and moving on to be a baseball player for the Cardinals. He loves school and works hard whenever he goes back. While Luke does have some flaws during the story, such as peeking at Tally Chandler while she bathed or fighting 3 Latcher boys, he is overall a decent boy who will likely grow to be a good man. Because he has seen such brutality in his life at such a young age, Luke can be defined as courageous because its not easy for most seven year-olds to see the things he has seen. He’s a hard worker and is responsible for his age. He took on the huge project of painting the entire house, which was not an easy task. All these things make Luke worthy of praise because he gives so much effort into everything he does.

2. In the novel A Painted House, having a painted house signified wealth in the family. The Chandlers lived in an unpainted house and they were poor. Growing up, Luke never payed much attention to the fact that the house wasn’t painted, until Hank Spruill ridiculed him for it. Hank said to him, “You ain’t gonna believe this, boy, but our house got paint on it. White paint…Why don’t you sodbusters paint your house?” (Grisham, pg 74).  This nearly crushed Luke and not long after this event, he discovers a strip of white paint on the back of his house. He shows his mother and before long they discover that Trot Spruill has been painting the house. However, when the flood comes and the Spruills are forced to leave, Luke takes up the job of painting the house. It became a big project for him and he took it very seriously, spending a decent amount of money on several gallons of paint. With the help of the Mexicans and the Latchers, Luke almost finished it, coming up short about a half a gallon from covering the house. His Pappy tells him he will have to return in the winter to finish the job, which means Luke will never forget where he came from. The house holds many of Luke’s memories that he will not soon forget. The house is the only place Luke has ever known and its the place where all his loved ones are. While A Painted House symbolizes wealth in society, it also symbolizes memories and the childhood of Luke Chandler.

1. The story of A Painted House takes place during the 1950’s outside of a small city called Black Oak, Arkansas. A young boy, Luke Chandler, who dreams of playing baseball for the Cardinals, lives on a farm with his parents and grandparents, and they grow cotton for a living. When the time comes to pick the cotton, Mexicans and hill people are hired on farms all over to help pick the cotton. The Chandlers hire ten Mexicans and the Spruill family. For weeks they all worked hard to pick the cotton and earn money, battling the exhausting heat. Hank Spruill, a large, mean member of the Spruill family, was dangerous and fought three men in the city one day, leaving one dead. The police, or Stick Powers, were out to get Hank because everyone knew it was him. The Mexicans did not get along with the Spruill family and they were separated at all times, except for the Spruill’s daughter Tally and Cowboy the Mexican, who ran away together in the hopes of marrying each other. Hank Spruill, being wanted by the police and causing so much trouble on the farm, decided to sneak away in the night and return home. However, as he was leaving, he had an encounter with Cowboy, who stabbed him and threw him in the River. Luke had an older cousin, Ricky, who was fighting in the war in Korea had gotten a girl pregnant before leaving. Her name was Libby Latcher and she, as well as the rest of the Latcher family, was dirt poor, which was embarassing to the Chandler family. The youngest Spruill, Trot, had begun to paint the Chandlers house at some point in his stay. Having a painted house signified that the family had money of some sort and Trot did this because Hank had made fun of Luke for not having a painted house and being poor. The Chandler family struggled through the picking season until in October, a flood came. The flood ruined what was left of the cotton, meaning alot of money was lost. The Mexicans left and so did the Spruills. After the Spruills left, Luke took upon the job of completing the painting of the house, and the Mexicans helped him until they also left to find more work. The Latcher’s home flooded and they had to come live with the Chandlers and stay in the barn, allowing the Chandlers to see Libby’s baby, who was also kin to them. In the end, with the flooding so bad and the amount of money they had so low, Luke and his parents decided to flee to the North, where Luke’s father would work in a Buick plant with his family member Jimmy Dale. The family hoped to earn money and give themselves a better life.

3. A Painted House takes place in rural Arkankas. It is 1952 when the story begins, which means the story is taking place post-World War II. The Chandlers live on a farm outside of a small city, Black Oak, where everyone knows everyone. Things were very traditional at that time, and everyone in the city and surrounding areas claimed to be Christians because that’s how things were. Going into town was a thing that the farm families did on the weekends and it was considered a treat. The story takes place at at time when America is still industrializing itself. Most people are beginning to live in the cities, especially up north, but there are still many people living on farms and growing crops for money. While the book is fiction, some of the events are based on the authors childhood and the story is very realistic. The events in the story could happen to anyone who lived on a farm at that time. The book gives a very accurate portrayal of life in rural areas during the 1950’s.