Act One in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds

This week I read the first act in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, by Paul Zindel.  It was a very strange book, but it definitely kept me reading and was really interesting.

While reading this play, I tried to find a way to relate to it, which was actually pretty hard.  Tillie is a girl with a troubled childhood that probably feels very alone. She has a horrible, uncaring mother, and a sister who doesn't care about her much either.  I definitely can't relate to that.  There were a couple things that I could relate to, though.  One thing is how Tillie is different from her mom and sister--she is her own person.  She doesn't try to fit in with them, but instead she stays herself--someone who loves science and is particularly amazed with atoms.  I am not much like the people in my family either.  For example, I play an instrument, unlike everyone in my family except for one of my sisters.  She, however, plays guitar, and I play viola.  Another part of this play that I can relate to is how much Tillie seems to love her pet bunny.  You can tell that she loves it because throughout Act I, whenever Tillie is talking to her mother, she comes across as very obedient and calm(except for when Ruth is screaming and going crazy), as if she's trying not to get her mother angry.  However, when Beatrice asks Tillie if she wants her to use chloroform on her rabbit, Tillie shouts, "No!"  That shows just how much she cares about her pet.  I love my pets too, except they are dogs, not bunnies.  As you can tell, Tillie is definitely the person I can relate to the most in this play.

I really can't wait to keep reading this book and learn more about Tillie and her messed up family.  It's actually really interesting to read the "Marigolds...Revisited" part in the beginning of this copy of the book and the "Paul Zindel Bio" document Mrs. Marietta sent us because they show just how much of this book relates to Paul Zindel's life.  This was interesting to me.  To end, I feel like the radioactive marigolds represent Tillie, specifically in her family situation, and I definitely want to find out more about this.