Killing Mr Watson

The cliché “don’t judge a book by its cover” is to be taken literal from this text, Killing Mister Watson. Never have I been so challenged by a novel. Killing Mister Watson hasn't only contested my thoughts of what a novel should be, but dared me to think beyond the box. To understand Peter Matthiessen's book, I had to read it several times and put myself in the character's shoes; if they had any. I attempted to deal with this book at a different approach after having discussions with my class. I did not want to simply read the text, but to understand the characters and bring them to life. I would be lying if I said I loved this book, but I admire the way it confronted my thoughts. Confusing would be an understatement for this book. The way characters jumped in and out was not what I expected. After warming up with a few chapters, I started to admire the uniqueness of this format. Although there is an underlying bias, each character offered a different perspective of the events. While many were muddled by the language of the people, I loved it. I felt like the phonetically spelled words of …show more content…
Watson reminds me of the story of Sleeping Beauty. In the original Disney film, I sympathize with the princess because she is being victimized by the “evil” Maleficent. Not once is the question asked, “Why is the villain doing this?” The human instinct is to perceive her as an evil person and nothing else. But, recently Disney released “Maleficent” which reveals who she really is and her backstory. Instantly, my perception of her is reversed as her story unfolds. Watson is parallel to Maleficent. The author wants to portray Watson as a villain and plays devil’s advocate throughout each chapter. I predict that after reading Bone by Bone, I and my fellow classmates will have a different perspective about his character. I am holding onto the hope that the rumors are not true. His upbringing, or a series of unfortunate events, molded him into what others see as a