Hole in my life by Jack Gantos pg.118-165

Summary

When Jack finally thinks he is safe from the FBI, he calls his father from a pay phone and finds out that the FBI has been stalking his parents in St. Croix and they are out looking for him. Jack's father is able to get him a lawyer who advises him to turn him self in, Jack then does so. Jack talks to his lawyer and develops a plan for how they are going to try to prove Jack innocent. Jack then spends time around New York reflection on his actions and at least trying to prepare himself for jail. When he speaks to his lawyer he realizes that the person that snitched on him was Rik (the head honcho) and that the only way he could get out of the situation was by naming a couple contacts he had in St. Croix, but sense Jack was innocent had none. He also realized that he was in fact not only hurting him but his family and others by smuggling drugs. The lawyer makes him look in front of the judge as if Jack were just a kid and was granted a youth sentence which is anywhere from 60 days to 6 years. His dad makes Jack give up his car because his families broke. Jack's first night in a federal holding prison was terrifying; he experiences his jail mate wanting to rape him and other men raping his mate. Jack was then transferred to an actual Federal prison where he got lice and was treated in the hospital section, after he was cured he started working in the X-ray lab and experiencing even more drugs that are done in a prison. He learns to do X-rays and shows the reader the horrible nights that the prisoners have in the jail.

Quote

" The slightest fluctuation in the weather outside my window, the smallest passing cloud, the changing position of the sun affected the mood of that room. And my mood shifted with it. I found myself crying, laughing, numb with depression, nervous and pacing, ambivalent, angry, and filled with self-loathing" (Gantos 154,155).

Reaction

  This quotation shows the authors style by assimilating his the weather outside to the mood of his jail cell and thus his mood changing. His room symbolizes him and he's change in emotions as the world around him which is the” weather" controls his emotions. This quotation has to do with the story as a whole by demonstrating the conflict of the book, which is man versus society. Though, in this quotation he is reflecting on his life in his jail cell which has to do a lot with the story also because it is clearly about Jack making a mistake, realizing it and then succeeding as a famous writer.