Hole In My Life Questions

How did Jack's childhood affect his goal of wanting to go to college?

Jack’s childhood greatly affected his goal of wanting to go to college. He moved around all the time and didn’t have a chance to settle down in one place or have a place to call home. He also couldn’t get comfortable at school or amongst peers because he knew he was eventually going to move again. Jack came from a family with no money so he had to work and wasn’t able to just focus on school.

On page 28, Jack says, "And if not a writer, I wasn't sure what I might do, but I certainly had no interest in becoming a criminal." Did Jack's school and home life make him more likely to become a criminal or a writer? Why?

Jack’s school and home life made him more likely to become a criminal. Jack’s school lacked the creative writing classes that would have helped Jack organize his writings and make him a better writer. Also, his home life wasn’t the greatest. He knew that his parents loved him but they were never there. He lived on his own a lot and they didn’t care if he was experimenting with alcohol and later drugs. He also never had parents there to set rules for him. He did what he wanted when he wanted and nobody could tell him what to do.

If Jack wasn't desperate to go to college, do you think he would have become a part of the hashish smuggling operation?

If Jack wasn’t desperate to go to college I don’t think that he would have became a part of the hashish smuggling operation because he was finally home with his parents where he belonged and where he wanted to be. He would have been happy working with his father and trying to help his family get financially stable. Instead he saw an opportunity that he couldn’t pass up. He never hesitated to saying no to something illegal because he had the desire to go to college no matter the consequences.

Was Jack's prison sentence fair?

I think that Jack’s prison sentence was more than fair. If he was older and he wouldn’t have been let off the hook that easily. He is very lucky that his age was on his side and that he wasn’t punished that badly for the huge crime he committed.

How does Jack's love of books help save him in prison? What about out of prison?

Books are a huge part of Jack’s life and without them he wouldn’t be able to survive. In prison he would have gone crazy. He would have been bored and lonely if he didn’t have books. The books give him ideas about his own writing and they help him expand his vocabulary. Out of prison he relies on books so much. They are like a companion and a friend that is always there for him when no one else is.

Do you think Jack would have become a successful writer if he had served his prison term in the general population rather than in his private hospital cell?

I do not think that Jack would have become a successful writer if he had served his sentence in the general population. By Jack being in his private hospital cell it gave him the time to be alone with his thoughts and his books and to just relax. It gave him the opportunity to plan and organize his thoughts.

Were Jack's unflinching descriptions of prison life necessary to the story? Why or why not?

Yes they are very necessary. They show what some people can only imagine and he shows what life is like for those people behind the bars. He shows the reader what happens in prison almost to warn them to stay out of prison and not make similar mistakes to his. The descriptions show what the result of committing a crime is.

What kinds of clues do the chapter titles provide? How does Jack signal the reader ahead of time about what will occur in the chapter?

The chapter titles give you a sense of what is going to happen. The titles are just topics and you find out what they mean as you read on. It tells you what to expect but does not give any information away.

The book is divided into three sections. Why do you think the author decided to separate parts of the story?

They are the 3 separate sections of his life. The first section was the part of his life where he was trying to find his way and mature. The second section was him dealing with having no money and wanting to go to college and him deciding to smuggle drugs. The last part was the time he spent in jail. I think he decided to divide the book into 3 sections because he wanted to describe each part of his life and the struggles and mistakes he made.

Jack claims that his becoming involved in the smuggling ring was "a mistake." Do you think "mistake" is the right word for the situation? By using the word "mistake," does Jack make you feel more or less confident that he is sorry for what he did?

I don’t think that mistake is the right word to use. He made a choice/decision to smuggle drugs when he knew it was against the law. The word mistake makes me less confident that he is sorry for what he did. I think that he is just sorry because he got caught and if he didn't get caught he would have thought that it was a great decision and that it pays off to do illegal things.