Gaming, Strategy, & Trust

At first I wondered what this book was really about. People who have read it state that it is a great novel, but in the beginning I wondered if it was anything other then a simple detective novel. A simple detective novel should create order from chaos. In this book creates three things, gaming, strategy, and trust. Throughout the novel we see Turtle trying to decide who she is, and what she will become.Turtle wants to know if she's Turtle, Tabitha Ruth, or Alice. She is extremely unlike her sister, Angela Wexler. Angela Wexler is what I would call a mothers perfect byproduct. Which is completely what Angela doesn't want to be. Evermore, we see the role of gaming get extremely complex when we cannot even decide what the true problem or what we are trying to detect is. The question arrises of whether or not he is actually dead. Turtle becomes what we call the detective, she helps decide the true outcome by using her skillful and creative lies to basically come up with a crafty story. On the side of trust, we see this characters get stuck with each other and have to create trust within each other to figure out what is happening. In the end we see turtles story help her to find out what is happening and then becomes the "winner". We also see J.J. Ford grow as a career driven person to become stronger then see already is. She decides that maybe this isn't for her and goes off. Throughout this book we see the development of the game take place, and the ending is not exactly want you expect.

The Roles of Women

The book, The Westing Game, is full of many themes. The specific theme that stood out in my mind after finishing the book was the role of women. To start with, the copyright date on this book is 1978, so it’s important to remember the time frame in which this book was written. The gender roles for women at that time in history are dramatically different than they are today. In this book, many of the women stay on the path of the “stereotypical female.” In some instances, however, a couple characters step off this path.

So, as far as gender roles in women, I focused on the Wexler women (Grace, Angela and Turtle).

First is Grace Wexler. She plays a very stereotypical role in this book by being a housewife and she is quite dramatic in her role. You can gain a sense of who she is by when she gives herself the title, “heiress.” She gloats and thinks highly of herself, but deep down she is lacking confidence in herself. It’s obvious that she strongly favors her daughter, Angela, over Turtle. Toward the end of the book, she grows on you as she sort of “finds herself” and eventually becomes the owner of the Hoo’s chain restaurants.

Next is Angela Wexler. She is deemed the “perfect child.” She follows her mother’s orders and does anything she asks. Her mother is basically living in her daughter’s footsteps. She isn’t able to stay in medical school because her mother thinks it would be easier to just marry a doctor. Her mother even has a doctor picked out for her to marry, Denton Deere. It’s not a surprise that Angela does not feel like she has control of her own life- because the truth is that she doesn’t. It’s nice to see how she breaks away from her mother’s hold by the end of the book and she finally takes control of her own life. She ends up with Denton, but she married him when she wanted to.

Finally is Turtle. She’s the one Wexler who does not follow the stereotypical role of the female. She was never favored by her mother (What kind of mother calls their child Turtle, anyway?)  and she always seemed to be getting into trouble kicking people. She is very independent for a teenager and she has quite the business mind. I found Turtle to be the most interesting character because she changed so much over the course of the book. In the end, she’s matured very much and ends up being a very successful businesswoman. I think that Grace was always somewhat threatened by her daughter, Turtle, and that is why she treated her the way she did. She seemed to be jealous of her independence. 

In the end of the book, I liked reading how Turtle (later T.R.) turned out…especially the very last sentence where she is beginning a chess game with Angela and Denton’s daughter, Alice.

Names of Characters

I chose to reflect on the characters because the author of Westing Game, by Ellen Raskin, created such interesting names and backgrounds for the sixteen characters.

Madame Sun Lin Hoo - In the beginning of the book she was not invited by her husband to the Westing house because she didn't know how to speak English.  With the title of "Madame" I received the impression she had been a prostitute in China.  One of my favorite moments in the book is when Jake Wexler walks up to talk to Mrs. Hoo but Angela stops his to voice her concern, "Dad she doesn't know English"  his response is "If no one speaks to her she never will learn it." Cheers to a team mate helping out an English Language Learner!  By the end of the book she learns to speak English and everyone calls her Sunny.

Jake Wesler - He is one of the few with a typical average name.  Poor man the only way to get uptight and controlling wife to give him some loving is to get her drunk in the afternoon.

Turtle Wexler - What nurturing mother names her daughter "Turtle?"  She later becomes Alice, however I'm not sure why she chose that name, by the time she reaches adult hood she has choose to be called T.R. for her birth name Tabatha Rose, which is a lot more femine than Turtle.

Flora Baumbach - She made wedding dresses which are white or ivory, not floral (flora), but her daughter loved bright floral prints and collected fabric swatches from the fabrics.

Christos Theodorakas - Is Christos a shortened version of Christopher?  I have never heard of the name.  He goes by Chris by the end of the book.  Names a spieces of parrot after himself.

D. Denton Deere - He is a "dear" of a man by giving Angela the time ans space she needed to pursue her identity.  We never find out what the D. stands for.  His name is a toung twister if you say it fast.

J.J. Ford - Jose-Jo an unusual hyphened name.  Another woman who uses her initital for a fist name and plays chess.  Does Mr. Westing encourage his chess partners to use an abbreviated name during a slow moving chess game?

Grace Windsor Wexler - She really is an heiress and a niece of Mr. Westing.  As her name implies she is a graceful and distinguished decorator and restaurant entrepreneur.  But, not graceful when giving her daughter a nick name.  Unfortunate she has to drink three bottles of wine to remember how to love her husband, drunks are never graceful.

James Shin Hoo - Grumpy old man who (Hoo) has to buy a mail order wife. Turtle never kicked him in the shins (Shin).

Bertha Erica Crow - Everyone calls her Crow.  Another woman with an animal name.  Crows are black and she always wears black and they have long thin feathers, Crow is tall and lean.

Otis Amber - He is often called Amber which is a girl name and a color then he marries a woman called Crow who wears black. 

Theo Theodorakis - His first name is his sir name with extra letters.  Did his parents run out of ideas for names?  When his last name is stretched out it makes Theo-dork-is. I don't think he is a Dork but he does get kicked in the shins a few times by Turtle.

Doug Hoo - Doug who?  Oh, yes, the Olympic gold medalist.

Sydelle Pulaski - The wrong person was contacted to play the Westing Game, which clued me in to noting the idiocyrices of the names. 

Angela Wexler - No angel, needs to find her place in the world.

Sandy McSouthers (south), Julian R. Eastman (east), Windy Windkloppel (west), Barney Northrupt (north)-  The man of many identities, a male immigrant named Windy. Enough said.

Feminism

In the book The Westing Games there are many characters, but the women and their personalities are the things that shape the book to what it is. I believe that Feminism is shown through out the book for several reasons such as J.J. Ford and Angela. Now when I state that there is Feminism in the book I do not mean that these women are men haters or burning bras. What I do mean is that at the beginning of the book each woman seems to be unstable, except for Judge J.J Ford, who seems to be a woman that worked her way up in a male dominated world. She is our strongest woman in this story. J.J Ford isn't married, lives alone, and mainly focused on her career; this is why she is the strongest woman character. Then  there is Angela, who is completely opposite of the Judge. She is completely submissive to everyone, even her own mother. For example, we see her mother telling her what to do constantly even to the point of what Angela can wear; on page 61 Grace Wexler says, 'I can't understand What go into you, Angela, coming to this party in that old checkered dress and those awful accessories. Just because your partner dresses like a freak...' Angela barely stands up for herself.  These at the beginning of the book are at two ends of the Feminism chart but at the end of the book something changes.


At the end of the book J.J. Ford has grown in her career as an appointed judge for the supreme court system, this is what she wanted to be strong and stable. Now for Angela she has made a complete transformation from the beginning of the book. At the end of the book, she has gone back to college to become a orthopedic surgeon, doesn't let her mother tell her what to do, and become a strong woman that she has wanted to be. Readers are shocked by Angela's growth into her own self. In the end it builds to the strong characters in the book.

Control

Everybody on this earth likes to think that we have control of our own lives. When this control isn’t felt anymore people develop can develop diseases and sicknesses. One could develop depression, an eating disorder, anger management issues, or even OCD.

The Westing Game has many characters in it that are fighting for control of their own lives. Angela fights against marrying Denton Deere for the sole reason that it seems to feel like a snowball rolling down a hill, getting larger and larger until it rolled right over her. Turtle fights for control of who she is and how she is perceived. And J.J Ford fights for control over her career. She wants to know that she was the one that made her career get to where it was and not Sam Westing.

            Angela displays her lack of control by just being so indecisive. She wanted to be in medical school but because of gender roles enforced by her mother and lack of funding she dropped out. She also wants to wait on marrying Deere but she finds she can’t voice her want. “How about you, Angela, what do you want? He knew her unspoken answer was “I don’t know. (pg 109). Angela’s mother stole her control and pushed her into a marriage she didn’t ready for. Angela couldn’t find her voice to stand up to her mother. And because of it she was a ticking time bomb. Or rather fireworks set off by a striped candle. She became the Sunset Towers bomber.

            Turtle was another victim. Her mother was stealing her control from her. Turtle lost the ability to name herself. By her mother first naming her Tabitha-Rose, and then the rather degrading nickname “turtle” it stole Turtles ability to decide what she really wanted to be called. It would explain why she told Flora Baumbach  her name was Alice. And why she felt the need to nickname Baumbach “Baba”.  It was to feel like Baumbach belonged to her, and would also explain her jealousy in regarding Baumbach’s daughter. Another point of her need to control was with her hair. “No, Angela thought, hurrying her sister out of the door and back to their apartment, Turtle’s crutch is her braid” (70).  Turtle kicked anyone who tugged on her braid. As a matter of fact kicking was her aggression getting out. She kicked anything that made her the slightest bit angry.

            J.J. Ford was another character who was fighting for control. Control over her career as well as the game. She felt as though Sam Westing had taken her control. “Stupid child, you can’t have a brain in that frizzy head to make a move like that” (125).  By berating her daily while playing chess it had made the judge paranoid on whether or not she was able to do the things she had accomplished. I believe Westings intentions had been to motivate and strengthen her for her future goals. But because of his attacks on her she found herself second-guessing everything in her career and education, thinking things had been given to her when she had in fact earned them. J.J. Ford found herself obsessed with the last game Sam Westing had her play. She played as though she would earn her control back at the end. All she had to do was ruin Westings dastardly game.

            In the end all of the characters find control of their lives. Angela’s came from her going back to medical school and putting off her marriage to Denton Deere until she was ready. Turtle’s came from finally accepting herself (with help from her Baba) and naming herself T. R. Wexler was a form of her taking control back. And finally J.J. Ford’s control was given back to her when she finally saw that her debt to Sam Westing had been paid off.

Unexpected Outcomes

Unexpected outcomes fill the last couple chapters of the Westing Game. Not only does the reader find some characters are not who they say they are, but they also find it might take three deaths for someone to really die. But the surprises don't stop there. The novel starts with a collection of awkward, troubled, dysfunctional characters and relationships but ends with every issue resolved and every character contented. Turtle started out as a awkward, childish young girl. Turtle lacked a good parent figure and role model in her life. In the end she is a successful young woman because of Flora who stepped in as her parent and her uncle who became her role model and friend. She is loved by her husband,Theo, who is finally happy doing what he loves, writing. Crow surprises us by the fact that she was actually Sam Westing's ex wife and then the reader is surprised again by the unexpected marriage of Crow and Ottis. Angela and Dr. Deere call off the wedding but then the readers are surprised again when we find that they end up together in the end after Angela accomplished her dream of becoming a doctor herself. Grace and Jack resolve their differences and end up with a happy marriage. Grace and Jack both of respectable jobs. Doug Hoo goes from being the over pressured teen who aspires only to be a runner to being an Olympic gold mentalist. Mr. Hoo goes from being a grumpy, bitter, selfish man to being a proud father and loving husband. He finally gets credit for an invention. Mrs. Hoo finally gets treated with respect and becomes a successful business woman and finally gets to take her trip back to China. Sydelle Pulaski goes from being an annoying, attention seeking nobody to being a happy married woman. Not only is the outcome of the game unexpected but also the outcomes of all the characters. Each character surprises the rear with their growth and accomplishments.

Repressive Parents

The Wexlers are the first Sunset Towers tenants introduced in the book The Westing Game.  Grace Wexler starts the book sounding like an orange county ‘housewife’ hanging on her moneymakers arm.  The moneymaker being her husband, Jake Wexler.  He shows the first glimpse of caring about finances, through his less than excited tour of the apartment. During the tour, Jake notes how small the third bedroom is asking if it is instead a closet, although Grace knows the space is small she believes it is big enough for her youngest daughter, Turtle.

            Turtle Wexler is a smart, feisty, junior high girl, whom the tenants think is a brat.  The main reason is because of her habit of shin kicking whenever anyone touches her braid.  Her mother, Grace, has given up on her and does not show much interest in Turtle’s life.  Turtle is bound and determined to set her own path, which makes her the rebellious, less than perfect child.

            Angela Wexler, Turtle’s older sister, is the perfect child in her mother’s eyes.  She is engaged to a doctor and lets her mother, Grace micromanage her life.  This is first seen in the book when Angela is introduced.  She is trying on her wedding dress and at the thought of Angela being pricked by a pin Grace scolds the dressmaker.  Angela is also smart, but does unintelligent things to try and demonstrate her independence.  For example, lighting firecrackers throughout Sunset Towers is unintelligent, but she never gets caught making her a smart young lady. 

             The first interaction between Grace and Turtle occurs while Flora Baumbach is hemming Angela’s wedding dress. Turtle walks into the room and instead of getting a hello, Grace says, “Oh, it’s you” in the narration after it states “Mrs. Wexler always seemed surprised to see her other daughter, so unlike golden-haired, angel-faced Angela”.  This gives us a huge insight on how Mrs. Wexler feels at the beginning of the book.  Even Angela’s name is giving us the hint that she is viewed as an Angel.  In fact, the book states, “Mrs. Wexler beamed on her perfect child draped in white.  ‘What an angel.’” 

Turtle on the other hand asks Mrs. Baumbach to hem her witch’s costume.  Grace asks Turtle why she insists on being ugly and says Mrs. Baumbach does not have time since she is hemming Angela wedding dress.  Mrs. Baumbach says she will hem Turtle’s costume anyway.  As the book progresses Mrs. Baumback become’s a parent figure for Turtle.  Unlike Grace who is hard, cruel, and harsh, Mrs. Baumbach is kind, gentle, and nurturing.  She is the perfect partner for Turtle during the Westing Game. 

I am pleased Mrs. Baumbach stepped in and showed Turtle love throughout her childhood.  As a future educator, I hope to show students the same kindness.  As the book ends, so does Grace’s harsh overbearing parenting style.  Throughout the book we were able to see Grace treat her two children totally different, almost as if she were two different parents.  Turtle turns out to be very successful as well as Angela, since she was able to step up and become her own woman.  All the characters learned about themselves throughout this book, especially Grace Wexler.  

Gaming and Strategizing: Nate Reichter

Gaming and Strategizing: Nate Reichter

In the novel The Westing Game one theme I connected to throughout the book was gaming and strategizing.  When I think of gaming and strategizing I think of the television game show Survivor.  In the show Survivor many of the contestants lie, cheat, and manipulate people to do whatever it takes to be named the winner and sole survivor of the show.  Comparing the game show Survivor with the book The Westing Game, I see many direct correlations between the two.   In both the show and the book people are playing a game to win money.  They do this by strategizing, lying, cheating, manipulating, and deceiving people to get to the prize.  The person who does all these things the best wins the game.  There are many good examples of people who lie, cheat, manipulate and deceive people in this book, but in my opinion the person that does this the best is Turtle, who is also our winner of the game. I think Turtle does a fantastic job of playing the game because of her ability to read grownups.  She even says it herself she finds it easy to read grownups; she knows exactly what they are thinking.  I think Turtles ability to read people helps her manipulate the other players to her advantage.  We see her ability to manipulate people towards the end of the game.  Turtle’s clever and skillful lies help her pull off a very crafty story that she comes up with off the top of her head to deceive all of the other players.  Turtle manipulates the other players by using simple logic in her story misleading all of the other players by lying about the clues.  Turtle’s lies regarding the clues help her to twist the story to mislead all of the other players.  Turtle’s strategic, brilliant story helps her to win the game and become sole survivor of Mr. Eastmans possessions. 

Careers

While making my way through "The Westing Game" there are many themes that pop out, such as, identity crisis and trust just to name a couple. To me, another very important theme of this book is career status. These seem to jump out to me very clearly because they are presented to us (the reader) while the will is being read, and I have to think the author (Raskin) did this for a reason. With a variety of different people with an array of jobs, Raskin has placed a group of characters in front of us that seem very familiar. Most of these characters never seem to be completely satisfied with how much or little success they have had in their lives. The idea of winning the Westing inheritance will then make them happy, because will no longer have to run a chinease restaurant, make dresses, or be a judge. After the game is over, it easy easy to say that the lives of many of them had changed for the better, thus making them much more happy. We learn this as Turtle is at "Westing's" death bed. She gives him the scoop on what people have eventually done with their lives. Some of the more notable jumps in career status are; Angela had gone from being considered a "none" to eventually becoming an orthopedic surgeon, and J.R. Ford had become appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The character that is most changed from the game though is Turtle. She becomes a lawyer, plays the stock market, and eventually becomes the heir to Westing Paper Products. These successes prove that though The Westing Game did not develop into a get rich quick scheme it did improve the quality of life for it's players. This book gives the reader the idea that eventually someone is going to figure out the clues and win the game. This game helps people develop in the persons they had always dreamed they would be and can finally find something to be happy about in their lives: their careers.

Roles of Women

The Westing Game is a murder mystery, with underlying topics throughout the book. The book is written in the 1970's and is plotted in the same era. This is a great time of striving for gender equality, within jobs, and in gender roles. In the story we see a lot of old stereotypes of women taking place. Some of the women in the book conforming to the norms of women, while other break out of the stereotypical shell.

Also it show with the jobs the women have, if any, Grace is a house wife, until she works for a restaurant, Baba is a dressmaker, and other than J.J. Ford who is a judge, the women have very feminine jobs, like being a secretary. 

Turtle is the strong lead woman in the story, not conforming to gender roles, business savvy and not very lady like. She is said to be the exact opposite of her sister Angela. Angela wanted to go to medical school, she started then had to drop out because her mother Grace said medical school was to hard for women, that Angela should just find a doctor to marry. Grace tells Angela that they do not have the money to put a 'woman' through school. Angela conforms to the views of women, especially her crazy mother. Doing whatever pleases her. In the end Angela finally does stick up for herself, and go to school.

Madame Hoo, is Mr. Hoo's second wife from China. She is always the cook, and doesn't talk to everyone else much. She is a lot younger than Mr. Hoo. She was steeling everyone's stuff so she could sell it and go back to China. In the end she returns everyone's stuff and befriends them. Going from Mr. Hoo's cooking wife, to business partner.

This story had a lot to do with these women finding themselves. FInding friendship with the others of Sunset Towers. With companionship they find themselves, and their desires in life, and now can better achieve them.

Identity

Through the book, the characters in The Westing Game  were establish their identities they should have been the whole time. Majority of them were thinking they were only playing a game to win $200 million dollars but that all changed when Mr. Westing himself stated in the will the other players are to discover who you really are. Little did the characters know that by the end of the game they would have redefined themselves. The main goal of the whole game is not who killed Sam Westing but who they really are.
From the very beginning of the game in the library, the characters are to write their name and position as signed on the receipt. We learned from Mr. Westing that a person's name has no connection to their real identity. From the first time they signed their name in the library to the final time they met in the library their positions with their names has changed. Mr. Westing states in the eleventh point in the will that some of them are not who they say they are nor who they make out to be.
One of the main problems with identity throughout the book is who killed Sam Westing; however, we come to a conclusion to whether if Mr. Westing is even dead. Sam Westing has multiple identities. Sam Westing is not even this real name. He kept killing off his previous identity. First it was Windy Windkloppel, the immigrant, then it was Sam Westing, himself. He next killed Sandy McSouthers, then finally Julian R. Eastman. We as readers are stuck trying to figure out who Sam Westing actually is and who he really may be.
Turtle has a confusion with who she identifies with. Turtle and her mother do not have a health relationship. Turtle then turns to Flora Baumbach because she is her partner in the game and a mother figure to her. Flora asked what her real name is and Turtle answers with "Alice". We soon find out her real name is Tabitha-Ruth. She is confused with her identity because she does not even go by her real name and then tells people her real name is a false real name. When signing her position on her receipt she writes "witch" because of the outfit she wore on Halloween, but the final meeting she writes "financier" because she learned from the money she got from the game how to work the stock market.
Angela Wexler, Turtle's sister, even has a problem in identifying herself. Everyone knows she is pretty and that she should marry Denton Deere. No one looks deeper behind her pretty face. She has to work hard to create her true identity. Deep down she does not want to marry Mr. Deere, but stays with it because of what everyone wants. The shocking identity Angela creates for herself is being the bomber; however, no one knows she is the bomber except for her sister Turtle who takes the blame for being the bomber. After a incident during a bombing leaves her with a scared face. She soon realizes the others look past her beauty because of the damage and treats her like a real person. During the first meeting she wrote "none". She did not claim a identity, but at the final meeting she writes "person". At the end, Angela developed in a grown women and pursues her dream of being a doctor, which her mother never thought she should do because of her beauty. She let go of the person belonging to the beauty and regains her control of her life and returns to her relationship with Denton Deere.
Grace, the mother of both Turtle and Angela, could not come to a conclusion on what her position truly was. She first wrote "housewife" then "decorator" and finally "heiress".  Grace is an actual housewife but pretends to be decorator. When she writes heiress, it is because she dreams or wants to believe she is that and wants everyone to believe she is a heiress. By the final meeting, she comes to a conclusion that she is a "restaurateur". She comes into her own when she starts to help James Shin Hoo in his restaurant.She has troubles being a mother to both her daughters because she thinks highly of one and whats nothing to do with the other. My question is was Grace really a housewife? In my eyes, a housewife has to have a health relationship with her family members and care for them; she didn't.
Sydelle Pulaski is a troubled person. She is the mistake of the heirs; she hides behind her false injuries to try and gain acceptable with the others because of her injuries. Turtle even states that Sydelle hides behind her crutch. Sydelle even states she has a disease that is incurable called "wasting disease". At the beginning she writes she is a "secretary to the president" but in reality it is the president of a sausage company. The final meeting she is the "victim" due to the fact she got injured during the bombing at Angela's shower. All Sydelle wants is the attention of the other characters.
James Shin Hoo does not even go by his real full name. He added Shin to his name because he did not think James Hoo was not Chinese enough for owning a restaurant. Along with Mr. Hoo, his wife, Madame Hoo is the theft of the group. She does not talk English and decides to steal thing for money. At the beginning she is quiet and rather look at the window. However, at the end of the book, she can speak English, runs the restaurant by herself, and made it back to China by herself. She developed into the culture and made a whole new identity for herself. Did Madame Hoo hid during the beginning of the game because she was unhappy with her marriage? Once Jake and her got paired up, Mrs. Hoo started to speak English and even socialize and become a person on her own. We can question if Jake's partnership and friendship with Mrs. Hoo helped her realize you can think on your own and leave something that causes unhappiness.
By the end of the book, the characters have developed into a new identity and even lifestyle. Majority of them create a new position or just a shorter one. Many of them mended old relationship or even created new relationships. Family grew closer together due to finding out who they really are or even actually listening to them.

The relationship between parents and their children

Parents. At times you hate them, at times you love them. A child will have its ups and downs with the parents but one thing is for certain: Parents have(or don't have) a huge impact on the way their children are raised and eventually molded into adults. The Westing Game goes deep into the relationship between parents and their children several times in the detective novel.
Lets start out with one of the main parent to child relationship, in this case mother to daughter. Mrs. Wexler throughout the book is a quite frankly an unhappy, miserable mother and wife. It seems that she is trying to live her life through one of her daughters, Angela. Pause it. How many time in life do we see parents try and live their lives through their children. Whether it be trying to get them to try out for the dance team or the basketball team, parents do this all the time. In this case, Angela really wants to go to medical school and become a doctor, but her mother, Grace, wants her to just marry a doctor. So now the mother is telling her what she can and cant do from a occupation standpoint, but also maybe intruding on what she wants from her marriage. Its quite obvious that Grace is(whether its right or wrong) living through Angela.
Now the other daughter, Turtle is getting ignored by her mother throughout and is no where near the child Angela is. Of course, later in the book, we come to find out that Turtle is a brilliant, millionaire, lawyer. During the entire path of her childhood, Turtle was able to do as she pleased. Her mind was able to wonder where it wanted, feeling no pressure from her mother. Angela on the other hand, felt a ton of pressure as she was "The Chosen One" in her mothers eyes.
The other main parent-child relationship is Mr. Hoo and his son, Doug. Doug is a track star who can go very far in life using his athletic abilities to his advantage(i.e. scholarships, Olympics, etc.) Father doesn't see it this way as he really is not that supportive of his son. Doug shows a lot of interest in track and doesn't want to focus on a lot of other things in his life such as the restaurant or his studies. Mr. Hoo does come around and cheer him on towards the end in some of Doug's races. Hoo was a little hard on Doug but Hoo did say that if it wasn't for him, "he'd do nothing but run." Doug says in a post-race interview that he "owes it all to his dad." Mr. Hoo installed good values into Doug and he used those values to be a good track star.
The Westing Game does give us a good look into three, solid relationships between a parent and their child. It is easy to analyze the relationships and compare them to maybe what we experience or know about parents and the way they raise their children.

Evolving Roles

The Westing Game gradually introduces the idea of how women can have roles in society that do not include being an obedient housewife.  From the beginning, J.J. Ford is an accomplished African American women who serves as a Judge. Slowly, Angela, Turtle, and Grace evolve from being women to successful independent women.
Angela is a quiet girl who spends her time with needlework and assuming the role her mother told her she should take.  When Angela wanted to pursue a career in the medical field, she was told she was too pretty and there was not enough money to pay for a girl to go to college.  Throughout The Westing Game Angela tries to find herself for who she is and not who others expect her to be. By the end of the story, she has become an orthopedic surgeon and on her own was a successful woman.
While Grace Wexler was not exactly the quietest woman in the story, she definitely had nothing to show for her accomplishments at the beginning.  She strived to appear at a higher rank than she was by how she held herself, dressed, and decorated her apartment.  She was constantly telling her daughters how to act in a way that appealed to society.  And yet, by the end of the story, she had taken over the Chinese restaurant and created a chain of restaurants in different towns around the area.  I feel that this accomplishment gave a way to show that even the older and more occupationally reserved women could come out of their shell and hold a position in the professional world.
Turtle was always outspoken and independent. Right next to the Judge, I feel that she became one of the most successful of the entire book. by studying law and being the legal counsel of Westing Paper Products Corporation and soon to be the chair of the company, I believe that she rose to heights that women of the late 70's could rarely accomplish.
In the beginning, the woman that stood out the most with accomplishments was J.J. Ford. By the end, she still was highly respected as a Supreme Court Justice.  Throughout the novel young Angela finds herself and realizes she does not have to act the way others expect her to act; Angela goes back to school and becomes a doctor.  Turtle who always wanted to be a success continues her dream.  Grace, who no one ever suspected would lift a finger to do work, finally finds her calling as a businesswoman.  The Westing Game brings the roles of women to a different light. As an accomplished writer, perhaps this was a hidden meaning that Ellen Raskin wanted to get across to the readers of her own success story.

Connecting to Others

Family and connections is a floating theme throughout the book The Westing Game.  Certain characters are in a traditional family setting but are lacking a true connection to anyone.  In setting up his game, Samuel Westing pairs players together in a way that everyone gains something from the relationship they share with their partner.  What they gain is a connection to someone and a sense of purpose and belonging. By the end of the book the characters have all made a connection, be it a stronger bond to that partner, or their relationship with their family has evolved to something much greater.

In the beginning of the book, Turtle seems to be floating through life doing things as she pleases. No one seems to put any effort into asking what she is doing or how she is feeling.  Her mother disregards her, favoring her sister Angela over her.  We see no interaction between Turtle and her father and Angela seems to put up with her simply because they are sisters.  It is in her pairing with Flora that Turtle connects with someone and feels like she matters.  Flora is also suffering from a lack of family after losing her only daughter to pneumonia.  Flora soon takes on the grandmother role to Turtle.  She worries about her well-being, brushes her hair, comforts her, and treats Turtle with respect. Flora also listens to Turtle and takes her seriously, not treating her like a naïve child. 

Angela does not seem to have a voice of her own throughout a great deal of the book.  In being paired with the loud, outspoken Sydelle, she begins to ponder what she wants in life.  Sydelle knows what she wants and will go to the extreme to get it.  Angela witnesses Sydelle’s antics and even covers for her when the terminal illness farce is about to be exposed.  Angela makes a connection Sydelle and they have that understanding between one another.  They can be honest with each other and also have one another’s back.  Angela has had to sit back and watch her mother plan the wedding, but with Sydelle they work as a team valuing one another’s opinions.

Chris and Dr. Deere are an odd pair to be placed together in the game.  Chris is wheel chair bound and interested in bird watching while Dr. Deere is a plastic surgery intern.   Neither have had any interaction together until the game begins.  The relationship that develops between to two seems to be that of friendship.  While there is never a concrete example given in the book, the reader is given the idea that Dr. Deere’s outlook on life changes a bit after his time spent with Chris.  Dr. Deere also looks into medicine and treatment for Chris’ medical condition.  By the end of the book, Chris is in college and independent from his brother, Theo, something that may not have happen should he not been partnered with Dr. Deere.

Other characters made connections to their partners as well.  Jake is the only person who sees Madame Hoo for who she is, a person, someone who needs to be acknowledged as well as spoken to.  Jake treats her like he would anyone else; he does not care that she can’t speak English and encourages her to try.  He finds humor in her (lack of) words and never leaves her in the corner ignored.  Crow and Otis are paired together and their connection grows eventually leading to their marriage in the end.  Judge J.J. and Sandy are paired giving J.J. a time to reflect on her relationship with Westing and how her life has turned out.  In the end, she donates money to a scholarship for a college student, in doing so she is letting go of the turmoil she feels in knowing Westing paid for her schooling.

The Westing Game carries an underlying theme of family and connecting to the ones around us.  The characters connected to their partners and that in turn aided them in connecting to their own families. The story starts with strangers moving into an apartment building, not only are they strangers to one another, but to their own family members as well.  By the end of the story, the end of the game, bonds between family members and friends are stronger than ever and seem to be growing.

Identity Crises

            One of the main themes that I really enjoyed while reading The Westing Game was identity construction.  As the plot developed and more and more was revealed about characters, the reader witnesses multiple characters as they grow and, seemingly, change their identity.  Through creative partnering, each couple grew throughout the game.  As we examine each couple, the reader can find multiple examples throughout the text of ways that each character develops.  It may be that Uncle Sam elects these partnerships specifically to enhance and enable better growth through The Westing Game.

            I think the reason I enjoy this theme is because, as the story progresses, the characters tell us their “identity” changes.  The greatest changes I experienced were evident in the development of the Wexler sisters.  Turtle, being the most obvious of changes, starts the book out as identifying herself as a witch.  By relating herself to a character that she dressed up as for Halloween, to the end of the book where she finds her identity as a lawyer who is the chairman of the board, we experience the most change in identity.  It could be that her character is the most to change because from start to finish we experience her as an adolescent into adulthood, where the other characters have already matured past adolescence.  Another identity change we discover in Turtle is the witnessing of her pulling away from her mother, who frequently demeans her, toward Baba, who helps to nurture Turtle’s struggle through adolescence.  Turtle also brings the identity theme to life as we witness her change her name not once, not twice, but three times.  By the end of the book, Turtle’s identity has changed so much that she resolves her identity with a new name, T.R. Wexler.

            Angela Wexler goes through a similar detachment from her mother as well, as she struggles to identify who she is.  From the beginning of the book where she identifies herself as having no identity to the end of the book where she elects to break off her engagement to Denton we witness an individual come into her own.  Throughout the book, we witness Angela, through her friendship with Mrs. Pulaski, find ways to strengthen her independence and work toward what it is that she wants, and does, by the end of the book which is to pursue her education.  At the climax of her struggle for identity we witness Angela permit herself to be harmed, of her own accord, to allow herself a way off of the path that she is set down.  I feel that the scar she obtains during the firework accident is a literal representation of her desire to be free of the beauty that ails her.  The scar permits her to be recognized, not simply for her beauty, but also for the intelligence that she was unable to demonstrate because of the identity inflicted upon her by her mother.

            The Wexler sisters are just a small representation of the identity struggles we rode through as we experienced this story.  Samuel Westing himself was an individual in the book who had more identities than any of the other characters.  We also witness change as we watch the other characters venture away from the first identity they offer in the first meeting of the heirs to the final chapters where Turtle fills us in on the identity each heir landed upon.

Trust

            Trust becomes invaluable in The Westing Game. The players need to learn to trust each other and to trust their clues. However, trust is not present where it would make a great deal of difference. In other places, it happens to be there when needed.

            In the pairing of J.J. Ford and Sandy, J.J does not include Sandy in her hiring of a private investigator. If she had, it may have unraveled the connections a little sooner. She also was reluctant to tell him about her connection to Sam Westing. Sandy, on the other hand, while keeping his true identity a secret, was very forthcoming about what his alias’ connection was. This partnership, for obvious reasons, was the one most based on deceit. However, she did trust him and his analysis enough that they were able to discover the identity of who Judge Ford thought needed protection.

            Mrs. Baumbach and Turtle had a relationship that initially was not about trust, just about one person having knowledge that the other was missing. However, as the story progresses, Mrs. Baumbach comes to trust in Turtle’s knowledge of the stock market even when it seemed like a very risky gamble. They come to a mother-daughter relationship that both were in need of, which means that they both trusted each other a lot by the end of the story.

            Mr. Hoo and Grace both obviously do not have a close friendship when they are paired up. She becomes his hostess and plans decorating his restaurant. They have to start to trust each other once they are assigned to be together. Their trust grows into not only being partners in their game, but also being partners in business.

            Chris and Denton are an unlikely pairing who don’t seem to have anything in common. However, Chris does not know who to trust with his information about the limping figure. He certainly doesn’t trust Denton enough to sign the check. He has to learn how to trust his partner when Denton comes to take him to the hospital for the new treatments that allow him to have a much more normal life.

            Doug and Theo are the only pairing who have trust from the very beginning. They are already school friends. Doug trusts Theo enough to trade in his normal exercise routine to follow Amber Otis around with his huge meet coming up. Theo also has to place a lot of faith in his friend to watch the game board while playing chess against the unknown opponent.

            Last, everyone ends up trusting Turtle. I am not sure if because of her youth everyone expects her to tell the truth or if she is that skillful at lying. Either way, the one time when trust should not be given, it freely is, to someone who already admitted to being a bomber. She pulls off a very effective story that she makes up off of the top of her head and they all believe her. The heirs have all grown to trust each other in this “game” that maybe they have grown too trusting.

            The heirs all grow in this game. At the beginning, most of them seem to be self-sufficient in their own families. By the end, they have come together to be more like one large family. Similar to when Sam Westing called them all his nieces and nephews. Trust grows and shifts in the book, but is always present and necessary.

The Roles of Women

                The first theme in Ellen Raskin’s novel The Westing Game that was obvious to me was the role of women and how it changed throughout the novel.   In some cases the female characters stepped out of the stereotypical role of women in a male dominated society and in others women conformed more into what society expects from women.  During the novel, many of the women find themselves whereas others finally are at peace with themselves.

                The strongest women personality in the book is that of Turtle, the business savvy teenagers whom has a habit of kicking people in the shin, which is definitely not lady like.  From the start she is not described in typical female terms, as she was described to look like a turtle at birth so that is what her nickname became.  A turtle itself is not a good looking animal, so by having the name Turtle one can assume that she was not a very attractive person.   When the book ends, Turtle grew up beautiful successful business a woman who no longer uses the ugly nickname but rather T.R. Wexler.

                Turtle’s sister Angela, throughout the book is described as the opposite of her sister.  She is described constantly as beautiful and fragile, which suits her name quite well.  While Angela appears to have things easier, as her mother waits on her, it’s apparent that Angela is lost as she is lacking self-confidence.  When it is revealed that Angela was the bomber and indeed wanted to injure herself, it becomes evident that Angela is not content in following her mother’s footsteps, as simply a doctor’s wife.  Going against what was planned for her; Angela ends her engagement to Denton Deere and decides to go back to college.  Eventually it is revealed that Angela and Denton marry and she continues her friendship with Sydelle and volunteered at the Good Salvation Soup Kitchen.

                Grace Wexler plays the part of a bored housewife extremely well.  She dotes over her beautiful daughter Angela, wanting her to marry as if it would bring her the happiness that Grace was lacking.  Grace lacks self-esteem, which is the reason why they moved into the Sunset Towers in the first place, as she wanted others to be envious of her.  It should be noted that Grace does favor Angela over Turtle, however that is because she is intimidated by Turtle’s independence and intelligence.  As the novel progresses, Grace finds herself growing as a person, from a not-so aspiring interior decorator to eventually a restaurateur.  As Grace finds herself as a person, she is able to reconnect with her husband and family.

Flora Baumbach is a secretly broken hearted divorcee, who always appears to be content.  Unlike the other female characters, Flora does not change during the story.  Despite losing her daughter, whom had Downs Syndrome at the age of 19, Flora remained a kind hearted nurturing woman whom followed orders rather than question the logical behind it.  With open warms she accepts Turtle as a replacement daughter, braiding her hair and giving her both emotional support and encouragement.   It’s made clear that Flora gives Turtle the much needed mothering that in turn allows her to flourish.

Madame Sun Lin Hoo, later called Sunny, is described as mysterious, quiet woman, which was assumed due to language barriers.  It is later revealed that Madame Hoo kept to herself as she felt she was a bad person, as she was stealing items in hopes of being able to return to China.  Once Madame Hoo befriends Jakes Wexler and the rest of the Sunset Tower residents, she began to learn English, embraced her role as a stepmother and herself as a person.  Madame Hoo went from being a simple cook who wore tight dresses to her husband’s business partner.

Judge Josie-Jo Ford was the most accomplished character when the novel began.  Although her mother was a servant in the Westing house, she received an excellent education because of Sam Westing.  Judge Ford appears to have some guilt for being better off than others, as she gives large tips to Sandy the doorman and even her portion of the money as she feels he needs it more than she does.  As the novel ends, Judge Ford decided to repay her debt to Sam Westing by doing what he had done for her, paid for the education for someone (Chris) who was obviously intelligent however lacked to financial resources to achieve greatness.

Bertha Crowe, Sam Westing’s ex-wife, was the least developed female character in this novel.   She is a religious woman, who started the Good Salvation Soup Kitchen on Skid Row.  She also works as a cleaning lady in Sunset Towers.   It is discovered that after the death of her daughter Violet, Crowe developed a drinking problem until she took up religion.  Although it has been many years since her daughter’s suicide, Crowe still has guilt as she continues to wear black. 

                Sydelle Pulaski, the mistake, was a secretary who wanted nothing more than to be noticed.  She faked injuries to not only start conversation but to also receive sympathy from others.  Her loud dresses also were a cry for attention that was ignored until Sam Westing’s game began.  Although she was a mistake, Sydelle became a confidant through her friendships which allowed her to move forward in her life.  Her new outlook on life ultimately ends with her getting the attention of her boss Conrad Schultz, president of Schultz Sausage which leads to their marriage.

                The transformation these women have during such a short period of time is quite extraordinary.  A simple example of this can be seen in how they signed their names from the beginning, to the end.  Turtle called herself a witch in the beginning of the novel and by the end of it she saw herself as an intelligent financier.  Her sister Angela went from having no identity to finally seeing herself as a person, which is what she signed her occupation as.  From the beginning Grace Wexler struggled with where she fit in, not sure if she was a housewife, decorator or heiress, however when the novel ended she owned ten restaurants.  Madame Hoo, Judge Ford and Sydelle’s changes were a direct result of friendship, as all of these women were lacking companionship, which in turn caused them to be unhappy. 

Lastly, the change which seems the most dramatic was that of Crowe.  She was a described as a dead cleaning woman who wore black, however as more information about her life is uncovered the reader is able to see that this game was not only for the sake of finding an heir but also to allow Crowe to move on with her life.  Westing paired Crowe up with Otis Amber, which allowed their feelings to grow and ended with the two marrying.  It also allowed Crowe to deal with her daughter’s suicide, as in the end Crowe signed her occupation as mother.