Jeffrey Ding
Mr. Fraser
English 10H
19 October 2014
ORB 1: Going Bovine
Section I:
A. Bray, Libba. Going Bovine. New York: Delacorte, 2009. Print.
B. Genre: Young- Adult Fiction, Black comedy
C. Total pgs: 422 Read:411
D. Someone told me it was a good book, and a quick plot synopsis of the book online made the book sound interesting and exciting, so I decided to read this book.
E. The book begins in Texas, where the protagonist lives, but parts of the story take place in the streets of New Orleans and Florida’s Disney World. The story takes place in recent times, less than a decade ago, though specific dates are not mentioned.
F. The book’s primary themes is the distinction between reality and dreams. The entire plot circulates around the idea…show more content… The main character, Cameron Smith, has numerous external and internal conflicts throughout the novel. Cameron struggles academically and abuses marijuana. His snide remarks, condescending tone, and advanced vocabulary place him in an unpopular social clique. His relationship with his mother lacks communication and Cameron’s father is stony, formal, and has high expectations which Cameron fails to meet, such as grades. When Cameron asks to borrow his father’s car, his dad says that he think about the car “When your [Cameron’s] grades improve” (Bray 27). Another external conflict Cameron faces is his contraction of mad cow disease, a deadly degenerative neurological disorder caused by a prion. Although Cameron’s states that he doesn’t like his life, he makes barely any effort to change his behavior and habits. The book ends after Cameron’s mad cow disease completely destroys his brain and Cameron dies, ending all efforts to resolve his…show more content… Cameron reminds me of one of my classmates. He’s always alone and quite awkward, but also kind and intelligent. Much like Cameron, he seems to be bored by his life and it almost seems like he wants to be somebody else. Cameron’s says he’s a “drifter – right downstream and over the falls along with the rest of the driftwood” (Bray 17). This person is like that too; he never speaks out, just goes with what other people were doing and did what other people tell him. He never makes any move to stand out and distinguish himself from others. Like Cameron, he isolates himself from other people and becomes invisible; I’m not even aware if he still goes to Irvington High School