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Jesus Land

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Submitted By dahlrothi13
Words 1110
Pages 5
Ian Dahlroth

Contemporary lit

Mrs. Kinkella

May 10 2013

Jesus Land

Jesus Land is a memoir authored by Julia Scheeres that shows a glimpse into an atypical family living in rural Indiana in the 1970’s. The riveting book presents broad ideas that are found in everyday life. The memoir is primarily focused on her relationship with her close-in-age brother David, who was adopted by the Scheeres family in 1970 when he was 3 years old. Although not related or the fact David is a few months younger than her, Julia expresses feelings as if David is her twin brother. When the Scheeres family moved to Lafayette; Julia, David and her other African-American brother Jerome are forced to cope with the hardships a teen faces when moving to a new town and from a small christian school to a large public school where David and Jerome are the only minorities. In the new setting, the Scheeres brothers experience prejudice and racial intolerance in the mostly white community of Lafayette, Indiana. This change in schools is just the beginning of a disconnected family and inner strength brought out in Jesus Land.

Julia writes about her rebellious and problematic upbringing in a strict christian home. She struggles to connect with her adopted african-american brother in adolescence even though they were inseparable during childhood. She is also distant from her morally defixed mother that cares more about making God proud than raising her children, and her violent surgeon father who plays the role of the typical breadwinner that is always at work. Julia deals with insecurities in the book also, not knowing whether to isolate herself from her disliked brother and be accepted by her peers at school. Julia begins to drink alcohol before school to relieve her anxiety. On page 54, Scheeres says she drank every morning, “not to conjure a party attitude but to numb myself to the snickering that breaks out when David and I slide into our reserved bus seat” (Scheeres, 54). Julia neglects David in school creating harsh tension between the two, leaving David feeling unloved and lonely and Julia untrue to herself and unloyal to her brother. Although Julia distances herself from her brother in their teenage years, she never forgets their bond as children.

Julia, David, and Jerome’s parents are fundamentalist conservative christians that take pride in their harsh parenting methods. Their strict christian beliefs make them think that guiding their children with anger and abuse instead of love will raise good behaved straight cut Men and Woman. David and Jerome experience this abuse and even racism in their own home frequently while Julia is left confused when she solely sent to her room when she does something bad. This instance of parenting is morally unjust, cruel and unfair to the boys. In my opinion, the Scheeres parents make is just insulting to the respect of God. To think they could just adopt 2 African-American children into their family hoping God took notice and then beat them behind closed doors is horrifying. With the method of discipline these young teens face, it is no surprise to me why they struggled to find acceptance and fall into deep depression to the point of self harm. Julia’s mother is super neglectful of her kids also, she cares more about her faith than her children. The kids are aware of this too, making them resentful of their mom. She also remarks that her father had become so consumed by work he’d become a stranger to them, and when they did see him, they resented him too. Julia recalls the lack of care her mother shows to her children growing up in the novel. Its sad to me how out of order her priorities were in that part of her life when her kids were coming of age. Julia writes about a time when her mother threatens her with a mouth full of soap after she uses Gosh, Darn, and Jeez. Mrs. Scheeres was furiated and couldnt believe her daughter was using substitute words for God, Damn and Jesus. I couldnt imagine what she would have done if she actually used the actual word, and used Gods name in vain! And a mouth full of soap is an effective way of teaching her not to use those words, as if soap

actually cleans out the bad words from a mouth. She goes on to say, “She has never told me she loves me, or drawn me to her in an embrace. Never touched me with tenderness whatsoever... the closest she got was spitting in a tissue on the way to church and scrubbing my face with it, and i craved that attention” (Scheeres, 135)

Some people would argue against my position, claiming that a home with Jesus is a structured home. Having faith is an important part of life and it gives one something to live for. I would agree that the majority of children that come from a structured religious home grow up to be responsible mature adults. Although, this is dependent on the balance of religion with other home life aspects that contribute to a quality mentally stable childhood. Religion can be a good thing, in moderation of course. Of course this way of thinking is irrelevant in this scenario because this family is so religiously involved that it interferes with the mental health of the kids. As i mentioned, balance is very important and the Scheeres family clearly lacks it. Religion becomes a horrible thing when it is applied as it is in this memoir. Mother Scheeres spends more time on missionaries with her church group then making sure her children have healthy, nurtured upbringings. This absence of love stirs a lot of emotion in Julia, David and Jerome. The level of religion in this home is clearly not a productive thing. The oppositions claim is flawed in this circumstance because of the extreme it is taken to. Overly-religious homes create tension amongst family members and stress the ones that arent as committed to their faith, this being Julia and the kids in her story.

The relatability of the memoir makes it easy for us to understand her family and relationship problems. It is the broad ideas such as family relations, coming of age, and the strength of sibling love while being tested by race and religion.

Works Cited:

Scheeres, Julia. "Jesus Land." Julia Scheeres. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2013.

"Interview: Julia Scheeres Recalls the "Jesus Land" of Her Youth." Interview: Julia Scheeres Recalls the "Jesus Land" of Her Youth. Mark Karlin, n.d. Web. 09 May 2013.

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