Blog #7

I'm still reading the book Airborn by Kenneth Oppel and so far I really like it. Since the last time I posted Matt found out that he wasn't getting a promotion from cabin boy to sailmaker, he took Kate on a tour of the airship and also found out that Kate was the granddaughter of the man who they found on the balloon a year ago, and also Kate gave Matt her grandfather's journal so he could read about the creatures that her grandfather saw. The whole reason Kate took this cruise was to try and see the magnificent creatures her grandfather had described.
One idea that came up in the book that I thought was interesting was when Matt found out that he was not promoted to sailmaker. The captain of the ship really wanted him to be a junior sailmaker and it was Matt's dream to become one, but in the end the owner of the airship insisted that his son fill the position. So the son got the position because he was wealthy and his father had a lot of influence, even though Matt was the more experienced and wanted the job more. It got me thinking about how this is a situation very similar to those in the real world. So many people gain one up over other people just because they have more money, friends, or influence and not because they have more skill. Its really not fair and that's really how a lot of people who grow up in poverty stay in poverty and children of rich tycoons become rich too, because the people who grew up in poverty don't get the same chances as the richer people do. Just like how Matt can't afford to go to the infamous Sailing Academy and doesn't have an infamous father, but he has more skill, desire, and hard working ethics than the owner's son. But who gets the job? The less skilled and wealthier owner's son!
Another thing I didn't like was how Matt automatically assumed this owner's son was a horribly mean person and Matt hated him right off the bat. But really it wasn't the owner's son's fault because it was his father that gave him the job. I think Matt would be justified in hating the owner because it was the owner's fault, but it wasn't his son's.
But anyway I don't think Matt will hate him for long because the author showed him as being a really nice guy and even Matt grudgingly thought he was a nice guy. So I predict that they will soon be friends because they are around the same age and he's a nice guy and usually in books, characters in their situation usually end up overcoming their differences and going on an adventure and becoming the best of buds.