Entry Two: Introduction to Moloka'i

    After having read the first section of Moloka'i, I would definitely say I have found it interesting. The beginning went a little slow because it was mainly just the introduction to the characters and the plot. The first 50 or so pages focused mostly on the main character, Rachel Kalama, and her family. Rachel's family lives in Honolulu in 1891 at the beginning of the book. Her mother, Dorothy, is very strict and at times cold, but her love for her daughter is evident. Dorothy's husband Henry is away at sea most of the time, and Rachel constantly counts the days until his return. When Henry is finally introduced, it is clear that Rachel absolutely adores him, and he feels the same about her in return. Rachel has two brothers, Benjamin and James (more commonly known as Kimo) who are almost always roughhousing or fighting with each other. Her sister, Sarah, is two years older than herself, and whereas the two do have their issues, they're good friends at the end of the day. Rachel's Uncle Pono, (Henry's brother), is a funny man with a close relationship to his brother's family. The family has their problems, but it is easy to see that they all love one another very much. The close relationship between the Kalama's, in my opinion, definitely contributed to the sadness of the book when the conflict began.
    Once the close relation of the family has been established, the troubles commenced. When Dorothy finds a red mark on Rachel's thigh, she convinces herself that it is nothing serious and goes to a kahuna (a Hawaiian word for witch, sorcerer, healer, etc.) to find a remedy to heal her daughter. She applies the pulp she receives from the kahuna to Rachel desperately, but the red mark does not fade. Dorothy makes sure her family knows that this is their secret alone, for they know that the Board of Health would take Rachel away if this mark did indeed represent leprosy. In the meantime, Uncle Pono is taken captive by the hospital for he is discovered to have leprosy. I found this a really sad part of the book, especially because of what an impact it had on Rachel, who really loved her uncle. One day on the playground at school, Rachel and Sarah get into an argument. They begin to call each other names, when Sarah accuses her sister of being a "dirty leper". Her accusation was unheard by no one present. Representatives from the Board of Health came to the Kalama household and took Rachel to the hospital for some testing. Sure enough, the leprosy test came back positive, and Rachel was forced to leave her home for the hospital.
   Rachel was not happy about staying in the hospital. However, her Uncle Pono was there too, and her parents could visit every day. The trouble began when Pono got a letter saying that his treatments were showing no improvement and he would be shipped off to Moloka'i. Rachel was terribly sad about this, for Pono was the only family member she could truly interact with now that she had been declared contagious. Not long after, Rachel's wish to be with Pono was granted when she, too, was informed that she would be going to Moloka'i. Rachel's departure was a very depressing event to read about, especially because of the guilt and tension between her and Sarah. Henry and Dorothy both wished they could accompany their terrified daughter, but knew that they could not. Rachel was forced to leave her home along with the other lepers, and settled in at her new life on the island Moloka'i.


    I personally enjoyed the first section of the book. I found it really difficult to read about Rachel's departure, considering a seven-year-old girl was being forced apart from her home and family. It was clear that the author's intention of showing the love between the Kalama's in the beginning was to make the separation harder for the reader to read, and much more of a tear-jerker. When Rachel was taken to the hospital, I practically thanked the author out loud for having Uncle Pono there to keep her company. Since Rachel was being forced away from her home, it was fortunate that she no longer had to worry about missing her uncle. If she had been completely alone, the book would have been much harder to get through. I found myself thanking Alan Brennert again for having Uncle Pono in Moloka'i when Rachel was sent there, because having to read about a seven-year-old girl with a disease being sent to an island all alone may have been near impossible.
   Though I found the beginning of Rachel's story very upsetting, the sad aspects of a book are usually what make it interesting, and I will admit that as soon as Rachel was diagnosed with leprosy, I could not put Moloka'i down. I like the author's use of dramatic situations, like how Sarah was the reason for the discovery of her sister's illness. In my opinion, the drama increases the interest.


    Judging by what I have read so far, I have multiple predictions about how the future parts of the book will go. One character who was introduced on the island, Haleola, seems like she will be a very important character. She was introduced to Rachel by Uncle Pono, and she seems like a very kind woman. It has been mentioned numerous times that she is a widow, and Pono's wife is filing for a divorce since he is no longer around. Because these two facts were introduced around the same time, I'm predicting that the two will end up together.
    So far, it seems as though Rachel really adores Haleola, and it is evident that she loves her Uncle Pono very much. Since I believe the two adults may become involved with each other, I think the three will end up forming their own family. Rachel has been forced to live with other girls around her age and forbidden to live with Pono and Haleola, but at the end of the section she ran away. I can easily predict that the place she ran away to was Pono's house, and Pono and Haleola will do anything they can to keep Rachel out of the Bishop Home, where she has been unwillingly living.