Post 7

I read chapters 4 and 5 of my book, The Kitchen Boy. These chapters really focused on the shocking optimism and tenacity of the ill-fated Romanovs. They talk about how every day, even right up until they were killed, the Russian royals still held out hope that someone, any ally they had left, would come and liberate them from their prison. Things start looking up in this chapter. I might not have mentioned this in my last posts, but the Romanovs weren't even allowed so much as and open (or uncovered) window when they were being held captive during the Bolshevik Revolution. The windows were covered over with lime so that they couldn't communicate with anyone. Not only that, but they also weren't allowed to open the windows, which made the house very stuffy and hot. This was especially harsh because it was summer when they were trapped in this house, where the heat would often get above 30 degrees Celsius (about 90 degrees Fahrenheit). But, their Bolshevik captors weren't totally inhumane. They were allowed about 3 hours (broken up) outside a day. Even though they were treated like prison inmates, this family was always happy. I can't imagine how my family would react if this happened to us. I don't think we would be as optimistic. In fact, I think we would freak out. But this situation probably doesn't happen very often any more. I actually find it hard to believe that they were so happy, but the Romanovs were a different type of royalty. They didn't marry off their children to random strangers, even though when they were captured, their youngest was 15. I think this is a good thing, because it means that they were probably a lot happier than many other leaders of the time. I'd like to think my family could be as strong as they were, but I just can't tell unless we were actually put into this sort of situation.