ipl-logo

A Little Life By Hanya Yanagihara

766 Words4 Pages

Karina De Paz Mr. Stare AVID 2 March 17, 2024. Growing up can be one of our hardest battles in life. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara is a tragic literary fiction that takes place in New York City about a group of college students on their journey of aging as they face the struggling reality of adulthood after graduation. The main character is a young man named Jude who has a tragic past which he hides from his friends in order to forget the trauma and move on. This story shows us how to cope with our problems and how to forgive others. However, if I was in the book, I would not be as forgiving of any of the characters for their actions in the book. JB is one of Jude’s friends who went to art school and later was recognized for his photography. …show more content…

In the heat of the moment JB yells, “You like knowing how fucked up I am? You like always being the person who gets to learn everyone else’s secrets, without ever telling us a single f*cking thing? Well, it doesn’t work like that, and we’re all sick of you” (318). Even after that, Jude decided to forgive JB despite all of his friends being upset because he didn’t deserve Jude’s forgiveness. JB also hated Jude for the fact that their friend Willem preferred Jude and they were closer. If I were Jude in this situation I wouldn’t have forgiven JB because Jude’s forgiveness leads to JB gradually getting more jealous of Jude, which causes more hatred in the friendship. Willem is a famous actor with a disabled brother who passed away when he was away at college. He met Jude at college and soon saw a part of his brother in Jude. He would always want to protect Jude because he understands how insecure Jude is with his limp. During the argument with JB about the insensitive painting, Willem punched JB and ended their friendship …show more content…

When Jude recovered he said to Willem, “I hope the reason you’re not talking to JB isn’t because of what happened with me” (332) to which Willem replied, “Of course it’s because of what happened with you” (332). Willem understands the pain JB caused on Jude and how he shouldn’t let him return into their lives until he’s shown he’s worthy and understands the pain he caused. I agree with Willem and would've done the same because the only way to show you’re truly sorry is by showing your growth as a person and understanding your actions, but JB did neither. Harold is Jude’s adoptive father who adopted him when Jude was graduating college and has looked after him during all his struggles in life. When JB and Jude were alone at one of JB’s shows, JB took advantage of Jude during a vulnerable stage in his life, which caused Jude to faint and later develop an eating disorder and become incredibly sick. Andy, who has been Jude’s doctor since he was 15, see’s Jude’s terrible condition and says, “What’re you doing to yourself, Jude? You look like hell” (783). Andy knew that if Jude didn’t fix this lifestyle he would end up dead, and Harold knew this but still allowed JB into his house because he used to be a part

Show More
Related
910 Words | 4 Pages

I just didn’t see any way around it. But it killed me to know that my boys were feeding on my hatred” (page 168). No matter how long it had been since the incident, John’s resentment only grew stronger. He couldn’t get past his feelings even when it was negatively affecting his children and wife. He was haunted by these strong feelings no matter

Read More
1722 Words | 7 Pages

He had a lot of angry building up inside of him, especially after the death of his brother. If he had better friends and was able to talk to them about anything and everything, he probably would get all the anger out and be a less harsh and judgmental person. He would fit in better. It’s important to have friends or people that will actually be their when they're needed the

Read More
180 Words | 1 Pages

Willie-Jay is one of Perry's few friends in In Cold Blood and he is the only one of those friends who attempts to change Perry's attitude and to save him from future violence. Willie-Jay is honest and respectful with Perry, a combination of traits unique in Perry's experience. An older man, Willie-Jay sees Perry as a person who needs help and he astutely recognizes that one thing Perry lacks especially is self-esteem. By acknowledging Perry's intellect and his talent, Willie-Jay ingratiates himself with Perry and becomes a mentor figure.

Read More
270 Words | 2 Pages

Reuven was glad that Danny came to visit again despite their previous encounter. after sending Danny away, he was surprised at his own actions and had come to regret it at the end. His own father reminded him that the Talmud says that if a person is willing to apologize for his own wrongdoing, then you must at least try to understand and forgive him and that is exactly what Reuven intends to do after feeling angry and depressed with himself from what he had said to Danny. Throughout this chapter, an unlikely friendship between the two boys develop. They begin to talk and learn more about one another rather than dwelling in fateful day of the ballgame; in other words, they let bygones be bygones.

Read More
260 Words | 2 Pages

Greg becomes sympathetic, thankful, and understanding towards Tommy despite Tom has not changed and still being ridiculous most of the time. For outside source, I decide to link the text to the audience section of the rhetorical triangle. I try to relate the friendship between

Read More
819 Words | 4 Pages

There is yet another reason why George had to take Lennie’s life. George knew that the society did not treat persons who were mentally disabled with care or respect. No one would fully understand the mind of a child in someone like Lenny. There was a time when George stated. “I used to have a hell of a lot of fun with ‘im. Use to play jokes on ‘im cause he was too dumb to even know he had a joke played on him.

Read More
928 Words | 4 Pages

(Myers 58). It proves he is a good person. It's like two people can go together and save people at night time or day time. This made him a good person, because he is talking to his brother and having fun talking about things and he doesn’t wanna break a bond between his brother and him so he cares for him so much. This made him a good person once again, because he loves his family so much and he probably never wants to lose them, he seems like he would never do a crime because he is so nice.

Read More
975 Words | 4 Pages

Even though Danny hates it as well, he accepts it, but Reuven is furious at Reb Saunders for torturing his son even further. He believes that the silence is not only destroying his relationship with Danny, but also Danny’s soul. When Reuven speaks with Reb Saunders again on Saturdays, Saunders does not say anything about the two year ban between the two boys, which Reuven finds frustrating and weird. Reuven did however learn a lot about silence in these two years, as he never thought silence could be so full.

Read More
505 Words | 3 Pages

It was with this lack of sympathy of being psychopath that he was able to devise such an awful event and convince his weak minded friend to join him. These two troubled boys clicked so well because they fed off each

Read More
590 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the story, I also never felt as though I specifically related to Jeremy’s character. Jeremey seemed mentally weak to

Read More
683 Words | 3 Pages

John’s sister Karen stated that the siblings had learned to “toughen up” against the beatings, and that John wouldn’t cry anymore. John didn’t just have a hard time at home, but school as well. John suffered from a congenital heart condition that kept him from playing sports. This led to

Read More
228 Words | 1 Pages

At the end of the story, Reb Saunders finally revealed the motives behind his harsh actions, showing that he was truly a complex, multifaceted character. Reb Saunders seemed to have a limited, parochial perspective, but, in fact, it was really Reuven’s view of Reb Saunders that had been limited. To everyone’s surprise, Reb Saunders was not enraged by Danny’s decision of not becoming a rabbi, and even confessed that he had already known of Danny’s feelings for quite a while. He explained that his silence toward Danny, which Reuven assumed to be reflecting a lack of love, reflected just the opposite. He stated his silence as a rather selfless act to give his son emotion and compassion, respect and empathy for others, and an awareness of the suffering

Read More
1576 Words | 7 Pages

Tile A 13 year old girl snuck out in the middle of the night to meet up with friends she had met on an online game called Roblox but was pronounced missing by her family the next day. For instance, in the video When Kids Get Life produced by Ofra Bikel stresses that Life without parole sends a message that you are not worthy of rehabilitation. Juveniles cannot be tried with the same standard as adults, the reason behind this is that juveniles do not have the same amount of time and experience living as an adult who would have committed a crime would have. The justice system thinks it is unfair and unconstitutional to give a child life in a sentence because a child’s brain has not fully developed as for the adult they all have no leniency towards them.

Read More
1287 Words | 6 Pages

The main character showed his respect, he proved he cared deeply about K., so it is now time for the main character to live the rest of his life, which is already halfway gone, and forgive himself for failing to save K.. If K. really was the kind boy he was described to be he would have wanted the main character to forgive himself, like depicted on page 143: “surely K. had not been looking at me with hatred or resentment; he had not been me with: that, too, could have been an accident of angle or light and shadow, not a conscious act on K.’s part. He had probably already lost consciousness, or perhaps he had been giving me a gentle smile of eternal

Read More
235 Words | 1 Pages

“It’s funny how one little thing can change your perspective on everything.” For young Gary Soto, that one thing was a guacamole-colored jacket. In the memoir, “The Jacket,” author Gary Soto conveys the message of his insecurity, his poverty, and his ultimate self destruction through the use of figurative language. Soto’s clever use of personification, metaphors, and similes clearly illustrates the message that the way you dress influences how you feel about yourself. To emphasize, Gary Soto uses descriptive language to reveal his secret insecurity about his jacket.

Read More

More about A Little Life By Hanya Yanagihara

Open Document