As Famous NBA star Michael Jordan once said “Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it or work around it” (Redsnapper-Lanta) This precise thing happens in both The Odyssey and “The Cruelest Journey” when Odysseus is on his way home and he has to fight river monsters and when Salak hurts her arm and has to fight the epic waves. The authors use imagery and detail to show show that people embark upon quests to accomplish a goal and that to achieve these goals one must face senseless obstacles and challenges.
In The Odyssey the main character Odysseus loses shipmates to a Cyclops. Odysseus was the main reason the Greeks beat the Trojans in the Trojan War and due to this he became arrogant and believed he was a step above the world. This sort of arrogant demeanor is what caused his friends death and nearly took his own too. He saw his companions faces “turn to grief tallying those who had not fled from death.” (Homer 09. 382-383) He took battles that could have been avoided but were necessary in his return home. Odysseus has to fight with losing his shipmates which of course has an effect on him but then he also has to battle with the internal battle of
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She nearly finishes her expedition when she gets stuck and instead of taking no for an answer she exits the raft and winds up putting her feet “into river mud filled with sharp rocks that cut instantly” (Salak. 179-180)and again instead of taking a step back and just giving up she powers through, Now is she naive for causing more pain to be done to her or is she persistent for not only taking on the challenge of getting stuck but then getting over the fact of her feet being shredded apart? But just like Odysseus she powers through any obstacle that is thrown at her to achieve her