Overcoming Hardships
Nearly every person experiences loss at one point in time. Many stories demonstrate how people overcome challenges. One of the main topics of hardships in books is the concept of death. The end of life is not easy to deal with, but with help from God individuals can overcome casualties. The Bible says “Who in the days of his flesh, had offered up prayers and supplication with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save him from death.”(Hebrews 5:7). This verse states that only God can save someone from the end of one’s life. The characters in the three short stories; “Gwilan’s Harp” by Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Washwoman” by Isaac Singer, and “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry, all experienced lost at one point.
In “Gwilan’s Harp” by Ursula K. LeGuin the protagonist, Gwilan, faces lost many times throughout the story. A broken wrist, one of the challenges Gwilan confronted, prevented her from playing her harp, a talent Gwilan had. The death of Torm, Gwilan’s husband, helped Gwilan find her identity and her new gift. This particular hardship demonstrates how Gwilan responded to the loss of her husband. Gwilan also stayed right beside Torm as he died. “He went from a cough to a high fever to quietness, and died while Gwilan sat beside him” (LeGuin). Gwilan overall overcame these challenges and figured out a little more about
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Although this loss did not occur to any members of the Jewish family, the casualty did harm the family. The loss happened to the washwoman who worked for the Jewish family. In the story the washwoman did a fantastic job at cleaning the laundry. “My mother had never been so pleased with any washwoman. Every piece of linen sparkled like polished silver” (Singer). After the death of the washwoman, the Jewish family was left with no one to do their laundry. The narrator, the son of the Jewish family, will not forget the honest work the woman