Overcoming Obstacles In So Far From The Bamboo Grove

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Obstacles can be challenging, and difficult, but people can overcome them by never giving up, always trying their best, and surrounding themselves with families and friends. Two stories that I have read that show adversity are “A Work in Progress” by Aimee Mullins which is about a little girl losing her leg. The other story I read is “So Far From the Bamboo Grove” by Yoko Kawashima Watkins about a little girl that has to leave her home because of war and has very big obstacles to overcome. Aimee Mullins and the Kawashimas both face obstacles that include losing family members, walking very far in intense weather, and people doubting you and trying to stop you. In the end they all make it through the the challenges mentally and physically.

There was a bunch of challenges that Aimee Mullins faced but one of them was her teacher. The teacher tries to stop Aimee from returning to class by saying that she would be a distraction to the other students in the class. Aimee Mullins sas, “But my teacher had a different idea about that. She tried to prevent me from returning to class … and said that I would be a distraction to the other students.” (para. 5)She has to overcome the obstacle of being different and being stopped. She gets over it because she knows that being …show more content…

Their mother got sick when she went up north to their grandparents’ house. When she came back to Kyoto she went onto a bench in the train station and she started to die, and then she died. Yoko writes, “Mother had slipped to one side, and her right arm dropped, and she was still. … The doctor had come, to pronounce mother dead.” (pg. 122) This is a big challenge for Yoko especially because she has depended on her mother her whole life and it is still a challenge for Ko as well because she has to take care of herself and Yoko now. Also now they only have each other because they don’t know anything about Hideyo or their