The use of children in the Sierra Leone Civil War was widespread, with up to 10,000 children taking part in the conflict and up to eighty percent of RUF forces between the ages of seven and fourteen. Ishmael is one of these children. In his memoir, A Long Way Gone, Lieutenant Jabati and his men exploit several techniques to transform these frightened children into ruthless killing machines. They do this through the use of drugs, pop culture, as well as character and emotional manipulation. Tactics like these create habits and addictions that are almost impossible to break.
How can challenges change people throughout their lives? Challenges shape people in many different ways, whether it be for good or bad. The effects of these challenges make people who we are, and shapes the characters found in stories and novels. The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor showcases change in characters through Alyss Heart, a young princess in Wonderland. Beddor uses these conflicts to convey how Alyss changes as a character throughout the novel.
Thanhha Lai wrote a heart-wrenching novel, Inside Out & Back Again, that conveys the difficulties of refugees escaping the Vietnam War. Ha is a ten-year old refugee girl fleeing from the Vietnam War and Communist rule. Consequently, Ha’s life twists inside out in the areas of intelligence and religion, but she manages to find her way back again. Intelligence is one challenge that Ha faces as she assimilates into American culture. While in Vietnam, Ha boasts, “Now I am ten, learning to embroider circular stitches, to calculate fractions into percentages” (2), which reveals Ha is confident in her knowledge; ergo she is confident in herself.
Survival “True friendship is like phosphorescence- it glows best when the world around you goes dark”-Denis Martin. The Vilkas family, including 15-year-old Lena Vilkas, her 10-year-old brother Jonas and their mother Elena, have been rounded up out of their home and charged as criminals by the NKVD, the secret police for the Soviet Union, they were taken to a train station for transporting. This is where they are all put into train cars, and this is where the fight for survival begins. Now, they all have to work together to stay alive and get through this dark time. In the book Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys, Sepetys suggests, when going through tough times it helps to have good relationships to help get through it.
In the novel Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, main character Billie Jo faces several challenging obstacles throughout her lifetime. Getting through these obstacles is the only way Billie Jo can learn to forgive her father as well as herself for their mistakes. Once she learns to stop feeling resentful, and let go, Billie Jo will be able to grow up. The first major challenge Billie Jo faces is when a fire breaks out in her home. The fire ignites when Billie Jo’s mother mistakes a pail of kerosene for water, where,“instead of making coffee, Ma [makes] a rope of fire”(87).
"Foolish woman. Don’t you realize this is just the beginning? We have a chance now to die with dignity." ( 16 )Lithuanian's were taken from their homes with no explanation, treated poorly, and accused of being bad people. Through their journey from Lithuania to Siberia where they are starved and put to work in working camps.
The support of friends and family can help contribute to a character's ability to overcome difficulties. In The One Safe Place by Tania Unsworth, Devin was able to overcome his problems with the help of his friends and family. Devin's grandfather helps Devin overcome his difficulties throughout the story. At the beginning of the book, Devin was struggling to take care of the farm on his own when his grandfather died and remembered his grandfather once said: "' You'll go there someday too, Dev.' His grandfather had told him 'When you're ready to leave.'"
The protagonist of the book Between Shades of Gray, Lina, changed in many different ways by the time that the book was finished. She was convinced that she was worth less than an animal, she was forced by the Secret Soviets to work, and was given very little food, she found out the reason why she was forced into these work camps. These three things impacted Lina and changed her. She would never be the same thanks to these daunting moments in her life. Growing up, Lina lived a privileged life.
What is a good representation of a southern male? Well, Cormac McCarthy, Ernest J. Gaines, Richard Wright, and William Faulkner have similarities and differences when depicting these complicated southern boys and men. The authors described varying male characters who have traits from loyal, amiable, proud, independent, moral, uncivil, abusive, ruthless, and driven. In Cormac McCarthy’s The Orchard Keeper, John Wesley is southern mountain boy.
In “Family Structure: The Growing Importance of Class” from the Washington Monthly, Senior Fellow in Economic studies Isabel V. Sawhill makes a comparison and contrast between blacks and whites from the 1960s to today, describing how both white and black families have changed over time through the factors such as gender roles, single-parent families, race, and class. In the beginning of Sawhill’s essay, she shows the similarities between what happened to black Americans in the early 1960s and what is happening now to the white Americans and how it is not just race that affects family structure, but class as well. She then proceeds to explain how a job and education can affect a marriage. Jobs require higher level of education, which leave
Ha’s life has turned inside out and back again. Ha’s life has turned inside out because she had been forced out of her home in Saigon due to war. Her life has also turned back again because she is settling into Alabama and starting to be smart again. Along her journey she faces many challenges because of language and other people not being friendly and welcoming to her. The book Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai is about a girl named Ha that is a refugee from the city of Saigon in Vietnam.
“The Yellow Wallpaper” gives insight into the life of a mental illness patient. Unfortunally, her husband is her doctor. John, the husband, is not the main protagonist, but plays a significant role in the story of “The Yellow Wallpaper”. “The Yellow Wallpaper”, is told from the first person’s perspective of the narrator. Therefore, the reader is only able to observe John from the perspective of the narrator and the only way the reader can learn about John is through the narrator’s interpretations of his actions.
Where the Wild Things are by Maurice Sendak is an interesting children’s picture book. The main character is a little boy named Max, who has a wild imagination. He uses all five senses as well as thought and his actions to express his personality as well as how he reacts and interacts with his surroundings. Max’s id, ego and super-ego are greatly shown in this book through the way that the author has portrayed him. Not only is this book a children’s story, but it can also be perceived as a life lesson.
“Two Kinds,” by Amy Tan, essentially revolves around the struggle of Jing Mei and her constant conflict with her mother. Throughout her life, she is forced into living a life that is not hers, but rather her mom’s vision of a perfect child; because her mother lost everything, which included her parents and kids, so her only hope was through Jing Mei. Jing Mei’s mom watches TV shows such as the Ed Sullivan Show, which gives her inspiration that her daughter should be like the people and actors. First her mom saw how on the television a three-year-old boy can name all the capitals of the states and foreign countries and would even pronounce it correctly. Her mom would quiz Jing Mei on capitals of certain places, only to discover that
The novel Day After Day by Carlo Lucarelli is the followup to his previously successful novel Almost Blue. The story was published in Italy in the year 2000 with the title Un giorno dopo l’altro. Later on, the story was published in Great Britain in 2004 by the Harvill Press. Day After Day and Almost Blue share the same type of psychological tension, gracefully drawn characters and thrilling story that make these novels popular. Day After Day starts off at a somewhat slow pace, but becomes incredibly exciting and action packed as you progress throughout the story.
