Age doesn’t define maturity. Older people are always believed to be more mature; however, this is only because they have had more life experiences. They have faced many situations in life, but there exist young people who have been through their fair share of hardships which turned their innocent skin into strong armor. In the book,”The Glass Castle,” a young girl named Jeanette Walls is brought into this world by a selfish mother and a low-life father.
[...] after the initial terror of being locked in a closet by his older brother [...]. " Being forced into isolation in a closet by his sibling instilled a sense of fear and trauma in Alex, which he then coped with by embracing isolation as a defence mechanism. It was this darkness in his isolation that he saw as a friend and led him to his
Each one has learned many lessons from their courses in life which established their personal morality. In particular, the author, Wes Moore, was driven by positive outcomes from his negative conditions resulting from him a successful person in his adulthood. As a result, the inspiring story of the author, Wes Moore, could be described in three themes: Peer, Parent, and Family Support; Loss and Redemption; and Decision Making.
By driving out despair, you will move away from death” (Wiesel 41). This anecdote from the memoir elucidates that even though times might be jarring, having faith can impact motivation. By including an example from the memoir, one can take away that without faith the impulse to live on can deteriorate. In the same way, the anecdote talks about how getting rid of despair can lead someone away from death. This all comes back to how faith is important in repudiating death.
Stuck somewhere between pessimistic and realistic, he finds himself back at that dreaded place once again attempting to go inside and look around for whoever claimed to be God. “Once on the porch he stopped again. Voices were clearly coming from inside. Mack rejected the impulse to run away...” (Young, 84).
Smith began to question why she lost faith and could no longer hear God’s voice like everyone else. Throughout her life Smith had been told that “One could sin without ever discovering what one had done or why it was wrong”(63), consequently, leaving her to wonder what sin she could have possibly committed to make God leave and take Roy with him. For Smith, “losing your faith in a world where God is all around you is a precarious business”(63). Smith looked for God when she needed him most but, he was nowhere to be found.
In an apocalyptic world, a man is searching for hope as he tries to protect his son. In the Bible, Abraham is left searching for faith as God commands him to kill his only son, Isaac. The man and Abraham are both searching for something that they do not possess and they both look to their children to find it. Cormac McCarthy in The Road tells a story of a man’s mental and physical journey as he travels south to protect his son, but along the way he encounters internal battles within himself and contemplates if there is enough hope to continue. Author Alan Noble argues in his essay that hope is the driving force for the man and boy’s survival, which we agree with.
Survival is started to feel unlikely. Throughout the story keeping faith alive or conceding was a constant battle due to these harsh conditions. From questioning the existence of God, to questioning the honesty of one another, and questioning whether they will make it to the south alive; the main characters struggle to keep faith alive. Being on the run and continuously having to watch your back from danger all over, results in a sense of weariness and hopelessness. In this story faith and doubt functions to exhibit the power and significance of each.
One single question that humans will wonder until they die, “Is God real”. This question seems to be answered for Mackenzie (Mack) Phillips in The Shack by William P. Young, a good friend of Mack’s. In this book Mack mysteriously receives a letter from someone he thinks is his father, who he doesn’t have a great relationship with, to a shack, where the last traces of Mack’s murdered daughter were found. Mack then has the most life changing experience ever and has his whole outlook on life flipped upside down :). In this journal I will be questioning, evaluating, and connecting.
In the two short stories, “Young Goodman Brown,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and “The Prodigal Son,” by St. Luke there is a parallel struggle of faith. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, “Young Goodman Brown” is a very dark tale of mystery and deceit that surrounds a young man’s test of true faith in his battle against the evil one. In the parable of “The Prodigal Son,” Christ gives the reader a picture of God’s unfailing love toward His children and His ever constant surrounding presence. Faith is tested in each of these stories and the choice becomes to either succumb to this evil world, turn to God, or perhaps something else altogether. Although each story differs in climactic endings, both protagonists in each story reflect the struggle of one’s very soul by their reluctance to fully submit to God.
This book follows the life of a 15-year-old Jewish boy named Elie as he experiences his life turned upside down due to his religious beliefs. For him to survive a period of pain and suffering, he needs to have faith, his father, and learn to adapt to his new surroundings. Firstly, Elie’s faith gives him hope and strength during the darkest moments of his imprisonment. It provides him with a sense of purpose and a reason to keep going, even when everything seems hopeless. In the novel, it states,
The author Michael Mason wrote about many memories of his life before the war. He wrote about his family, his father’s businesses, and their Shabbat traditions. He also mentions his friends and some troublesome adventures led by a boy named Joska. As a young child, he was happy and life was peaceful, but Mason recognized the antisemitism in his hometown.
Human History is riddled with mistakes, some learned from, others still present. In Mitch Albom’s novel The Five People you Meet in Heaven, passing away is not a transition into nirvana, it is alternatively a process of reflection in which mistakes throughout life are explored and forgiven. The reader is communicated that forgiveness is not about forgetting experiences and moving on, that it is not purposeful to lose memories in an effort to relinquish pain. Forgiving that which cannot be forgotten hosts a new way to remember, and introduces a new outlook on life. Understanding the faults in others develops one’s outlook regarding impending mistakes and their causes.
His parents catastrophes with sexual relations causes Alan to accomplice sex with crime and guilt. This is shown when Dysart, the psychologist, asked Alan’s parents if they have ever gave Alan the sex talk. Alans father replies “No not in so many words”. Alans mother replies “told him the biological facts”.(1:7:28) Alan was never taught the realism of sex and guilt and only saw it through the lenses of his parent.
This truely is a great escape for Alex and the tough task will eventually lead to his demise. The task indeed proved to be too much for this unprepared boy ready for his freedom from his life and the feeling of being held down. Figurative language in this novel can be small, but with it comes a far deeper meaning that adds to the powerful
