True Acceptance In Kenneth Oppel's Half Brother

“Happiness can exist only in acceptance.” -George Orwell. The novel Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel explores the meaning of true acceptance. True acceptance occurs when an individual can meet change with optimism and face both the positive and negative impacts. This idea is presented throughout the novel and it is also a prominent theme that Kenneth Oppel was trying to convey. It is first evident in Zan’s arrival into Ben’s family and Ben’s original disdain for him. Next, this theme is shown as Ben struggles to adapt to his new neighbourhood and school. Lastly, it is then touched on once more when Ben has to face Zan’s departure from the family. Firstly, Zan’s arrival to the family was not initially welcomed by Ben, he was not interested in

Ben had to accept that his family was no longer able to provide to all of Zan’s needs, and had to find Zan another home. Upon hearing the news that the Project Zan funding had been cut, Ben begins going through the stages of denial. He spends a long time in denial and becomes angry at his father, “You couldn’t send him away just because the experiment was over.” (Oppel 169). Ben’s father had always been distant towards Zan, as he had considered Zan to be more of an experiment than a member of the family. When he moves on to bargaining, he tries to think of alternatives that would allow him to support Zan. For example, Ben considers fund-raising, even casting Zan in commercials; this, however, does not work. When Zan gets sold by the university to a primate institute, he comes face-to-face with the fourth stage of grief, depression “He’d just left my little brother in a cage.” (Oppel 294). During this time, he also hits a rough patch in his social life, which involved him losing close friends. Finally, Ben reaches acceptance after facing many ordeals, which involved stealing Zan, fund-raising to buy Zan back, and most importantly, finding a sanctuary to send Zan to. When Ben visits Zan at the sanctuary the acceptance strengthens because he realizes that Zan is happy, “A house can’t hold me, he said. I’m going to get a lot bigger and a lot stronger. Probably smelly. I’m pretty rambunctious too.” (Oppel 375). Ben realizes that distance does not affect the love that he has for Zan and happily accepts that, “He made the B sign over my heart. He did it twice.” (Oppel