Ways Of Hope Essay

“And sore must be the storm / That could abash the little Bird / That kept so many warm”(Dickinson, 6-9). Hope is a powerful thing that can affect people 's life. This is is shown in movies and books like Of Mice and Men (OMAM) by John Steinbeck, Secret Life of Walter Mitty (SLOWM) directed by Ben Stiller, and War Dance by Sean Fine. Hopes, dreams, and goals allow people to get through any trouble in life and better themselves so they can achieve personal happiness. This is shown by Lennie’s dreams in OMAM. It is also shown by the children’s commitment to music in War Dance, and Walter Mitty’s change of heart in SLOWM. In John Steinbeck 's OMAM, hope is very important to the characters, especially Lennie. Lennie’s hope and dream to have a farm with rabbits helps him to keep going and not cause trouble where he is. In the article The Will and Ways of Hope, Scott Barry writes “... people with hope have both the will and the pathways and strategies necessary to achieve their goals”(Barry, 2). Because of hope, Lennie was able to deal with anything thrown at him and he kept that determination and hope until the end, and was happy. Hope is a big part of OMAM, but that novella isn’t the only story of hope.

In the documentary War Dance, Hope is a huge part of the children’s life and helped them achieve their goal to go to the national music competition. Hope helped children in a refugee village keep practicing their music for their goal even when their situation seemed bleak. In Joe Wilner’s article How We Lose Hope and How to Get it Back, he writes, “Hope is a crucial part of dealing with life’s problems and maintaining resilience”(Wilner, 1). This shows that hope allowed the children to get through life in Uganda and brought them happiness. Hope can give happiness to people in the most bleak situation, but can it help someone who’s hopeless on