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Effects of emotional trauma on children essay
The psychosocial effects of trauma on children
Effects of emotional trauma on children essay
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As humans develop, surpass infancy, and take on adult hood, our state of mind is created by a driving force of independence within each and every one of us. In Bryce Courtney’s novel, “The Power of One”, an evolving six year old Peekay is portrayed as he finds his inner flame of independence within himself in the 1940’s of Africa. As Peekay is in early development as a six year old child, his search for independence is crafted by loyal friendships, aspiring goals, as well as tragic loss.
In The Power of One, Peekay has a subconscious sense of isolation and intangible independency where his need to develop relationships is overdue. With this overpowering sense of solitude, Peekay remains cautious in who he pursues relationships with. Although limited, the positive relationships Peekay does decide to pursue, proves to be greater than ever imagined. Early in Courtney’s novel, Peekay initiates his first personal relationship outside of his immediate family with nothing more than a chicken. Starting off small, Peekay’s first relationship with his chicken friend, Granpa Chook, turns out to be a success. “The toughest damn chicken in the world tossed his head and gave me a beady wink. How could you go wrong with a friend like him at your side?” (Courtney, 22). This friendship is the first of which proves to be the foundation for shaping personal relationships with others as well as sparking the fire for the soon to be burning flame of independence within Peekay. In parallel situations, Peekay fosters another friendship which gives him the initial, and final direction of his life. His new companion, Hoppie Groenwald, proceeds to give Peekay motivation for the rest of his life. “Hoppie’s words were like seed pods with wings. They flew str...
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...rms with the death, he moves on in his life, with one very special friend, less. Parallel to his second friend ever, unfortunately Peekay found himself alone after Hoppie Groenwald passed through his life like a train passing in the night.
“I was distressed at having left the best friend after Granpa Chook and Nanny that I had ever had, without so much as a good-bye. Hoppie had briefly passed through my life, like a train passing in the night. I had known him a little over 24-hours, yet he had managed to change my life.” (Courtney, 103).
Peekay’s sense of loss at the age of 6 already makes him more experienced with grief and loss then the majority of people today.
In conclusion, a series of loyal friendships, aspiring goals, and tragic loss, throughout Peekay’s childhood, gave him the experience in order to find and light the flame of the power of one within him.
Water, like age, continues without stopping until reaching an obstacle which ends the flow completely. In The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay, Peekay, the protagonist and narrator, retells his life story starting at age five. Courtenay separates Peekay’s life into three sections divided by books, representing childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Each section of his journey corresponds to a cascade in the waterfall mind trick revealing that waterfalls are a metaphor for his own life, ultimately suggesting that his life and the mind trick end together.
...the future to see that his life is not ruined by acts of immaturity. And, in “Araby”, we encounter another young man facing a crisis of the spirit who attempts to find a very limiting connection between his religious and his physical and emotional passions. In all of these stories, we encounter boys in the cusp of burgeoning manhood. What we are left with, in each, is the understanding that even if they can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, we can. These stories bind all of us together in their universal messages…youth is something we get over, eventually, and in our own ways, but we cannot help get over it.
Knowles’ moving novel, A Separate Peace, reveals many alarming features of adolescence, and human nature. Knowles shows that humans will naturally develop an enemy, and will fight them. The main character Gene develops a resentful hatred, which leads to his friend Finny’s untimely death. A liberal humanistic critique reveals that the novel has a self contained meaning, expresses the enhancement of life, and shows that human nature is unchanging.
Dave Pelzer has shown admirable character for surviving a horrendous childhood and also for becoming a man that strives to please his family and works for the betterment of society. His clear and concise writing style in this novel provides us with a child’s viewpoint, which makes the book more emotional then it possibly could be. With the use of metaphors Dave Pelzer establishes the claim that the human spirit has the capability to fight back regardless of the condition that it is in. This story should be a source of inspiration and motivation for those who believe that all hope is lost.
Children have often been viewed as innocent and innocent may be a nicer way to call children naive. Since children’s lives are so worry free they lack the knowledge of how to transition from being a child to becoming an adolescent. Their lack of knowledge may be a large part of their difficulties growing up, which could be a few rough years for many. In books like the boy in the striped pajamas the story is told from the point of view of a little boy, this way we get a full view of how innocent he is. In this book the writer shows the reader first hand how a child viewed the holocaust and how his innocence cost him his life. Then in books like the perks of being a wallflower Charlie is a teen whom is struggling with the transition from being a child to becoming an adolescent. In this book the writer gives a first hand look at how difficult it can be to transition into an adolescent. Charlie has many difficulties in this book; he is in search of his identity and how to fit in.
The powerlessness of children compared to the seemingly unjust whims of adults is captured perfectly at the end of the first book, The Name of This Book is Secret. After Cass and Max-Earnest have risked their lives to save fellow student Benjamin Blake, they face their school principal.
The novel says a great deal about humanity. It covers global topics that many if not most teenagers and even adults deal with every day. This novel represents for most of humanity, even in the face of feeling lost, or suffering grief, that there is always “hope” and personal resiliency, and a way to move on a forward. Even if we are searching for a greater meaning in life, and determining our personal beliefs of religion, that you can still celebrates someone’s life, no matter how short or long a life they live. Even if it is “prank” to commemorate someone’s life. We can always take something good away from the interactions of those that impact our life. You define who you are, but can find love, enlightenment, joy, sorrow and resiliency from the friends that become family.
...hip is still alive. As readers, we get a sense that there is power in these memories. It becomes relevant to the readers’ lives because the way he depicts it, we are able to relate it to every aspect of our lives. For example, a loved one need not to pass away to be considered as a “loss,” one may lose a friend for whatever reason or end a relationship with his or her significant other. In every case, even when it seems as if we’ve lost someone forever, we find that there is still something to hold onto, something to nurture us, something that is almost better than memory. Bonanno believes that resilient people are essentially less expected than others to use evasion and distraction as coping approaches. In sum, Bonanno argues that resilient people are less prone to avoid thinking about the loss, or to intentionally occupy their minds to evade confronting the agony.
...the narrator and all people a way of finding meaning in their pains and joys. The two brothers again can live in brotherhood and harmony.
For instance the description that the brain was, “pop-pop-popping “portrays the sensation that the brain is plastic; hence, it can be expanded through knowledge and perseverance. Also, the author cleverly uses the phrase, “I never knew a poet person” to emphasize lack of knowledge leads to false perceptions of reality. Jack uses the absolute word “Never” to describe his feeling. If one never thinks about the endless possibilities of success, then they will become their own culprit. The articulate, yet simple language of the author adds rich content to the story making it more relatable to all age groups. The novel instills the value of hope in readers. It encourages readers not to fear the unknown. Indeed with a growth mindset, one can beat the odds and live a meaningful
In John Connolly’s novel, The Book of Lost Things, he writes, “for in every adult there dwells the child that was, and in every child there lies the adult that will be”. Does one’s childhood truly have an effect on the person one someday becomes? In Jeannette Walls’ memoir The Glass Castle and Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner, this question is tackled through the recounting of Jeannette and Amir’s childhoods from the perspectives of their older, more developed selves. In the novels, an emphasis is placed on the dynamics of the relationships Jeannette and Amir have with their fathers while growing up, and the effects that these relations have on the people they each become. The environment to which they are both exposed as children is also described, and proves to have an influence on the characteristics of Jeannette and Amir’s adult personalities. Finally, through the journeys of other people in Jeannette and Amir’s lives, it is demonstrated that the sustainment of traumatic experiences as a child also has a large influence on the development of one’s character while become an adult. Therefore, through the analysis of the effects of these factors on various characters’ development, it is proven that the experiences and realities that one endures as a child ultimately shape one’s identity in the future.
... age of Gene Forrester. Because Finny causes Gene to grow up, we are able to realize that one must grow up to move on in life. In that process of growing up, several people impact your life. This novel shows us how our identity is basically created by those who are present in our lives; however we must not measure our abilities against another person (Overview: A Separate Peace 2). We are shown how the impact of one person can make a great difference. The goodness in people is what one should always take away from a relationship. This is shown in the relationship between Gene and Finny. The experiences Finny gives Gene cause him to grow up and become a better person because of them.
The influence family members can have on the development of a child is enormous; they can either mold a healthy mind or drive a child toward darkness. Jennifer Egan’s Safari is a short story that highlights the different relationships in a family with a complicated background. Rolph and Charlie come from a divorced household and join their father, Lou, and his new girlfriend, Mindy, on an African safari. As the events of the trip unfold, Lou’s children experience a coming of age in which they lose the innocence they once possessed. The significant impact of family dynamic on children’s transition into adulthood is presented in Safari. Jennifer Egan uses Mindy’s structural classifications of Charlie and Rolph to demonstrate how Lou and Mindy’s relationship hinders the maturation of the two kids.
All in all, Chris McCandless is a contradictory idealist. He was motivated by his charity but so cruel to his parents and friends. He redefined the implication of life, but ended his life in a lonely bus because of starvation, which he was always fighting against. Nevertheless, Chris and the readers all understand that “happiness only real when shared.” (129; chap.18) Maybe it’s paramount to the people who are now alive.
Diverse from other African authors of his time, Chinua Achebe, the “father of African Literature”, reconstructions the stigma surrounding traditional African tribes through his ground-breaking novel Things Fall Apart. Set in southern eastern Nigeria, the novel depicts village life through the eyes of Igbo clan members prior to colonization. This fresh take on perspective allows readers to view and examine the variety of individuals that mold Igbo life through the story of a village leader, Okonkwo. Contrasting other authors of his time, Achebe takes great measures to illustrate the varied substantial roles of not only men, but women in his novel Things Fall Apart. The contributions accompanied by pivotal roles in Igbo society are displayed