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"The Sweet Hereafter" by Russell Banks is a fictional novel based on a real life tragedy. The story is about a community coping with the loss of almost all of its children after the towns school bus is involved in an accident in which most of them die. The accident occurs on a treacherous winding highway when the driver loses control of the school bus and it plunges down an embankment into an ice covered sandpit. The novel is unique in the way that it is written because it's story is told 4 different ways, from 4 different characters, each one filling you in just a little more on their perspective of what really happened. One of these characters is Mitchell Stephens. He is a lawyer from New York City with an undeniable past. He is a compelling character with an interesting story.
Originally when he is mentioned in this story he is shown to be "the ultimate top-dollar ambulance chaser" trying to make a living off others pain. It's assumed that he is amoral and cold-hearted. Yet, as the story progresses it gets more and more difficult to see him in this manner. He actually turns out to be a deeply compassionate presence in this novel and in the lives of those dealing with loss in the town of Sam Dent. It turns out that he comes to the town just as the other lawyers (having heard about the accident) looking for clients, but eventually starts to grow fond of the sleepy town and its people. The town slowly alters his involvement in the case as he befriends those he is representing. He even volunteers his legal advice to people, such as Risa Walker on divorce proceedings, after the case falls through. He also helps support the Walker's hotel by keeping a room there even when he is not in Sam Dent. His style of dress also changes fro...
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Mitchell Stephens is fighting this case with everything he's got because he wants to give the people of Sam Dent something he himself may never have, closure. There is more to him then just his obvious outer sly appearance. He uses all of his professional skills to inspire his clients, whom he cares about, with moral vengeance and visions of huge monetary settlements. At first the community seems to fall apart after the accident but in the end it is shown to be just as strong as it was before, gaining its own sense of closure even though it lost the case. In a sense the town needed Mitchell Stephens to make them realize that sometimes things just happen without reason and having a sense of community is the only way to get through tough times. This whole ordeal reminded Sam Dent's residents that they are part of a "permanent lifelong community."
In Dean Koontz’s book Odd Thomas a young man’s life is laid bare before us. The book’s protagonist is a 20 year old named Odd Thomas. Odd is fry cook at a diner, in a small town in California called Pico Mundo. His life is described as pretty normal except Odd has the ability to see dead people. More importantly he not only sees dead people but he is given this ability to seemingly help dead people right the wrongs in their lives. The book is written in first person and it gives Odd’s account of a major event that happened in August, in the sleepy town of Pico Mundo. Through his recount and back story, we see not only what happens but the protagonist’s thoughts and feelings. Koontz’s book, Odd Thomas, uses in story influences to provide convincing characterization for a well-rounded main character that has had an interesting life.
Wasserstrom considers a few options with in his discussion concerning a multitude of aspects faced by lawyers. "The lawyer's situation is different from that of other professionals. The lawyer is vulnerable to some moral criticism that does not as readily or as easily attach to any other professional." Thi...
Emily Heiderberg never imagined anything bad would happen to her. In the novel, Begotten by W. James Richardson, she will learn to be forgiving and she teaches the people around her the same thing. There are many stories involved and they all started with the tragic incident that happened to Emily when she was at a family outing. An unforseen incident that would change the lives of the Heiderberg family, as well as the whole town of Detroit.
He is a man in his forties from the town of Beverly. After his experience with a mother
many of the cases he has taken on, and the people he has represented. One story he focuses on in
The story is about the childhood of one of the most famous American writer, Mark Twain, who is also known as the name Sammy. At the beginning of the story, Sammy was with his family on the trip from Salt River to Florida for making a house-rising. It was really a big work picnic. The women took along great baskets of food while the men rolled logs and built the new house. On the following days, his mom brought her children to Uncle John’s store for buying new clothes. Sammy seemed disappointed with the dark calico his mom chose. Therefore, he began to cry and forced her to choose the bright striped fabric. Finally, they showed up in the party as a handsomest and brightest of all as his mom agreed with him. On the way, Clemens’ family had new members which was the new kittens. Sammy and Margaret chose to give them Bible names “here’s Peter and there’s Paul”, “this one is Simon”, “that one over there shall be called Methuselah, who live so long”. While crossing the river in the steam boat. Sammy was really angry because the bad treatments of the slave owners to their own slaves. Sammy reached Bear Creek after that. Unfortunately, he fell to the river while trying to shoot a frog. As luck would have it, some slave boys in a boat came by before Sammy fell back into the river and save him. They soon became friends together and enjoyed talking together. Sammy didn’t have good day at school he was spanked by his teacher. Therefore his mother decided never send him to Mrs. Horr’s school again. In summer, Sammy was sent to Uncle John to live. He learn a lot during summer through Bible stories that Aunt Hanna told him every night. The Clemens’ new house was now finished. Sammy also had a new beautiful new neighbor, Laura, who dreamed to be ...
While Herman Melville’s lawyer in "Bartleby, the Scrivener" appears to have undergone a significant change in character by the story’s completion, the fact remains that the story is told through (the lawyer’s) first-person point-of-view. This choice of narration allows the lawyer not only to mislead the reader, but also to color himself as lawful and just. In the lawyer’s estimate, the reader is to view him as having not only made an effort to "save" Bartleby, but as a man who has himself changed for the good, ethically speaking. What the lawyer fails to acknowledge in his retelling of events is his inability to communicate with Bartleby not because of Bartleby’s shortcomings, but because of his own. The lawyer’s perception of "man" is tainted, for he does not view people as individuals, but as tools -- as possessing a usefulness and/or function. He is not attempting to reach the soul of a man; rather, he is attempting to exploit the use of a machine.
The lawyer, although an active member of society, alienates himself by forming walls from his own egotistical and materialistic character. The lawyer asserts, "All who know me consider me an eminently safe man" (Melville 131). The narrator is a very methodical and prudent man and has learned patience by working with others, such as Turkey, Ginger Nut, and Nippers. However, the lawyer's constant concern with his own self-approval cheapens his benevolence toward Bartleby. In fact, the lawyer is not able to see the desperate plight of Bartleby due to his unwavering concern of what the scrivener can do for the lawyer's self-approval instead of what he can do for Bartleby. In this sense, the lawyer's "wall" is a sort of safety net for his own ego. He does not allow Bartleby's irrationality to affect him because he does not believe that such a thing exists or matters. His materialistic sense does not acknowledge Bartleby's mental p...
A character named Jefferson, an African American male, is wrongly accused when he is in the wrong place at the time during a shoot-out between two African American men and a storeowner. During the shoot-out the storeowner and both men were shot and killed, Jefferson in shock stays at the scene of the crime until authorities arrived and arrested and tried Jefferson for murder. Jefferson being found guilty and compared to a hog fills him with hate and anger. Jefferson has an aunt that reaches out to a creditable teacher at a local school named Grant; she gets Grant to help Jefferson find a purpose. Grant helps Jefferson find a sense of dignity, although it took some time he was successful. Grant later focuses his time and energy on the importance of Jefferson’s death and tries to explain it to him. Jefferson doesn’t really understand it until members of the community come to visit him; young children, old men, strangers, friends, all come to see Jefferson in his cell and speak to him. The onslaught of attention makes Jefferson begin to understand the enormity of his task. He now realizes that he has become much more than an ordinary man and that his death will represent much more than an ordinary death. Gaines emphasizes the worth and dignity of everyday heroes like Jefferson; just as Christ did during his
The victim is nineteen year old Khadijah Stewart. Stewart had grown up in the south side of Richmond, Virginia (a high crime area) where she met a boy named Tommie. Both were in middle school but Tommie soon got arrested for robberies and gun charges, he was sentenced to life as a juvenile. As time goes on Stewart forms a history of dating bad boys. The main on and off again boyfriend throughout her high school years was a young man named Lionel. In High school Stewart is skipping school to hang out Lionel and his gang members. Afraid how the streets could impact Stewart, the mother moves the family to Chesterfield County, a successful middle class suburbs, to create new life. As her life is changing for the better her heart longs to maintain
'Lawyers are all right, I guess - but it doesn't appeal to me,' I said. 'I mean they're all right if they go around saving innocent guys' lives all the time, and like that, but you don't do that kind of stuff if you're a lawyer. All you do is make a lot of dough and play golf and play bridge and buy cars and drink Martinis and look like a hot-shot. How would you know you weren't being a phony? The trouble is, you wouldn't' (Salinger 172).
...hose this story for the shear fact that I saw a lot of the same emotions and happenings in my life, but also a lot of unfortunate mistakes on the characters part which made me scratch my head and wonder. "How can you be so stupid and in denial of how one event leads to another, and to see how careless your actions are?" The story closes with Sammy coming to the realization of how his life will change, "My stomach fell as I felt how hard the world was going to be to me here-after." To one reading the story that was Sammy coming to terms with his rash actions awhile fully understanding the consequences.
Death is one of life’s most mysterious occurrences. It is sometimes difficult to comprehend why an innocent young child has to die, and a murderer is released from prison and gets a second chance at life. There is no simple explanation for this. Though, perhaps the best, would be the theological perspective that God has a prewritten destiny for every man and woman. In J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye Holden often finds himself questioning his faith and pondering why an innocent adolescent like his brother Allie has to die. By the close of the novel Holden learns to accept not only death but life as well.
One of the main symbols of the story is the setting. It takes place in a normal small town on a nice summer day. "The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day; the flowers were blooming profusely and the grass was richly green." (Jackson 347).This tricks the reader into a disturbingly unaware state,
Starting off as a criminal defense attorney himself, John Grisham had a very valuable grasp of law before writing the novel. When writing his books, he likes to make lawyers the major characters (“GJ”). John Grisham can connect his real life