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The consequences of making wrong choices
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Why in the world did he just walk into that room? That’s a very common question, though locations may vary, that people ask themselves while watching a scary movie. The most frustrating part about it is seeing multiple characters walk into the hands of death, even though their gut instinct told them to run away. Though absurd, people often times shoot themselves in the feet. In Nicholson Baker’s short story Subsoil, the main character does exactly that. Nile T. Milner, an agricultural historian, suffered an unlikely death at the tubers of killer potatoes. Nile T. Milner’s inability to overcome his fear of confrontation, stemming from his reluctance to heed to his instincts, proved to be his major flaw, resulting in his tragic death which should …show more content…
In the face of an easy-fix, Milner “decided that for his visit…. stay someplace else,” instead of kindly asking the manager to not use the air freshener, which did fit his “preference for unflavored air” (533). At first glance it is easy to think of it as a nice gesture on his part, because his stated goal was not to hurt her or maker her regret her past actions. Really, though, that was clearly not the problem. Rather, he was afraid that by asking her not keep using air freshener, she would turn on him and lose interest in his research. Milner, soon after, is again unable to confront a seemingly irritated Bill Fipton. Milner was taken aback by “Bill, who had been quite friendly to Nyle on earlier visits,” who was acting as if he was feeling indignant on that particular visit (533). It is apparent that Milner does not recognize that the source of Fipton’s behavior was not his fault, and fails to inquire further into the matter. Fipton’s uneasiness stems from the subject of the Taits’, which seem to be formidable figures in the town. Milner’s reluctance to inquire further into the matter plays into his …show more content…
Milner consistently disregards warnings on the road like he did with Fipton’s parting words. Fipton’s warning was as clear as water, being that the parting advice was that Milner needed to “keep an eye open,” there because he had “heard some stories,” (534). Milner feared that digging deeper into the situation would cause him to have to option but to stay at the usual motel, which he did not want. Going against his instincts, Milner disregards Fipton’s advice. Similarly, Milner ignored the warning that Mrs. Tait’s dreadful aura gave off. He felt “no need to bring up matters of ménage with the somewhat intimidating Mrs. Tait” (535). It is undeniable that Milner fears Mrs. Tait, as he bluntly admits that she is intimidating. Furthermore, he belittles the situation to convince himself that it was not necessary to ask her for the location of the pillows. Any guest in a bed and breakfast would ask their host for such a trivial thing out of courtesy, but Milner did not because he feared Mrs. Tait. Milner, though obviously alarmed by her presence, takes no action that will make their paths cross. It wasn’t until too late that Milner started to realize that his instincts were on to
The climax of the story is when Miles is shot by the Bonewoman. The reader comes to realize that Miles’ choice to live life on the safe side was a mistake:
Drifters by Bruce Dawe This poem is about a family that’s always on the move, with no place to settle down for long, hence the poem was titled ‘Drifters’ to describe this family. ‘Drifters’ looks at the members of this family response to frequently change and how it has affected them. This poem is told in third person narration in a conversational tone. This gives the feeling as if someone who knows this family is telling the responder the situation of this family.
"In the novel Buried Onions by Gary Soto, illustrates the trials and tribulations of a young boy named Eddie in the rural town of. Fresno,California. The theme of this novel is that you can't escape your past. One has to learn to accept it is a part of who they are and then move toward the future. Eddie, a young Mexican American, fights to make something of himself in Fresno, California. Coming off the death of his father, his best friend, and his cousin, he must fight a constant battle against negative community influences such as guns, drugs, lack of opportunity, and cultural stereotypes. On the ruff streets of southeast Fresno, Eddie is just trying to get by. All he wants is to forget his violent past, find and hold down a job, and walk the right path,But after his cousin's murder, Eddie finds himself slowly drawn back into the cycle of violence and going against the scrim of a city sweltering in the grip of poverty, crime, and unfulfilled dreams, this is a story of a young man struggling to survive in a world spiraling out of control.
The novel, The Color of Water follows the author and narrator James McBride, and his mother Ruth’s life. It explores their childhood—when they were both embarrassed by their mothers—through the part of their lives where they began to accept themselves for who they are. Moreover, this memoir is quite distinctive as McBride cleverly parallels his story to his mother, Ruth’s story using dual narration. This technique further helps contribute to the theme of self-identity. Throughout the novel, McBride searches for identity and a sense of belonging that derives from his multiracial family. By using two different narrations, McBride gradually establishes his identity and by integrating both narratives at the end, McBride also shows that although both narrators at the beginning had different upbringings, in the end they came together, and understood each other’s perspective.
“Not giving a shit, she decided, is like the defrost option on a car's heater that miraculously unfogs the windshield, allowing you to see where you're headed” (Russo 7136).
Summary: Breathing Underwater is about an teenage boy at the age of 16 who is in love with his girlfriend, but does not really know how to treat her right. He claimed to have loved his girlfriend a lot and often did not listen to what he has to say about things and disagrees with her which causes him to get angry. One day he had gotten very angry and had slapped her, not knowing what had got into him he apologized for his behaviour and said never to do it again. But the day of the talent show he had told her not to sing because people would laugh at her and he did not want her to display herself up on stage singing to everyone. After the show had finished, anger and jealousy filled up inside of him causing to not know what he was doing, next thing he knew he was calling her names and throwing a fist at her and beating her to the floor. Caitlin was than taken away from a few friends, including Nick’s best friend. Caitlin and her parents than procured a restraining order to keep Nick away from her, and the judge had also sentenced him to Mario Ortega’s family violence class, where he sat around with other men who beat their wives or girlfriends because they are unable to keep their hands to themselves. Another sentence the court gave Nick was to write journals about his relationship with Caitlin, before the incident and what caused him to do what he had done to her. From the journals he wrote the story drifts back and froth from present to past of their relationship. It allows the reader to follow along with Nick (main character), it shows the struggles of losing all his friendships, popularity and respect he had among the school, being known as a abuser, and also the girl he loved did not no longer love him back for the actions he had done. Towards the end of the novel he realizes all the stuff he had put Caitlin from through the beginning of their relationship and how badly he had treated her feeling guilty of his actions he had no longer knew what to do, but he knew how to treat a girl with more respect in the future.
In The Color of Water, author James McBride writes both his autobiography and a tribute to the life of his mother, Ruth McBride. In the memoirs of the author’s mother and of himself, they constantly face discrimination from their race in certain neighborhoods and of their religious beliefs. The trials and tribulations faced by these two characters have taught readers universally that everyone faces difficulties in life, but they can all be surmounted.
1. The title of the book is Milkweed; Milkweed is a type of plant, it is as green in October as it is in July, it produces little pods that release white fluffs. It is also the symbol of the story.
“…God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers” (Romans 1:28-29) In Petrified Man, Eudra Welty writes s great example of mankind being given over to a debased mind. Welty’s story centers on two women, Leota the gossiping beautician and Mrs. Fletcher Leota’s vain customer, talking as hair is being made beautiful; however, the words which flow from their mouths have no semblance of beauty. Welty’s main characters retain not one redeeming quality.
Michael MacDonald’S All Souls is a heart wrenching insider account of growing up in Old Country housing projects located in the south of Boston, also known as Southie to the locals. The memoir takes the reader deep inside the world of Southie through the eyes of MacDonald. MacDonald was one of 11 children to grow up and deal with the many tribulations of Southie, Boston. Southie is characterized by high levels of crime, racism, and violence; all things that fall under the category of social problem. Social problems can be defined as “societal induced conditions that harms any segment of the population. Social problems are also related to acts and conditions that violate the norms and values found in society” (Long). The social problems that are present in Southie are the very reasons why the living conditions are so bad as well as why Southie is considered one of the poorest towns in Boston. Macdonald’s along with his family have to overcome the presence of crime, racism, and violence in order to survive in the town they consider the best place in the world.
The poem exposure was written by Wilfred Owen in the winter of 1917, it has all the hard ships of the soldiers and how they felt during the war in horrific conditions that led the soldiers to death. Starting with the first stanza Owen uses different types of techniques to influence the reader about world war one conditions. “Our brains ache” is a short sentence to open with, emphasizes that statement, hyperbole and sets tone for the poem. The quotation which illustrates how Owen and the soldiers felt during the war “Our brains ache, in the merciless iced east winds that knive us...” this this quotation illustrates the hard ships of the soldiers and how they felt. “Winds knive us” is a personification, aggressive metaphor of the weather attacking them. Ellipses in the quotation slows the rhythm down, creates space, pause and waiting, reflecting the content. The whole stanza talks about the soldiers, and the weather conditions, the stanza creates a sense of unbearable and horrendous sites, as the following quotation talks about the effects on soldiers from things around them, “Wearied we keep awake” the use of alliteration, emphasizes the desperation to stay awake despite the tedium also causes the reader to reflect on what is being said. The soldiers have to stay awake during the war and there is no sleep for them. “But nothing happens” is repeated four times in the poem, it highlights the boredom and tedium of the reality. This is worse, in many respects, than fear of fighting.
In the essay “The Man at the River,” written by Dave Eggers is about an American man who does not want to cross the river with his Sudanese friends because of the fear of getting his cut infected.
A long, long time ago, God decided to punish the wicked people, but before he did that, he instructed Noah to build an ark and fill it with two of every animal he can find along with his family. Animals and humans. The book I would like to use throughout this essay is “ Crossing ,” by Gary Paulsen. This book took place in Juarez, Mexico, where a bridge could mean so much. Each character in this book was being compared to an animal, to make us more understand about each of them. Each of them are also different. From the shape of their eyes, the way they react to something, and those are what made each of them different and special. Paulson compares animals and humans by their simliar characteristics and their behaviors.
In the novel, Darkness at Noon, by Koestler, Rubashov learns about himself, and makes an effort to cross the hazy lines between his conscience and his beliefs. Rubashov's realization of the individual aspect of morality is a gradual process, satisfying his internal arguments and questions of guilt. His confession to Gletkin reflects the logic that Rubashov had used (both by himself and his political regime), as well as his internal conflicts. He questioned the inferior value of the human, in respect to the priceless value of humanity. Rubashov's ideas on communism, he found, were blurred by his dedication to the Soviet revolutionaries, and ordeal that compromised his life to solve. In many ways, Rubashov was an antagonist to himself. One way Rubashov defeated his goal was by giving in to suit others. "The Party denied the free will of the individual - and at the same time it exacted his willing self-sacrifice… There was somewhere an error in the calculation; the equation did not work out."(204) Rubashov's confession implies a submission of his personal ego to a larger purpose, and he questions himself as to whether it is worth it. His ideals were not his own, but rather the ideals that the communist revolutionaries forced him to have. Rubashov was a man who thinks extremely logical in every situation; he follows every idea "…down to its final consequence."(80) He is an elite intellectual, but even as Ivanov and Gletkin question his line of thinking, Rubashov constantly asks himself the same questions. He justifies his rational by reminding himself that he is working for a more perfect society, no matter what the cost. As stated in the first partition of his confession, he heard only ...
In The Dew Breaker by Edwidge Danticat, Bienaimé was a Tonton Macoute during the regime of the Haitian dictator, President Francois Duvalier, also known as “Papa Doc.” Tonton Macoutes are also known as dew breakers and their job is to arrest Haitians who rebel against the government. The dew breakers arrive early in the morning before the sunrise to capture the traitors and torture them. When Bienaimé failed to complete his orders properly from the president, he plans to escape Haiti to avoid his punishment. During his escape, he has to mask his identity of being a dew breaker to blend in with the public to hide his secret. After the dictatorship of Papa Doc ended, many tonton macoutes were being hunted down by the Haitian community for their