Achieving a Goal in Through the Tunnel, Two Kinds, and The Censors

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In this essay, I will refer to three short stories. These stories are: “Through the Tunnel,” “Two Kinds,” and “The Censors.” The main characters are: Jerry of “Through the Tunnel,” Jing-Mei of “Two Kinds,” and Juan of “The Censors.” In all three of these stories, the main characters are trying to achieve something. Jerry tries to swim through an underwater tunnel. Jing-Mei wants to rebel against her mother, who wants her to become a child prodigy. Juan tries to find a letter he sent to his friend before “the censors” do. All of them try to achieve their goals using different methods. Below you may read more about each individual character. Jerry is the main character in “Through the Tunnel.” Jerry and his mother are on vacation near a beach. The reader gets the idea that it is somewhere in France because the “natives” are speaking in French. While at the beach, Jerry sees some boys diving into the ocean and coming back up. At first he’s not sure what they are doing, but then learns they are swimming through an underwater tunnel. He decides that he, too, would like to swim through the tunnel. He starts to practice keeping his breath and swimming. Eventually, he gets very good at both and decides to try to swim through the tunnel. After the second time of trying, he achieves his goal. he swims through the tunnel successfully one day before he and his mother go home. Jerry was very self-disciplined and achieved his goal. He was the most successful of the three characters I will mention. For example, the story says “...he would do it if it killed him....” This shows how very dedicated he was to his goal. He realized the importance of his goal and worked hard to achieve it. Jing-Mei is in the... ... middle of paper ... ... censors it like all the rest of the letters. He is executed the next day. I feel that Juan was so obsessed with the power he gained from his job that he lost sight of his goal. He really did not succeed at anything. He was the least successful of the three characters mentioned in this essay. All of these characters tried to achieve their goals. I learned that those who put the most time and effort into their goals do not always succeed. Juan put more time into his goal than anyone else, but was the least successful of the three. I think the main thing I learned is that even if you’re the hardest worker, you will not achieve your goal unless you also keep your priorities straight. We should never become so obsessed with power that we lose sight of our goals. People should always work towards their goals and never let anything get in the way of them.

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