Can someone let go of the past? Sometimes remembering the past can be a good thing. For instance, keeping all the mistakes from the past can help one make better decisions in the future. On the other side keeping the past may mean one will live in the past, never in the future. If one is able to get past the mistakes and learn from them one will be able to have a better life in the future. In John Grisham’s Bleachers, he shows how overcoming the past can benefit life and happiness.
In Bleachers, Nat Sawyer was a Messina Spartan in high school. He was known as the worst punter in the history of Spartan football. Nat got an award named after one of his touchdowns he made; it is called Ugliest Touchdown of the Year. Nat said, “After we graduated I sort of migrated to D.C., where it didn’t take me long to figure out whom I am and what I am. I didn’t sneak out of the closet, Neely, I kicked the damned door down” (Grisham 94). When Nat moved back to Messina he knew he was going to be the only openly homosexual in town, yet he still moved back. Nat was
…show more content…
too scared to disappoint Eddie Rake, his football coach, to come out about who he really is when he was in high school. The whole town of Messina worships football. The football player’s are the hero’s and are untouchable. As Neely Crenshaw said, “You count the years until you get a varsity jersey, then you’re a hero, an idol, a cocky bastard because in this town you can do no wrong. You win and win and you’re the king of your own little world…” (Grisham 15). Nat wanted to be the idol the one everybody wanted to be, he did not want to be the only homosexual playing football. He thought that if he came out about who he really was he would get kicked off the team and be a disgrace to Messina Spartan football. Once Nat moved away and realized that football is not everything, he was able to let go of his past glory days of being a Spartan and be who he really is.
When Nat was able to be himself, he allowed himself to have a happy life, to be able to do what he wants. If Nat had not allowed himself to let go of the past he would not be able to live his life the way that he wants.
John Grisham also created a character in Bleachers that was not able to let go of his past. Neely Crenshaw was an all-American quarterback, one of the greatest players to be a Messina Spartan. He started three of the four years in high school; he had many recruits looking and offering him a scholarship to play at their school. Neely went on to play at Tech, until one game he got hit late on a play and received a career ending injury on his knee. He was not able to play football again; he went from a star football player to just another student at
Tech. Neely still wished for the days when he was a star, hero, and idol to everyone in Messina. He said, “You win and win and you’re the king of your own little world, then poof, it’s gone. You play your last game and everybody cries. You can’t believe it’s over. Then another team comes right behind you and you’re forgotten” (Grisham 15). Neely wished to be the all-American football player he once was. He lived in the past always wanting to go back. This made him feel like he disappointed his coach by not being all that he could be. It made his life sad, lonely, and he was always looking in the past instead of what is in his future. Neely needed to be able to let go of his past and find other things to make him happy not just football. Also, he needed to be able to acknowledge that he is not the same person he once was in high school and college. He is a new person with different things going on in his life other than football. By the end of Bleachers however, Neely was able to let go of all his mistakes he made in the past and was able to start looking at a better future. When Neely was giving his eulogy for Eddie Rake, his high school football coach, he was able to forgive his coach and accepted the fact that he was never going to play football again. Now Neely can live a more pleasant life looking to the future. Bleachers gives examples of how people have overcome and excepted the past and moved on with life in a better way. Living in the past only makes people want to go back and fix the mistakes. People need to be able to except the past and move on to the future. If one is able to get past the mistakes, one will have a good and happy life. The faster one lets go the sooner happiness will be found.
Books read by adolescents contain both positive and negative values. Bleachers, by John Grisham is one book that contains many positive values. This book is about high school all-American Neely Crenshaw, who was probably the best quarterback ever to play for the legendary Messina Spartans. Fifteen years have gone by since those glory days, and Neely has come home to Messina to bury Coach Eddie Rake, the man who molded the Spartans into an unbeatable football dynasty.
Is John Grisham’s book, Bleachers, a believable book when based on the use of New Critical analysis? Some people think that Bleachers is not believable while others think that the book is believable. Many people form their opinions of whether or not a book is believable solely on the book’s classification as nonfiction or fiction. Others use New Critical analysis to determine whether a book is believable or not. The use of New Critical analysis requires the reader to consider events that happen throughout the book and any conflict that may have occurred. It also requires that the reader focus on the plot of the book and the characters. Grisham sets the book to take place in a small, football crazed town, known as Messina. The book is set in present day time, but Grisham uses his characters to incorporate flashbacks from the sixties, seventies, and eighties. Grisham uses many characters throughout the entire book to tell the story of the Messina football coach, Eddie Rake. Even though the main character of his book is considered to be a young man named Neely Crenshaw, Rake is the real main character. The details that are given throughout Bleachers are based on both love and hate for Eddie Rake, as well as sorrow for his death. Based on the use of New Critical analysis, Bleachers is a believable book when considering the details that Grisham has given us.
Moving on and being able to find happiness is very relevant in regards to The Story of Tom Brennan by J.C Burke. You can't live in the past, you have to move on, whether you find happiness is up to you. Also the more time you spend thinking about the bad things there is less room for the good thoughts. Of you can find something to look forward to or something you enjoy doing, just something to take your mind off the past will help you move on.
A person can never be too far beyond forgiveness. Everybody makes mistakes in life and deserves another chance to do what is right. When Rake’s players were with him on the team, they hated him at some point and were miserable with him coaching. He treated his players like dirt to make them the best that they could be. The players did not realize it then and hated him for it. After their glory days were long gone, Rake’s drive and cruelty had a reason that they could finally see. Many times Rake crossed the line with his practicing techniques and pushed his athletes to the edge. In John Grisham’s Bleachers, Rake’s players all forgave him at the funeral when they had their sense of closure. Forgiveness is the hardest thing that one may face
Have you ever wondered why sport coaches have such a huge impact on their athletes? In Bleachers by John Grisham follows the main character, Neely, and all the situations that he encounters as his high school football coach, Coach Rake, is nearing death. This novel begins with Neely meeting his high school classmates after he injured his knee from a football game and disappeared from town for fifteen years. With the town proximity being rather small, almost everyone knew each other fairly well. The town had the same banker, Paul, a coffee shop that that each citizen frequents, and a football field named “The Field” that tens of thousands of citizens and fans visit every football season. Bleachers is a fairly well written novel because it contains possible events that may happen in modern reality such as the different series of events, the characters, and the conflict’s that are involved, but the novel is also semi-poorly written due to its flaws contained in its context.
Nat use to go to church every Sunday and the more he learned about the Christian bel...
Ultimately, it goes without saying that the past is a place we cannot revisit and because of this every event, that have happened in life before, will make an influence on it. Moreover, some things might change person's life in drastically way. However, people should understand that everything what happened in the past - stays in the past, and there is no reason to worry about bad occasion that already gone and relieve all negative emotions again.
1) This quote is an example of an allusion because Holden is referring to the book, David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. Moreover, it doesn't describe it in detail, its just a brief comment.
Is it possible for a fictional novel to have the characteristic elements to make the reader believe that it is nonfiction? In the novel, Bleachers by John Grisham, we witness a disoriented former high school all-star quarterback make a return to his hometown after many years as he tries to figure out the feelings he has for his former Coach. The novel takes place in a small town called Messina, where the biggest events to happen are high school football on a Friday night. Other than Spartan football, the small populated, Messina does not have much going for them besides hearing about the latest news and gossip spread with the locals. Neely Crenshaw is the main character focused in the story. A once high school hero for breaking quarterback records and accumulating wins for the Spartans, decides whether if it is right to keep a grudge or be thankful from his passing coach, Eddie Rake. Eddie Rake is the reason why Spartan football was put on the map. His intense and unorthodox practice turned students into actual Spartans of football. He is also the reason many former Spartan football players have returned, including Neely because he has been in severe condition due to cancer. As the players reminisce on realistic events and moments of state games, they also await for the lights to shut off on Rake’s Field. The believable context of this fictional novel has a convincing setting, theme, characters, and events that make readers believe the possibility in real life.
In John Grisham’s, Bleachers, this fiction story takes us through a small town in Messina, Mississippi. Everyone who is anyone attends their local high school football games. Thousands of locals come to the Friday night football games to watch the Messina Spartans play each week. Bleachers takes place in a present time setting in which former players talk about past games. The legendary coach of the Messina Spartans is getting close to the end while the former players await his death. Former players from different years are sitting on the bleachers of Rake Field talking about past games and memories. Because this is a fiction story, none of the characters or events are real. There are characters in this book that could portray real people, because the things these characters go through are common in today's world. Characters like Neely Crenshaw, an all-American whose career ends up short with a career ending injury. Then there is Coach Eddie Rake, a coach that leaves a legacy in a small town by making an unbelievable winning streak during his prime years. Almost everyone who played for Coach Rake hated his guts. Fictional characters in this book are believable. Even events like a coach who hits their athlete, and starts a brawl seem believable. Although this book is fiction, the majority of the events and characters could exist and are believable.
But we can't just ignore our problems and expect them to go away. That never works for anybody. Nor does denial, which living in the past is, plain and simple. We have to deal with things in a more mature way. As Vonnegut subtly points out, we have to help the things we can and understand the things we can't, and hopefully we will never lose sight of the difference.
John Grisham uses personal experience and cause and effect strategies for emotional appeals or also known as pathos to show the audience how movies greatly influence people and their decisions.
Holden tries to preserve his own innocence, and the innocence of others by not letting go of childhood memories and through his desire to suspend time. Holden views the adult world as corrupt and full of phonies. He admires childhood because of how it is free of corruption, and untouched by the adult world. IN order to preserve his own innocence Holden often attaches himself to childhood memories. The Museum of NAtural History is one of Holden’s favourite places . He mentions that his grade one teacher Miss. Aigletinger used to take his class there every saturday. While writing about the museum he says, “The best thing, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was” (121). This shows how Holden wants to preserve his innocence because he expresses how he likes how everything stayed the
There is a saying that goes “don’t live in the past” because things will always get better in the future and that you should let time work itself out. People often think of their pasts and let that dictate their future, which in many cases keeps people from achieving their full potential. People become blinded by their pasts and the good memories they’ve had which turns to them seeking the same thing to satisfy themselves because they’ve become comfortable and do not want change. They may not want change because they are scared of what is to come or because of getting hurt again like they have in previous experiences. A prime example of this is Erykah Badu’s song “Bag lady” as it explains how people should let go of their pasts and look to the future.
Apostle Paul said, “Be content with such things as you have as He has said He will never leave nor forsake you so that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper”. Be aware that the hurt you feel about the past is not in the present and no matter what happened in the past, your present memory of it is what gives life to it. So heal yourself of past pains, focus your attention on the present, the less attention you give to the past memory, the less life and power it has. Focus on your feelings right now. Memories are only thoughts and they have no power until you ponder on them, so the more you ponder on the present, the less of the past you will think about, taking your interest off those things that do not benefit you.