Imagine watching, every day, a boy getting picked on by seventh graders while you stand there watching, staring, and doing absolutely nothing. Then you say, “I didn't bully him!” You may not have been the one picking on him, but you were a bystander, and that is as bad as bullying! In the book, Bystander, written by James Preller, the two characters Eric, a nice boy who moved from Ohio to Bellport, Long Island, and Griffin a “friend” of Eric who is a jerk to everyone, are very different. However, if you look closely, you can find similarities. For example, Eric is helpful, while Griffin is deceiving. But when stopping to think, it became obvious that both Eric and Griffin are very smart. Eric just wanted to fit in when he moved to Bellport, …show more content…
Long Island. But, as he tried to make friends at his new school, Bellport Central Middle School, he failed, until Griffin came along and Eric got some friends. Cody, an ugly rat face seventh grader, Drew P an annoying and mean kid who is kind of friends with Eric, and Mary a pretty and nice girl, who is Eric’s best friend. He was doing well with his friends until he found out what Griffin is, read to find out what happens. Eric is probably the most likable character in the book. He is helpful and nice, traits that are likable to most people. It seems as if he tries not to be in the middle of bad things, but Griffin is attracted to that kind of stuff. For example, on page 3 Eric saw this kid who had ketchup all over himself and Eric tried to help him, this proves that Eric is very nice. Because, who would walk up to a complete stranger? This shows that Eric is nice because he checks on people if they can be hurt. Unlike Griffin who was the one who squirted ketchup all over David Hallenbeck, oh yeah let’s backup, on page 2 at the playground that is when Eric met David Hallenbeck, a small but feisty kid who thinks he is a hotshot. At first, Eric did not know who David was, but then found out, right when Griffin came he scared away David. Although Griffin can be mean, Eric is still very nice to him. For Example, once on page 90, he let Griffin come into his house, though Eric did not want to talk with Griffin because they had got into a fight about Eric being a bystander earlier in the book. Eric proves to be nice and considerate and lets Griffin in because he doesn’t want to be rude. Eric is also a very helpful kid, a lot more than Griffin will ever be. Throughout the book, it said, “Eric was walking peoples dogs.” this can show that Eric is helpful because he is helping people out when they are away by walking, feeding and playing with the dogs until the owners get back. That can prove he is a helpful person. Eric is also very helpful to his friends. One time Mary, Eric’s best friend, was having a tough time with her friends and Eric tried to help her out while her friends were being down-right mean to her. That shows he is helpful because he took his time to help out Mary which was very kind of him. This shows that Eric has a good kind heart. This can show that Eric is the good, protagonist because he is nice and helpful, now let's see how Griffin is so different from Eric! What is Griffin like?
He is a bully undercover. Griffin is a rude person, an example of him being rude is when a teacher’s dog died, and he said, “Stupid animal, I’m glad it’s dead, The world is a better place now.” (44) Show rude that is! It was rude because he was happy a person’s dog died because he hated the dog, that is very rude to say because a dog is like a family member to the teacher. Another time when he was rude was when on page 141 when Eric, said something about Cody, and then Cody punched Eric. He was rude because he just stood there watching and cheering on, that was rude because he did not defend Eric, and Eric got hurt. That was rude of Griffin, and we know Eric would never do anything like that! Griffin is also deceiving. One example Griffin is deceiving is that he is on page 8 he was the one to cover David Hallenbeck with ketchup and then after that, he acted so nice to Eric. That can show Griffin deceiving because he did something that was not very nice then he acted like a completely different person. Another example that he is Deceiving is that Griffin says in the book, “I walk dogs to”(42) That can show Griffin is deceiving because Griffin is acting like a nice person by so-called walking the dogs even though he did not! See how different Eric and Griffin are, but what are there …show more content…
similarities? By reading this it seems like they have no similarities, but in reality, they do.
Eric and Griffin are both smart. Like once on page 206 the book states that “Eric had a genius plan.”(206) That can show that Eric is smart because to be smart to come up with a plan, and that plan was really smart, this shows how Eric is smart. Griffin is also smart because he used payback in a new way. He took Eric’s shoes and wore them to school to get payback. That is smart because he used a different but clever way to get back. Eric and Griffin are both mean to. It might be surprising, but Eric can be a tiny bit mean sometimes. Eric snaps at people all the time. Once when he was talking with a teacher, he snaps and starts to yell. That proves he is mean because Eric yelled at a teacher, which is not nice. It is easy to tell that Griffin if mean. Like once Griffin stole Eric’s bike, that is mean because Griffin stole someone's bike which is illegal. That can prove that both Eric and Griffin are mean. Eric and Griffin are both annoying, and Eric is annoying because he once was bugging his Mom that he wanted to go home when they were shopping, this can show Eric is annoying because he is annoying his Mom which is not very nice. Griffin can also be annoying. Like in the book it says, “Griffin would not tell Eric if he stole his CD’s.” (188) that can show Griffin is annoying because he will not tell if he stole them and it is making Eric very agitated. Now we know if we dig down deeper we can
find similarities, in very different people. It is amazing how much I learned about Eric and Griffin in Bystander, by James Preller. I looked deeper into their character traits to think about what motivates each of them, and I was able to see that their traits are affected by their past experiences. Although they are very different people, they do have similarities. Eric is nice and helpful, while Griffin is deceptive and rude. However, they are both smart, somewhat mean and annoying. From now on, I will be sure to think more about why characters do what they do and say what they say. Maybe, you will do the same when reading your next book.
One day after school, Mark told his friends his idea of what to do to take care of Mr. Griffin. He decided that they should threaten to kill him so he
Griffin's project is contemplating the human nature or character. She discusses how a person can affect another person's life. The things that happen around us and to us can dramatically change the way we are and the way we see ourselves. She also gives a metaphorical comparison between her life and Heinrich Himmler's life. Although Himmler was an evil man, Griffin somehow still feels a connection to him.
Geryon, called “stupid” and abandoned by his brother on his trip to kindergarten, unsurprisingly agrees because he’s little and doesn’t know any better. He thinks “stupid was correct. But when justice is done the world drops away” (Carson 24) Understanding justice is understanding exclusion, and Geryon does feel excluded, especially when he is standing alone outside a classroom while the snow “silenced all trace of the world” (Carson 25). Geryon’s first justice is an intense isolation, a strangled silence.
When Griffin was kicked off the car, he was left a distance from everything. He reached a small convenience store on the road, where the owners would not let him in until he begged them. As he walked on, a young black male offered him a ride and a place to sleep in his house with his wife and six children. Later that evening, Griffin had a reoccurring nightmare about white men and women, with their faces of heartlessness staring at him. As Griffin was about to leave, he tried to give money to the family for his gratitude, but they would not accept it, so he just left the money there.
... innocent black man with the butt of a pistol. Looking into the man’s broken face, Leo sees “he’s just like me.” Griffin breaks down as she finds the core of her own rage, her memory at eight years old of the injustice of a punishment by her grandmother. In her desire to make the woman feel the same pain, her imagination takes over: “I am forcing her to feel what I feel. I am forcing her to know me. And as I strike her, blow after blow, a shudder of weeping is released in me, and I become utterly myself, the weeping in me becoming rage, the rage turning to tears, all the time my heart beating, all the time uttering a soundless, bitter, passionate cry, a cry of vengeance and of love.”
Whether we read books, watch movies, or simply live life, we cannot ignore that writers, directors or people create pairs of characters that may have things in common and characteristics that show them as opposites. Sometimes, they may seem obvious but at other times, the individuals have to be analyzed and understood. They are placed in stories to show the good and the bad in the story. However, placing similar and somewhat opposite characters together is clearly portrayed in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. These characters go through some of the same situations but they can be distinguished differently by the way they choose to deal a situation. Sometimes, their intention may be alike however, in the end, their doing is what makes them two different people. This contrast is especially evident when comparing Walter Cunningham Sr. and Bob Ewell, Boo Radely and Nathan Radely, and, lastly, Miss. Maudie and Miss. Stephanie.
One examples is, even before his surgery was complete and he had not made the full transition from white to black yet, he was startled at what he heard from his doctor. At the time of his surgery, he spoke with the dermatologist who was changing his skin color, and found out that even this man had prejudices over black people. The doctor was insistent that the “lighter-skinned Negroes” were more ethical and more sensible than the darker-skinned ones. This man, with a high intellectual IQ and much schooling, also claimed that, as a whole group and race, blacks are always violent. Griffin, horrified that he let this man be in charge of his operation, was utterly and completely appalled that a liberal man could indulge in such hateful fallacies. Not only before and during his surgery does Griffin find himself being appalled by white people, but also during his time as a black man in the south he experienced many harsh and unfriendly situations, he never would have experienced if he was a white man. For example, on his first day as a black man he goes into a drugstore forgetting his skin color and that he now, since he is black, he forbidden from ordering a fountain drink, but after a few mean and disgusted looks from the white workers he realizes, he wasn’t even allowed in the store. His first day hit him hard when he figured out that everywhere he went whites seemed to look at him with suspicion and hostility. Also, after having the word nigger seem to never escape his ears its implications almost became unbearable. Hearing this really made me think about all of the black people in the south that have had to put up this and even worse things every day of their lives and how strong they all were; a white man has been through this one day and can barely take it; how have these people put up with this for so
Griffin experiences exactly what he expects to experience. He is taunted with typical racial slurs, and other forms of hostility, which he is able to brush off as meaningless ignorance. This bus driver is denying the black customers the most basic of human needs.
...ion and his misunderstanding about why he should and needs to obey it. By observing the behavior of the bystanders, the reader understands the rash outcomes of the situation which tend to be for the worse. The reader also can understand the power of people speaking against authority and how good outcomes can happen for pressing against unjust laws for what is morally right even if it results in consequence.
Normally children do not attend court cases, especially since they are difficult to understand and follow. However, Scout and Jem are eager to see their father in court because it has been the topic of the neighborhood for weeks and countless people have been speaking poorly of him. While they are watching the trial, they learn many new things that cause them to grow up faster than they would have. They are exposed to several injustices in the world, such as racism, and they begin to understand how judgemental people are and how it affects their views on others. At first Scout and Jem do not know why people are critical of their father, but as the trial proceeds they soon realize that their father is defending an African American, for which he has earned everyone’s hate.
The fact that he wrote his whole adventure in a journal clearly shows his intentions. He went into the world of the second class Negro, writing a straight out account of every event that happened by writing a journal. Then the reader saw what his experience was like and believed it more so since it was in a journal setup instead of a story setup. The entire approach to Griffin’s research was ingenious, very creative, and even a bit daring. Not many people would like to experience that drastic change in their lifestyle.
“Edward Theodore Gein was born on August 27, 1906 in La Crosse, Wisconsin”( A+E Networks). Ed never really had a normal childhood, a childhood where your parents love you and you lived normally. Ed grew up in a household run by his mother who was a “religious fanatic” (A+E Networks). His mother raised Ed and Henry on her beliefs and ideals she also told them that “if they had sex before marriage they would go to hell” (Bell and Bardsley). George Gein their father was an alcoholic and when intoxicated would become angry and violent. George had no role when it came to raising the kids there mother “saw him as a worthless creature not fit to hold down a job, let alone care for their children” (Bell and Bardsley). “Augusta their mother would try to keep Ed and Henry from the world but that was unsuccessful because they had to go to school”(Bell and Bardsley). Their mother opened up a grocery store in La Crosse in order to get away from the city and better the family’s life. With the money she had saved up they moved to a farm in Plainfield, Wisconsin the place where Ed would commit his crimes. In Ed’s teenage years he would be bullied all the time and had no friends, people in his class thought that he had feminine qualities because of the way he acted. Another reason he wasn’t able to make friends was because if tried to make friends his mother would scold him and punish ...
Two ways that citizens react to systems of oppression are by being a bystander or upstander. Citizens represent the role of a bystander by passively watching oppression, as demonstrated by Alex from Forbidden City and the narrator from “The Hangman”. An upstander shows that he or she believes in a cause by taking action against some type of oppression, sometimes risking their lives in the process. Alex eventually transitions into an upstander, and the French Woman from “Pigeon” also shows the characteristics of an upstander. In the case of Forbidden City by William Bell, the Chinese student demonstrators are victimized by the corrupt Chinese government, who are the oppressors in the novel.
Throughout “Our Secret” Griffin explores the different characters’ fears and secrets and she gives specific insights into these “secrets”. Through examining others Griffin comes to terms with her own feelings, secrets, and fears. She relates to Himmler, Leo, Helene, and everyone else even though she is different than all of them. One fact that can be made about all of these characters is that they all represent humans and human emotion
Bystander effect, (Darley & Latane, 1970) refers to decrease in helping response when there are bystanders around relative to no bystanders. Referring to previous study stating that there are some cases of which group size may promote helping instead of hindering it (Fischer et al., 2011). Researchers then speculate the possibility of positive influences from bystanders by taking public self-awareness into consideration. Researchers proposed that high public self-awareness would reverse the bystander effect in this study with 2 independent variables which are bystander and presence on the forum. They are defined as number of bystanders (absent vs present) and salience of name (salient vs non-salient) respectively. 86 students are randomly assigned to one of the four conditions in the experiment. Response of participants in the online forum is the operational definition for the dependent variable of helping behavior. The result shows that number of response increases with respect to increase in bystanders when public self-awareness is enhanced by using accountability cue (Bommel et al., 2012). Participants were asked to rate how notable they were from their view afterwards as a manipulation check.