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More handpicked essays just for you.
Peer Vs.Adult-parent influence
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Life does not always take the easy path for all of us. Bryce Courtey writes about Peekay, who is a English boy, that does not have the easiest life although it may seem like it. Peekay goes through a lot of heart breaks, in the form of death, but ends up coming out on top. With Peekay traveling around and forming new relationship he grasps the traits everyone would love to have. Peekays independence could not have come from nowhere, with him being alone most of his life he had to take care of himself. Most of the time when Peekay got picked on he had to stand up for himself because no one was always going to be there for him. “I was a fairly quiet sort of a guy and had no trouble getting on with things” (333). In this he is saying how he …show more content…
He was well taught by the people he looked up to most which lead him to be the best in his class every year. “No class existed for my age, and so I had been placed with the seven-year-old kids, all of whom were still learning to read. I had been reading in English for at least a year so that the switch to reading Afrikaans wasn’t difficult, and I was soon the best in the class” (Courtenay 29). Peekay was the youngest in his boarding school and still was at a higher level of education. Peekay continued to be the the smartest kid in all his schools he was in throughout his life. He would learn through various people some being, Nanny, Doc, Mrs, Boxall, and Miss Bornstein. Peekay was not only educated in school but he was also very intelligent when it came to boxing. “First with your heart and then with your heart… Remember you are the next contender” (102-103). Hoppie gave Peekay the reason to start his boxing career and he had taught him how he could push through and become the next welterweight champion. Well rounded Peekay could also play the piano and from that he learned to conduct. “Because Doc would be at the piano, he decided I should conduct. This I would do in the simplest way possible sense, signaling the piano breaks and the pianissimo as well as the fortissimo” (282). From all this time Peekay spends alone he makes many friends which all …show more content…
His first show of strength is when he was the youngest at his boarding school yet out of everything he went through he would never cry. “One thing got to all of them more than anything else. They could not make me cry” (45). As a little kid Peekay was beaten and made fun of but nothing was worth making the Judge and his posse happy so he held in all his pain. As Peekay gets older he learns to stand up to what he feels is right. “Then you are trespassing and I must ask you to leave at once… It isn’t nine o’clock yet, Lieutenant. No one’s broken curfew” (450-451). Peekay finds out that the police does not have the right reason to be there because the ticket has the wrong school on it, therefore Peekay stands up for what is right and tells the police what he knows is right. The police tried to mess up Morrie and Peekay’s black people school but the police was wrong wrong the whole time. Peekay is also very strong when it comes to boxing. “Lemme tell you, I never have seen an amateur throw a perfect thirteen-punch combination before” (433). Strength from Peekay's boxing comes from the countless hours he has put in to win all the fights he has been in. Geel Piet has raised him right and taught him how to stick through every fight. Peekay’s strength came from various people that came into his life. He was raised to be strong when it came to boxing and stick up for what he knew was
Ever since the snowball accident Dunny has been preoccupied by worrying over Mary Dempster, and now her son Paul. At the age of sixteen the small town of Deptford becomes too much for Dunny to handle so he decides to drop out of secondary school and join the Army. Dunny needed a change in his life, something to get his mind off Mrs. Dempster and the guilt he felt for her. Leading up to his departure to the War he never really saw much of Mary, mainly because Mr. Dempster told him to stay away, but also because every time him saw her he couldn't hold back feelings of guilt and remorse. This troubled Dunny, much more then he would ever let on. On the other hand, Boy was doing as well as ever, possibly due to the fact that he knew that much of the responsibility of Mary and Paul was securely on the shoulders of Dunny. Dunny knew this as well but it was too late to do much about it except leave.
The Power of an Author Authors have the ability justify the worst actions. Authors have a way of romanticizing certain situations in order to convey a specific message. A good author has power to influence the reader into believing whatever it is the author wants. When it comes to the story of Hannah Dustan, authors such as John Greenleaf Whittier have romanticized her captivity story along with the actions she took throughout her journey. Introducing a character that will be seen in the story is one of the most vital parts when creating a piece of literature.
As a teen, he grew tall and strong and most of the teasing stopped. He became the editor of the school newspaper and had a prestigious role as the political information officer. He was known as an ardent reader with a great memory. He became very involved in politics but had no social skills and no friends. He had an especially hard time trying to relate to girls.
She sticks to her principles even though she is not always aware of the danger surrounding her, for example Bob Ewell who wants to harm her. Her courage is shown through her actions. For instance, Scout confronts a mob of men who are most likely twice her size. When a man grabs Jem roughly by the collar, Scout defends her older brother. Scout shouts, “Don’t you touch him! [and Scout] kicked the man swifty” (Lee 204). Later, her chat with Mr. Cunningham about his son, Walter, causes his group of men to leave. Their departure prevents Tom Robinson from being ambushed. Early in the novel, Scout thinks courage is all about being physically strong. Overcoming troubling situations for Scout is usually solved by a fist fight. However, Atticus’s story about Mrs. Dubose’s bravery, concerning her drug addiction, changes Scout’s view on the meaning of courage. Scout thinks courage is doing the right thing despite winning or losing. However, now she thinks courage has different
In the short story, “Until Gwen” by Dennis Lehane, it starts off with the main character named Bobby who is getting picked up by his father from prison with a stolen Dodge Neon. His father wasn’t alone, he brought himself a company and it was a hooker named Mandy. We got a sense of who his father was, a “professional thief, a consummate con man” (647). We don’t know why he was in prison until the rest of the story slowly reveals the flashbacks he has with his girlfriend Gwen and the incident prior of going to jail. Bobby has no sense of who he is or where he is from because there no proof of record of him such as a birth certificate. After meeting Gwen, his life has changed and felt the sense of belonging into the world he is living in. Bobby’s
In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, there is an abundance of minor characters. Three of these characters, Dill, Alexandra, and Calpurnia are especially significant because of the influence they had on Scout.
Throughout The Catcher in the Rye Holden puts himself in situations that are very stressful. His personality type puts him in these situations. Holden has trouble-making friends because he thinks almost everyone is a phony. The pressure created from not having friends and being able to be comfortable at a school forced him out of an education, “One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by phonies. That's all...For instance, they had this headmaster, Mr. Haas, that was the phoniest bastard I ever met in my life” (Salinger 13) not only did this force him out of the school but also onto the streets. The song “Under Pressure” by Queen perfectly fits the theme that the pressure Holden created on himself forced him to the edge of sanity. In the song, one of the reoccurring lines is “puts people on the streets” (Queen) referring to pressure. This song perfectly relates to this theme.
“Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people’s gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. Thats why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (119). In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the first mention of a mockingbird appears when Jem and Scout are learning how to use their new air rifles. Atticus doesn’t want to teach them how to shoot the air rifles, but he gives them one rule to follow: do not kill mockingbirds. Later Scout, the main character, is told by Miss Maudie about how it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because they are innocent and they don't do anything to anyone. Throughout this story, there are several characters who are portrayed as mockingbird figures. Jem, Scout, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley all fit the symbol of a mockingbird because they all start off innocent but are later changed dramatically by the brokenness of the world.
Knowles deliberately juxtaposes Gene’s social awkwardness to Finny’s natural athleticism and charisma to suggest an imbalance of power between the two boys. Set in Devon School, described as “very athletic” (Knowles 13), Finny, “an extraordinary athlete…the best athlete in the school,” (16) establishes himself to be popular, tilting the balance of power. Stating there is no one “in this school – in this world – whom [he] could trust” (53), Knowles introduces Gene as a distrustful individual. Gene’s hesitant nature lets the animated Finny take charge of their relationship. To create power imbalance, the author purposefully creates Gene and Finny with wildly different personalities.
In life, everyone makes mistakes. Some are minor, some are major, but all in all, it happens. Eddie Rake made his fair amount of mistakes in life but managed to gain forgiveness back from every player and family because of the positive impact he made on the lives of the people of Messina. In John Grisham’s, Bleachers, Neely Crenshaw, one of Rake’s former players, said, “Coach Rake was not easy to love, and while you’re playing here you don’t really like him. But after you leave, after you venture away from this place, after you’ve been kicked around a few times, faced some adversity, some failure, been knocked down in life, you soon realize how important Coach Rake is and was” (Grisham 223). This tells one that no matter how bad Rake hurt a
Holden Caulfield is the main character in the, the Catcher in the Rye, by J.D Salinger. He is a conflicted Character who has depicted clear differences between childhood and adulthood. Holden is dealing with the pressures of growing up while still wanting to be a child.
For my Literature Circle assignment I read the novel entitled The Catcher in the Rye, written by J.D. Salinger.Taking place in the 1950's, The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most popular American books of all time, though, its hero is not really a hero at all. Main character Holden Caufield, is a 17 year old, disproved and misunderstood, classic "screw-up", who does poorly in school, loses his team's equipment, and takes an impulsive trip to New York. Distraught by the death of his 11 year old brother Allie, Holden wanders around his birthplace of New York, reconnecting with old friends and making new enemies. The main conflict of this novel is Holden transitioning into an adult and trying to cope with his brother’s death. One main theme displayed all throughout this novel would be depression. For the duration of this novel, Holden spends his time alone, and even if he is in the company of other people, you hear his thoughts of being depressed. Most of this depression is derived from his brother’s death, but there are many other things accountable for his mental issues. Although much of this novel was just Holden’s opinions and thoughts, I found this novel to be very interesting and thought provoking.
This progression of Pip’s life tests him many over. He tries again and again with haste to move towards his one true goal borne upon a children’s folly that grows to be his all consuming desire. He resents his current status as mere orphan smithy boy, common in all respects to his eyes, and fails to recognize his own strangeness in rejecting his allotted path in life. His father figure, Joe, advises that his own questioning is uncommon enough but he simply disregards fulfilment in being himself, believing himself to be the one true, harsh, judge of his character, he is simply not one to back down on his ideals.
Pip, through spending time with Estella, quickly picks up the desire for social improvement through games, whether physical or emotional, and it is not until he realizes the difference between fantasy and reality that he truly understands the game of life. Just as Estella uses card games to torment Pip, telling him that he is “a common labouring boy” Pip unknowingly begins to see every human interaction as a competition (Volume I, Chapter 8). His physical fight with Herbert represents Pip’s gradual addiction to always winning, never stopping until others are defeated. Pip takes his early, innocent ambition to improve himself and, without even realizing it himself, turns it into a ruthless fight for revenge. Parkinson argues that he sees “the role of chance” influencing his life, forcing himself to submit to whatever life throws at him (Parkinson, 121). Soon, however, Pip becomes the one who forces others, including Joe and Biddy, to simply accept his desire to become an “uncommon” gentleman through his unfailing faith in the wealthy (Volume I, Chapter 8). The problem is not his “fairy-tale expectations,” but his admiration in the wrong people; though he looks up to Miss...
Written by J.D. Salinger in the mid-1900s, The Catcher in the Rye introduced adolescence to the literary world. The novel follows several days in the life of Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old student who has just failed out of his fourth school. Throughout it, we see how Holden, a complicated youth, deals with the transition into adulthood. He sees the adult world as one full of what he terms “phonies.” Thus, he not only wants to refrain from becoming a part of it but he wants to stop others, especially those younger them him, from transitioning into it as well. From this, Holden fantasizes about “catching” kids as they fall into adulthood. This dream of being a “catcher” comes from a misquoted poem, the chorus of which says, “When a body meet a body coming through the rye…” Holden substitutes the word “catch” for “meet” and alters the poem’s meaning (p. 173). Throughout the novel, the idea of the “catcher in the rye” not only divides the world of children from that of adults, it also sets up a paradigm where Holden feels the need to prevent children from transitioning into the latter.