Throughout Colson Whitehead's national bestselling novel, “The Nickel Boys” the main character Elwood goes through a lot of character development. When the book first begins, Elwood is very responsible and always stands up for what's right. But he is known as a goody-goody. This gets him into trouble with other kids in his town. When he is sent to Nickel he is forced to change his personality, in order to avoid punishments from the school. Finally, when we learn about him years in the future, we find out that Turner lived on for him, to honor him. At the beginning of “The Nickel Boys” we start to learn more about Elwood’s personality. We found out that he is focused on doing the right thing and being a rule follower. On top of this, we learn that he is very hardworking. He worked at a restaurant where he would wash dishes. The boss would claim that he is a very good worker, and had only missed 1 day of work in his years of working there. Elwood would stick up for people and he took pride in being a model …show more content…
Elwood learns the hard way that doing the right thing at Nickel doesn't result in good things. After trying to intervene in the fight Elwood was sent to the Whitehouse, where he was brutally beaten. This beating “weevilled” deep into his personality (Whitehead 121-122). This tells us that because of this beating, Elwood became scared to stand up for what's right, and even to stand up for himself. Elwood learns that Nickel doesn't care about right and wrong. After one of Elwood's teachers is poisoned, Elwood tells Turner that he “wishes it had been Spencer(Whitehead 30).” This means that Elwood no longer disagrees with vengeance. He used to be unbothered by bullies but due to the severe cruelty of Nickel, which was run by Spencer. Elwood is forced to break his moral character. This shows that Elwood is changing his personality, out of
In the book “The Boys of Winter” by Wayne Coffey, shows the struggle of picking the twenty men to go to Lake Placid to play in the 1980 Olympics and compete for the gold medal. Throughout this book Wayne Coffey talks about three many points. The draft and training, the importance of the semi-final game, and the celebration of the gold medal by the support the team got when they got home.
The author Gary Shteyngart of “Sixty-Nine Cent” describes himself in a tug of war between the Russian culture of his parents and the American culture in which he wants to be a part of. At the age of seven, Gary Shteyngart and his family immigrated to the United States from Russia. When he was fourteen, his family and other Russian immigrant made a trip to Florida to see Disneyland. He describes “the ride over the MacArthur Causeway to Miami Beach was my real naturalization ceremony”( Shteyngart 103). At that age, he wanted to be like every American born boy, He wanted to eat at McDonald’s, walk the beaches, and speak to the girls, and to enjoy what every boy his age takes for granted. One of his desires was to eat a McDonald’s sixty-nine cent hamburger and drink a Coke. On the way back from Disneyland, he found out this was not going to happen. His parents were given a picnic lunch, packed by the woman who owned the motel, for them to eat instead of spending money at MacDonald’s. As his parents were sitting out “sort boiled eggs wrapped in tinfoil; vinaigrette, the Russian beet salad, overflowing a reused container of sour cream; cold chicken served between crisp white furrows of bulk, (Shteyngart 104)” Shteyngart could not believe that they were doing this to him. Here they were at McDonald’s and he was not going to get a sixty-nine-cent hamburger with a Coke.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts”
Within his journey he was able to learn a tremendous amount of information about himself as well as the society he lived in. Although in order for this to happen he had to exile from his former hometown. After graduating high school the narrator went off to college and had the honor of driving one of the schools founders. While driving Mr. Norton, one of the school founders, the narrator went on a tangent about different things that has happened on campus. He soon mentioned Trueblood and his actions with his daughter to Mr. Norton, Afterwards the narrator led Mr. Norton to the bar/asylum. This is when the real troubles begin. Mr. Bledsoe, the college’s president, found out about the narrators doings and expelled him. When he expelled the narrator, Mr. Bledsoe sent him to New York with seven letters to get a job. By the narrator being exiled he now has a chance to experience life on his own and use the knowledge from his experience to enrich his life and others. The narrator’s trial and tribulations will speak for the feelings and thoughts of many African Americans in the 1940s
In “The Allegory of the Cave,” Plato describes the cave as very dark with chained people inside and a wall where they can only see shadow illusions, which they believe is reality. Outside the cave, there is “light” and “truth.” One chained person is released into the “light,” which is uncomfortable at first, because of how bright the “light” or “truth” is however, once he adjusts, he realizes the outer world is the “truth” or reality and the cave is a shadow of reality. He pities the ones in the cave, still lost in the darkness yet, when he tries to make them see reality, their ignorance overpowers them and they kill the enlightened one out of fear and confusion. This is the kind of society, full of puppet-handlers, the narrator Sylvia in “The Lesson” dwells in and the author, Toni Cade Bambara, depicts Sylvia as being freed from the chains of ignorant society. Bambara’s released prisoner, Miss Moore, is the one to free Sylvia and the other chained prisoners and exposes them to the “light,” which is the unequal distribution of wealth and the “truth,” which is educating youth on economic inequality so the freed prisoners can learn to change their society’s shadow of reality.
David Malter was part of the Jewish sect that took on a more modern approach. He is very understanding, and he cares very deeply for his son Reuven. Reuven and his father's relationship would be considered healthy by most people. They love each other very much, and they have a very open communication with each other.
The development of Dunny's character in the novel begins when Dunny falls in love with Faustina. It is because of these female characters that both protagonists learn to accept the emotional side of their lives, which are provided by these women, who possess immoral values that allows Nick and Dunny to develop into the final stages of their characters, essentially making them the same. Nick's realization of the equality of man and morals change when he comes in contact with Jordan Baker. Jordan possesses certain qualities that only benefit her. She likes to bend the rules so that the positive result ends up in her favor. She has allowed herself to be wrapped in a blanket of dishonesty that Nick would not be able to live, until he realizes that he can.
As much as generous and honest Nick Carraway is, he still needs a few important improvements in himself. Nick went to Yale, fought in world war one and moved to East of New York to work in finance. After moving to New York, Nick faces tough dilemmas throughout the story such as revealing secrets, and witnessing betrayal. His innocence and malevolence toward others was beyond his control. He did not have the ability or knowledge to know what he should have done in the spots he was set in. He seemed lost and having no control of what went on- almost trapped- but indeed, he had more control than he could have ever known. Because of the situations he has experienced and the people he has met, such as Gatsby, Tom, Jordan and Daisy, his point of view on the world changed dramatically which is very depressing. Trusting the others and caring for them greatly has put him in a disheartening gloomy position.
Fly-Boys written by James Bradley, reveals the truth about nine young American World War II pilots that were shot down over the island of Chichi Jima. Out of the nine pilots one was rescued by a submarine. The other eight were captured by the Japanese, and disappeared. After the war the American government, along with the Japanese, covered up everything that had happened on Chichi Jima. Which had meant that the lives of the eight Fly-Boys were erased. Only the American and Japanese governments knew that the pilots survived the war. In this novel James Bradley reveals the story for the first time. Although, critics might disapprove on all this information making him seem bias, but in reality it is the truth that has just never been discovered.
But Leper did not. Elwin was a mild and quiet loner of a young boy, who loved snails and the mystical things of nature. He was also the poster child for the carefree boys who had not yet been affected by the impending war. He was a comfort to Gene of things that would never change. Gene avoided going to Leper's old room (Brinker's new room) for the reason that he didn't want to see the gypsy summer truly come to an end.
“A Summer in the Cage” is a documentary filmed by Ben Selkow that shows his friend Sam battling with a manic-depressive illness known as bipolar disorder. The main theme of this film is the struggles the main character Sam goes through when battling bipolar disorder. Selkow firsts meets Sam while filming a documentary about street basketball. Ever since that day, they became close friends. Sam decided to help make the documentary with Selkow. Selkow begins to realize after spending so much time with Sam that he had something off about him. At this time, Sam was having is first manic episode. When Sam was eight years old, his father committed suicide due to battling the same disorder. Throughout this documentary, Sam tries to escape that same
In the book The Chosen, by Chaim Potok, Reuven Malter is shaped by everyone around him. During this interaction his character becomes more developed and engaging. Through the interactions, it becomes apparent that Reuven’s father is always teaching his child how to improve himself. The conversations between Reuven and his father help prepare Reuven develop the mentality and the personal qualities, such as wisdom, compassion, and tolerance, necessary to become a rabbi.
These changes getting older weaker, act as a metaphor for a larger portion of Neddy’s life than the literal journey he undertakes on this afternoon. He has lost his social standing, his money, his wife and children and possibly his mind. In other words, his entire life.
From the dialog and the events with the child, Hawthorne clearly shows his stance in the controversial issue of slavery and racism during that time. Of greater significance, the little boy who repeatedly comes into Hezephiah’s cent shop main purpose is to make a statement on race. The boy ravishes numerous Jim Crow cookies which asserted that he had an unquenchable appetite, a sort of fetish with the issue of slavery. Michele Bonnet wrote a literary criticism concluding this also stating, “The racially biased view lurking in these remarks comes to the foreground with Ned’s Jim Crow gingerbread figure, which emblematizes the black community with a stereotyped, grotesque character, as is further emphasized by the dancing posture whereby he is pictured as ‘executing his world-renowned dance’” (Bonnet 488). His demolishing of the cookies created tensions in the Pyncheon family which can be translated to the thoughts and feeling of Nathaniel Hawthorne and others of that time over the abolishing of racial inequalities. It is clear that Nathaniel Hawthorne did not want the emancipation of slaves and that he was in agreement with society’s claims on those who are of a different race. Bonnet develops the similar analysis stating, “ Hawthorne dramatizes it by making Ned incorporate—and thus dispose of and subdue—a number of objects whose common denominator is that they are associated with anxiety-generating situations: strife, warfare, material progress, and the question of emancipation….” (Bonnet 493). The young boy’s fetish with the Jim Crow cookies only reveal Nathaniel Hawthorns feelings and continuous frustrations with what was going on in society. This is truly one of the major political statements that he subtly develops throughout the
What comes to mind when one thinks of the word ‘puppy’? It is probable describe a puppy as a lovable, adorable, and cuddly companion. However, one might also identify the animal as a menace and a liability or even as a delicious source of food. Why does this single word hold so many meanings? One’s past experiences and biases influences these conflicting views and attitudes. For instance, an individual’s fond view of puppies may exist because they were raised with puppies and consequently grew affectionate toward the animals. On the contrary, if another individual has not bonded with puppies as pets, then they will share the latter point of view. In the short story “Puppy” by George Saunders, the multiple characters view single events and objects with contrasting perceptions. Therefore, instead of painting a precise picture of the characters and the plot, the story expresses several views regarding the morals of the characters, the motivations of their actions, and the meaning of the events that take place. In “Puppy”, George Saunders explores the theory that perception is not an elementary, universal definition of an object or idea, but a complex interpretation that is influenced by one’s unique and varying past experiences and opinions. The complexity of perception is evident in one the story’s narrator’s, Marie’s, vantage point.