On a foggy day, as you’re walking back from school, a sense of dissatisfaction comes over you. You get bullied by classmates and older siblings, and have a strict guardian who has entered your life and shows no sympathy for you. Amidst these problems, you recognize a stark truth: despite your belief that you can control your life, the reality is that you can’t handle everything on your own. The only solace is in your passion to draw, read, write, and imagine another world as a brief respite from the real world. In the book The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman and the movie A Monster Calls by J. A. Bayona, protagonists face similar situations. They are initially immature and vulnerable, face the wrath of adults, and find that their …show more content…
For once in the story, he apologizes for the way he has hurt his grandma. The Yew Tree monster allows Conor to see where his actions can take him, while also providing comfort when he needs it. This trial-and-error approach, along with the monster’s support, makes Conor grow further into a more mature protagonist by the end of the story. In The Ocean at the End of the Lane, the Hempstocks share a lot of similarities with the Yew Tree monster. The Hempstocks are real people, but they are extremely knowledgeable and powerful beings who help with the troubles of the unnamed narrator. Lettie, the main guide in The Ocean at the End of the Lane, never really fixes the unnamed narrator’s feelings of loneliness in his real life, but rather, she empowers him and offers friendship. The unnamed narrator is a shy, timid 7-year-old who is excited at the prospect of having a new friend that comforts him. She protected him from Ursula Monkton and made him stay at the Hempstock house when he was on the run. When he stayed there, he “felt safe”. It was as if the essence of grandmotherliness had been condensed into that one place, that one time” (Gaiman
Although Susanna Kaysen’s ordinary world is somewhat unstable and ambiguous in its direction, and her call to adventure is life-threatening, Susanna’s circumstances set her on a journey of self-understanding and discovery. There are parallels between Kaysen and Alex McCandless, the
This relates to Stephen King’s idea in “My Creature from the Black Lagoon,” that adults long for and are often reminded of their childhood. Meanwhile, Rita Dove’s essay, “Loose Ends,” and Marie Winn’s essay, “Television Addiction,” each
Although, Chris McCandless may be seen as stupid and his ideals uncanny, he gave up everything to follow his heart he escaped the world that would have changed him, he wrote his own tale to feel free, and he left a conformist world to indulge in true happiness. How many people would just give up their lives, family, material goods, to escape into a world of perfect solitude and peace; not many and Chris was one of those that could and he became and inspiration. “The idea of free personality and the idea of life as sacrifice” (187).
The long journey on planet earth known as life has it ups and downs, growing up as a young individual in today’s world is an obvious rollercoaster. The characters of Phoebe and Theo, are two young girls who endured completely different lives in the books The Hollow Tree, and Awake and Dreaming although they did encounter some similarities throughout their stories. The two children encountered similar family complications, utilised similar coping mechanisms to escape reality, and both became more assertive over their lifespans in the novels. These two novels offer young females readers a logical view on how tough life can get, and how the readers can overcome similar complications they have in their personal lives, while doing all this generating
“People everywhere brag and whimper about the woes of their early years, but nothing can compare with the Irish version”(1), McCourt writes as he begins to describe the world in which he grows up. For he creates a separate world for himself, where people he knows wander in and out whenever they can hold his attention. McCourt’s world serves as a coping mechanism as well as an expression of his creativity. He surrounds himself with the depressing truth about his home and family, but brings in each morsel of truth with his own explanation, often humorous, thus exposing himself only to his interpretation of reality. McCourt’s task is to contain his world in the four hundred sixty pages of the book and to have the reader immersed by the end of the first chapter. The opening pages provide a foundation for McCourt, himself, and for his perception, enabling the reader to follow his stream-of-consciousness sentences throughout the book. He gives a flash preview of the book’s content on the first page, giving the reader an idea of what he is getting into. McCourt then abruptly interrupts himself (which becomes common throughout the book) as though he has forgotten to mention some pertinent fact, and then proceeds to introduce his parents. Although he is now writing from his parents’ point of view, the reader is quite aware that this is still McCourt’s interpretation of their story.
Chris Van Allsburg grew up in a quiet suburban setting in Grand Rapids, Michigan. During the 1950’s, when he was a child, the town was a place that seemed like a haven for any young boy. There were open fields that provided places for the children to enjoy a baseball game in the spring. The houses were not separated by fences, but rather blended together by the yards. The setting in which he grew up provided activities and locations that fostered imagination. He used to go down to the edge of a river and tried to catch tadpoles. Walking around in the wilderness that surrounded his town could be very relaxing and allow for the mind to conjure up many ideas. The child’s mind has a great ability to make up stories, but when you are constantly “practicing” at make-believe, you tend to become better and better at it. You also come to develop your own unique style.
With bright eyes and a fascination for adventure, Chris McCandless was truly one in a million. Chris McCandless, the star of “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer, stirs up powerful emotions in readers, leaving them divided into two camps. His rash behavior and defiance of society's norms can be seen as reckless and troublesome or as inspiration. Chris lived in a middle class household with parents who set him up to have a ‘successful’ future and live out his days as most people would. After high school he went to college, where he discovered his true adventurous soul. Chris was not the type of person to just become a lawyer and live in a nice house. He saw more to life than the conventional and average lifestyle of an American. Although it meant leaving behind his prior life, Chris found happiness in, “endlessly changing horizon(s)” (Krakauer, 57). Chris McCandless died twenty years ago, but he still is an inspiration today because he lived for his happiness.
Our quest to find out who we are is fuelled by the need and longing to find meaningful relationships and a place on earth to which we truly belong. Good morning/ Afternoon Miss Smotlak and class. The common theme of belonging is prominently portrayed through an individual’s interactions with others and the world around them, which can enrich or limit their experience of belonging. Despite having a significant relationship an individual can still feel disconnected to wider society. Despite our greatest effort sometimes a positive resolution is not always possible and individual’s sense of belonging is thwarted. Due to the idea of belonging being such an natural human need it can be seen in texts such as , american actor, filmmaker and political activist Sean Penn’s film ‘Into the Wild’ (2007) illustrating these themes through the true story of Chris Mccandleuss, who grows up in the wealthy Virginia suburbs of Washington D.C only to reject the ways of society and sets of on a lonely journey across the country in order to find out who he is and
Life is a series of questions that people strive to answer through desperate endeavors to put some value and meaning behind their existence and purpose. However, it has been a mystery as to how to achieve those answers. A popular misleading belief is that the answers to life’s questions begin from answering the biggest question of them all “Who am I?” To discover the answer to this and all other questions, people use the assistance of others around them. Interacting and forming relationships with others allows one to not only to get to know those people, but also discover him/herself in that process. Writer Robert Thurman would agree with the notion of the crucial necessity of humans to be interconnected with their community and environment, conversely he would disagree with the concept of defining and labeling the self to just be one determined identity, and he defends this argument in his text “Wisdom.” Similarly, in war veteran and author Tim O’Brien’s narration “How to Tell a True War Story” he illustrates the imperative role that the bond he shared with fellow soldiers played during the Vietnam War and in discovering new things about each other’s personality. However, writer Jon Krakauer takes readers on an expedition to follow the journey of Christopher McCandless in the Alaskan wilderness in his narrative selections from Into the Wild, trying to define McCandless’ identity and believes that isolation from society may lead to the discovery of the self. All three authors delve into the importance that the self and interconnectedness, hold in life. Although they discuss similar concepts, not all three authors have the same viewpoints about the notions. Thurman and O’Brien share similar positions about the self and interconnect...
how children live in a world of their own. Adults try to get into this
Every life is a story. Each living person is somewhere between the beginning and the end of their own story, ever suspended between the past and future on a moment we call the present. In a world full of stories, what distinguishes a tragedy from a happy storyline? Is it the length, the climax, the general direction of the storyline, or the cast of supporting characters? There are many factors that contribute to living “the good life”, but one of the most important is peace with one’s own story, which encompasses resolution and continuity from the past and hopeful expectations for the future.
Don’t fear your original thoughts, trust them and live accordingly. Great men and artists appeal to one because of their creative nature. Thoreau’s Walden tells the reader “Not till we are lost, in other words not till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves, and realize where we are and the infinite extent of our relations”(Thoreau 243). When one’s lost, they are separated from society. It 's just them and no one can affect the way they feel or how they act when they 're alone, they can hear their own voice in their head much clearer, and the only person with them is them.
“Everett was strange, “Sleight concedes. “kind of different. But him and McCandless, at least they tried to follow their dream. That’s what was great about them. They tried. Not many do.” (67) John Krakauer’s book, Into the Wild, briefly makes a comparison between two young boys Chris McCandless and Everett Ruess and fills the reader with different perspectives about them and their experiences. While the author wrote about McCandless he is reminded of Ruess and his book Everett Ruess: A Vagabond for Beauty written by W.L. Rusho and it sparked an interesting comparison between the two. The use of storytelling and letters about McCandless and the use of Artwork, letters,
Think back to your childhood; a time where everything and anything was possible. Magic and imagination was something that was used everyday in your life. Now think about where you are in your life right now. There is no longer any magic or mystery. Neil Gaiman and Antoine De Saint-Exupry write two different novels that include multitudes of fantasy. But in the midst of all of the fantasy is the fact that children and adults think differently. Both of these novels explore the idea that children think positively while adults grow out of that stage, developing a pessimistic way of thinking from what they experience in life.
The imagination is a wonderful escapism that allows one to deal with reality in another form.