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My Role Model
In my life I have had very few role models. They have been mostly famous people I see on TV like Michael Jordan, but what young man hasn't wanted to seemingly fly through the sky and slam dunk a basketball? But as you grow older and mature you soon realize that more than just famous people can be role models to you. To me one of my role models is my friend Nick.
Nick and I are a lot alike. We both grew up without a father and had a very supportive mothers who love us very much. Nick is three years older than me and we have been friends for about two years. To begin to understand why I look up to Nick you will first have to learn about his past and where he is now.
Like I said Nick grew up in a single parent home where the dad was gone. He went to school like everyone else. Every week he went to church on Wednesday and Sunday. His mom struggled to support him by working several jobs, although she was there when he needed her his relationship with her was strained.
Through high school Nick played sports and hung out with a variety of people. Some good, some not so good. Eventually he fell victim to the so called "party crowd". He started drinking, doing drugs, and selling drugs. He just didn't care what others thought. All the while he was doing this he continued to go to church and pretend everything was fine. Eventually Nick graduated and moved on to college where things would get worse.
His first year of college all he did was party. It got so bad that he was out five nights a week drinking. After his grades started to suffer he realized he had a problem. All this while he was still going to church. Church is eventually where he turned to find help. After kicking his bad habits Nick decided to help others who might have problems like his.
Nick decided the best way to help others was to get involved in as an adult leader in the youth ministries program. He has really shown me what is like to grow up and take responsibilities. The reason I most look up to him is because he has turned away from all that pressure the world puts on people to be popular and is doing something with his life.
Now this was the first time Jordan and Nick came into contact with one another, and it is said that the first impressions are extremely important. However, for a strong moral person like Nick, his reaction is surprising when he simply states, "I enjoyed looking at her."(pg. 27 ln 23)This is a sign of his first stages of development, which will soon result into what the author intended.
(2.) Nic Sheff is a chronic slipper when it comes to staying sober. He has gone in and out of rehabs faster than you would think possible. Finding excuses to use drugs again and eventually hit rock bottom seem to be his only skills in life. After what seemed to be an infinite struggle with himself, Nic finally pulls through and stays sober. His book shows these hardships and how he deals with them on the road to recovery. Some of his decisions are well thought-out, and others, not so much. He keeps the story alive by believing in a higher power, his passion for living and his love of others. While sober, he continues to be painfully aware of how much he has hurt others by using, especially his mom. "Sometimes I think she would just prefer it if I was gone completely, so she wouldn't have to deal with me and so her children would be safe. It hurts my feelings, but I don't blame her. I know what I've done." (197, Sheff) Nic's parents feel like they can't trust him after all the lying, cheating and stealing he has done while under the influence of drugs. I wouldn't either, but they find it somewhere in their hearts to forgive him and cautiously let him into their lives in the end. Honestly, I cannot relate to much of this at all. I have never used drugs, been kicked out of my parent's house or prostituted to make money to buy even more drugs. Nic had a terrible childhood filled with screaming fights between his (now-divorced) parents and nights left alone while mine was just fine. He has a bipolar disorder and severe depression while I do not. The amount of differences are uncountable.
Finally, Nick’s inability to involve himself emotional with anyone is also a problem. He is more of a bystander than a participant. He fears of being close to anyone, and mostly just gets along with everything. That is a problem. He needs to find someone to listen to, instead of him always being the listener. This emotional distance, which he has, is not a healthy thing for him and can cause him to end being a loner.
Nick is the narrator and observer of the story. The only information about him is that he is Mels best friend, Laura...
However, as research detects, people internalize about themselves at the age of six, and this also holds true for nick. Even though he made a drastic change later in life it is because of the internalization he made. As a result, I absolutely agree with the term “give me a child until he is seven, and I will give you the man.” Some might argue that how come he evolves by a far degree if he internalized himself at age six. The reason behind this is that just because he is shy does not mean that he do not understand what he wanted to do, identify who he is, and what his goals are. The problem is that he had a hard time expressing it. This can be attributed to his introvert personality.
He wasn’t happy being with her anymore. He had cheated on Amy with one of his students at a college, and fell in love with her. Amy found out and soon wanted revenge on him. She decided that she would frame Nick for murdering her. “...I began to think of a different story, a better story, that would destroy Nick for doing this to me. A story that would restore my perfection…” (Flynn 234). She had and stole Nick’s money, left presents for him all over town, and staged a “crime scene” in their living room. When Nick went to the police, they were already suspicious. Nick’s sister Margo realizes what she’s doing and states “She’s keeping Nick running in circles, she’s amusing herself. I’m sure she was happy just knowing what a guilt trip it must be for Nick to be reading all these sweet notes…” (Flynn 256). While Amy was hiding out and enjoying herself, “She was gone, yet she was more present than anyone else” (Flynn 214). Nick would’ve never thought she was willing to go to such great lengths to get back at him. He never really knew her at all, it
development of a genuineness. & nbsp; Another time that Nick shows his development into a more genuine. person is when he helps rekindle the love between Jay Gatsby and Daisy. He does this by setting up a surprise meeting at his house. Gatsby knew of this because he had asked him to do it. At this time in the novel is when Nick says "I'm going to call Daisy tomorrow and invite her over here to tea. It is a good idea. (Gatsby, p.82) This shows that Nick is genuine because he is trying.
Throughout the entirety of The Great Gatsby, Nick continuously elucidates on his poorness in many scenes. For instance, Gatsby, knowing that Nick was poor and did not earn much income, offered him an easy job, which Nick refused due to his honor. While detailing his past experiences to validate his reliability, Nick claimed that his fami...
Nick often does not speak of himself but when he has, he has referred to himself as “one of the few honest people that (he) has ever known,” (Fitzgerald 59) but seems to act the complete opposite of said characteristics. Nick starts of the novel by saying “In consequence I am inclined to reserve all judgments,” but all he seems to do is just that, labeling Jordan liar when he, himself, is also a liar. Nick also tells of how shallow his “friends” are but he himself is shallow as well. Nick cannot be relied upon to practice what he preaches and therefore cannot be relied upon to write the complete truth. Nick’s hypocritical nature demolishes his credibility as a person, and therefore as a narrator.
Nick enjoyed going out in public with Jordan since she was a famous athlete. Yet Nick finally realizes she is not in love with her due to her dishonesty. Jordan is egocentric of her reputation as seen in her cheating scandal when she used her superiority to display her win as a fait accompli, even though she evidently cheated. Thus, Jordan lies to get away from her problems and keep her reputation spotless. Fitzgerald juxtaposes Nick with Jordan, “She was incurably dishonest. She wasn’t able to endure being at a disadvantage and...in order to keep that cool smile, insolent smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hard, jaunty body...Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply--I was casually sorry, and then I forgot...I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known” (Fitzgerald 58-59). Even if Nick is fastidious about Jordan and her imperfections, he is still fond of her due to her physical attributes. Nick was intrigued about her physical appearance, being with her due to her reputation, and hedonistically attracted towards her. On the other hand, Nick has evidently proven he has moral values such as honesty. Nick has been honest throughout the novel and evidently he has a sense of self-worth since he has never doubted himself for his opinions or his actions. Throughout the novel, Nick has evidently displayed personal integrity and a sense of right or wrong unlike the
4). Nick’s assessment and criticism toward Jordan, Tom, and Daisy also show his skeptical and logical outlook on others around him. This tone shows Nick’s struggle between being like the emotionless and careless people around him (like Tom) or to be his own hopeful and romantic man (following
Nick begins the novel with wise advice his father once told him, “‘Whenever you feel like criticizing any one...just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had”’(1). Nick starts off by reminding himself and informing that throughout the story, save your judgements to yourself and try to put yourself in his or her position. His words are also a reminder that in society today, people tend to judge too quickly and we need to remember that everyone is not in the same position as we are. There will always be someone more or less fortunate than us, and we must be grateful for what we are given.
Nick too can be just as careless and false as the rest of them . Nick acts intrested in
Gender has affected my life in many ways, but most of all I would say that from a young age I was given the impression that part of a woman’s value came from her ability to attract the opposite sex, and due to this mindset for a long time I felt as though I was ugly and difficult to love. There are so many expectations placed upon women based solely on the fact that they are female. Women are meant to be gentle, quiet, and respectful at all times but most of all they are expected to be pretty. Being physically appealing means different things depending on where you live, however, In western society it appears to mean being a tall, skinny, preferably blonde, Caucasian female and if you happen to match this criteria you’ve essentially hit the
The first theme I chose to focus on was freedom. I chose this simply because of the fact that he uses this word repeatedly throughout his book. I thought this was a great theme because he constantly talks about how you cannot and should not let yourself get bogged down worrying about what other people think about you or how other people perceive you. Nick believes that you are in control of you and only you, and if other people do not accept you for who you are, then that is on them and that is their problem. Nick says that people must stop trying to live up to everyone else’s expectations. He also says that we have to stop these negative attitudes, despite what our circumstances are, and we have to stop the nonsense of thinking we are not “good enough.” I chose the image of a person who has different paths in front of them to choose from. I chose this to depict that everyone always has options no matter what their circumstances are. Everyone has a choice of how they will live, as well as what their attitude and outlook on life will be. Nick learns th...