Nathan, my narrator and the protagonist of my story, is a junior at South Harding Jr./Sr. High School in a rural town in South Carolina. He’s an average height and build for his age, but he wishes that he’d have a little more muscle as he is insecure about his “noodle arms.” With medium short brown hair and blue, nearly hazel, eyes, he’s not completely unfortunate looking and has gathered some confidence about that fact over the last few years but largely considers himself a wallflower. As with all of us, the middle school years were rough on him, but he worked his way out of it. Since those days, he’s emotionally and physically come a long way, but he's just moving to a new school and worried about finding his place and essentially starting …show more content…
Much of his snark comes from his father who also passed onto Nathan his enjoyment of the classics (oh, the token English enthusiast in stories . . . ). However, his greatest passion is for the sciences. He quietly imagines becoming a chemical engineer. Nathan makes efforts to spend more time with his teachers, so he can learn what he can. Morally, he’s straight-laced. He's drank before (a single beer after a freshman homecoming dance), but passes on smoking or anything further. He respects his parents, and, as with most areas of his life, tries to do the right thing. This desire to do the right thing sometimes leads him to worry about others more than he should and sometimes be involved in their business. He imagines others feel anxious as he does, and he constantly wants to relieve them of that burden of anxiety - which may be his defining characteristic to those who know …show more content…
While one could argue that he serves as a type of unbalanced hero, those days are mostly behind him which demonstrates that none of us are forced to stay an archetype. Nathan is written as a heroic character in his actions and opinions. He personifies the theme of duality that persists throughout the book. As the narrator, the reader quickly trusts and identifies with him. He continuously tries to do the right thing and is relatable due to that desire in most of us. However, we discover two-thirds into the book that he has a little bit of a bumpy past with anxiety and self harming. To me, this is to serve two purposes with the theme. The first is that we should never underestimate what another human being has been through as even the most well adjusted of us can be trying to bury tauma. The other speaks to those with that trauma that we can move past our worst moments as they do not define who we will be for the rest of our
One character that seemed heroic to me was Boobie Miles Uncle. When Boobie was little he went in and out of foster homes, until his Uncle, L.V. Miles, took him in.Thus, L.V. Miles is a hero for Boobie by saving him from foster homes, and setting a good example by teaching him useful things.
A friend has asked the narrator to find Simon Wheeler and to ask him about the Reverend Leonidas W. Smiley.Simon Wheeler doesn’t remember a Reverend Smiley,but he does start to tell a tale about Jim Smiley,a man who loved to make bets.We learn from the start that Smiley loves to gamble,but more importantly perhaps,he likes to bet an animals.”I found simon Wheeler dozing comfortably by the bar-room store of old dilapidated tavern in the ancient mining camp of Angels.”Here explains how Simon is,his behavior this part shows he's a lazy an old school sleeping in a ancient camp that looks like from Angels.”Simon Wheeler backed me into a corner and blocked me there with his chair and then sat me down and rolled off the monotonous narrative which
Murderer, liar, manipulator; these are only a few words that describe the enigmatic Sergeant John Wilson. In the historical book, The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson: A True Story of Love & Murder, written by Lois Simmie, we get acquainted with the complex balancing act of a life John Wilson lived. We find out about his two-faced love life, the bloody solution, and the elaborate cover up. In Simmie’s thought-provoking book, John Wilson abandons his family in Scotland, for a better life in Canada on the force. John battles debilitating sickness along with the decision to double-cross his wife. His young love interest Jessie cares for him as he battles tuberculosis. While, “many young women Jessie’s age would have had second thoughts about commitment
The new phases of life and social context is predicated through the sum of feats and experiences as crises and adversity are usually the greatest motivator which propel individuals to become better than they were before. J.C. Burke’s ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’ (TSTB) is an example of the transitional process through entering a new, unknown area which acts as a catalyst for beneficial change. Obstructed by turmoil both mentally and physically, the protagonist Tom Brennan relieves his severe life in the town of Coghill achieving new standards in conjunction to Lisa Forrest’s article ‘Testing new waters after leaving the swimming pool’ (TNWALTS) is another type towards transitional change that explores the personal crisis and career changes over
Humanity has created this “universal story” of what a hero is, or at least the myth of it, time and again. Different tasks and encounters with a variety of villains all lead the hero to the prize, to a new life (Seger). This person deemed the hero is as ordinary as the next but what makes them different is the drastic test that they must face. Individuals admire this character because the hero stands for something, something bigger than themselves. Whether it be the compassionate act of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games or the death of the oldest brother in Brother Bear, as an outsider, an individual sees the human side of these heroes and relates. Connor Lassiter from Unwind by Neal Shusterman is an ideal example of the myth due to the
he beautiful, deeply moving story of a group of German nuns struggling in earthly goods (but bountiful in Faith) in a small southwestern town and the strong, young African-American man named Homer Smith who happens upon them one day during his travels. Homer loves being a wanderer, free, not tied down to anyone or any job--he has made the back of his station wagon into a bed, takes odd jobs here and there, and travels the country enjoying life. Yet something about the nuns makes him stay. It's not enough to just fix their roof, he soon finds himself wanting to help brighten their lives, sharing his cans of soup and peaches with them (for they have only the meager bread, milk and eggs from their few livestock) and helping to teach them English
When he writes, “I went to look for him, but at the same moment this thought came into my mind, “Don’t let me find him! If only I could get rid of this dead weight, so that I could use all my strength to struggle for my own survival, and only worry about myself”” (pg.101) This is one of the first times you see that the way he has changed mentally because in the beginning of the story, the only thing he cared about was keeping up with his father. This shows that he really doesn’t care about anything besides own survival anymore. Later when his father dies he writes “I did not weep, and it pained me that I could not weep … And, in the depths of my being in the recesses of my weakened conscience, could I have searched it, I might find something like – Free at last!” In this you see that he thought of his father like he was a burden and that he was happy he no longer had to look after him. Also he says that he could not weep over his father’s death when his father used to be the only thing that kept him going, and he never wanted to be separated from his
By high school, he was a full-blown alcoholic, drinking before, after, and even during class.
In this essay I have only shown three, but there are so many more and the traits of a hero are not only restricted to people who save lives, chase bad guys, or change the world. He overcame constant pressures with his determination, led a whole team with his outstanding leadership, and never gave up thanks to his passion. He is a hero to many, no cape, or superpowers needed. So now it’s up to you, is he, or is he not, a
“When you are down in life, your friends get to know who you are. When you're up in life you get to know who your friends are.” -Anonymous. From the novel “Freak the Mighty”, the narrator informs us that Max and Kevin demonstrate a strong friendship. All in all, they were there for each other in the good times and the bad. So in conclusion, good friendship includes teamwork, trust, and having adventures.
traits earn him respect on campus and, most importantly, the friendship of Phineas, whom Gene
As we all know children grow and develop at their own pace but for an adolescent is isn’t just pimples or being too skinny. For adolescents their appearance can make or break their entire school experience. They can either be the popular prom queen such a Claire or maybe even the tough bad boy like Bender. But what about the little guys out there what about the not so pretty or not so big and tough guys what about people like Brian? Brian is very intelligent yet he lacks something that the other boys in the movie have and that is size. Brian is significantly smaller than the other two. For a child like Brian it is difficult to be accepted into social circles that involve things that more mature looking adolescents are involved in. Although this is something adolescents have been having to deal with for generations their appearance can cause then tremendous issues. Like Brian, a child will be pushed around talked over or even bullied for their small stature or in ...
Jess Aarons is an eleven-year-old boy living in a rural area in the South who loves to run. He dreams of being the fastest boy in the fifth grade when school starts up in the fall, feeling that this will for once give him a chance to stand in the spotlight among his five sisters, and might win him the attention of his preoccupied father. Jess is quite insecure/unsure in his identity. He loves to paint and draw, but he knows very well that this labels him a "sissy" in the eyes of most of the world, particularly his father. In addition, his family is stretched so tight by poverty that he has little chance to really explore his own identity during this crucial period of childhood. He has therefore built up the importance of winning in his mind, feeling that here, at least, is something that he is good at which won't win him an undesired label of "sissy" or "girl" in the eyes of his father or schoolmates, and which will allow him to shine in his own right. He practices each morning, always dreaming of his
The person I will be studying has symptoms of alcoholism. We will call him Steve* to make it easier to reference the person. Steve will secretly drink his beer after dinner by going out to the garage or "checking on laundry" since it is close to the garage. He will not admit he has a drinking problem, but it affects his daily life. He got in a farming equipment accident recently and claimed he would make changes “for the better”.