Everyone has seen someone struggling or struggled with their own problems at some point. That person could have been your best friend, neighbor, a classmate, or it could've been anyone. While they were struggling did you help them out of the hole they are in, even if you had your own problems? Did you just leave them there for either person to help them, or did you take action and help them through it. The same type of help happens in the short story “Raymond’s Run” and the book The Blind Side. “Raymond’s Run” is about a girl who loves running and is the best runner in her neighborhood. While waiting for the announcements at the end of her race, she took a long look at her brother. She realizes that he doesn’t have anything that is completely …show more content…
In both of the selected texts, there is someone that needs help. Another character in the story then proceeds to help them out of the hole they are stuck in. For example, in “Raymond’s Run” the main character, Hazel Parker, turns everything around and helps her younger brother achieve new goals rather than help herself achieve her goals. “And it occurs to me, watching how smoothly he climbs hand over hand and remembering how he looks running with his arms down to his side and with the wind pulling his mouth back and his teeth showing and all, it occurred to me that Raymond would make a very fine runner” (Bambara 6). From this point on, Hazel becomes his coach and helps him along the entire way. At the same time, the same concept is used in The Blind Side, the Touhy family helps out a male high schooler that is in need of help. “This boy was new; he had no clothes; For Lord’s sake, he was walking to school in the snow in shorts, when school was out of session, on the off chance he could get into the gym and keep warm. Of course she took him out and bought him some clothes” (Lewis 68). From that day on, the Tuohy family took care of Michael and treated him like he was Sean and Leigh Anne’s son. They give him shelter, food, clothing, and everything else that he needs to get through his pathway of life. Both texts show that helping others rather than helping yourself is always the …show more content…
Toni Bambara, author of “Raymond’s Run”, describes the setting with the use of specific details to help deepen the plot of the short story. Bambara talks and describes Hazel’s career in running but avoids to say anything about Raymond. It isn’t until at the race where Hazel realizes her brother has a chance at running. As Hazel is standing at the finish line, she starts thinking. “And I’ve got a roomful of ribbons and medals and awards. But what has Raymond got to call his own?” (Bambara 6). On the other hand, Michael Lewis uses specific details to describe to the reader the problems that Michael Oher faces throughout his football career. During his journey of high school life and his real life, Oher faced many different obstacles that helped him achieve his goals. The author used specific details to help the readers understand what he was going through. The details got the reader into his problems and witnessed what it was like from Michael’s point of view and the point of view from the family and friends around him. One of the many obstacles in Michael’s life was getting a driver’s license. “She handed him the driver’s test prep books, and agreed to take him to the Memphis Department of Motor Vehicles, but immediately there was a problem: he couldn’t prove who he was” (Lewis 139). There was no prove anywhere that Michael Oher existed. He did not have a membership anywhere. Leigh Anne thought
In the book this happens after TJ returns home from foster care and becomes involved in gangs, violence, and drugs. TJ is spinning out of control with no direction until one day when his foster care manager comes to school to check in on him. She says, “I can’t save you. You have to do that on your own. You may not know this, but you have choices that you can make. You can choose, TJ” (Tillit 161). This quote directly relates to the theme of the story. In the story TJ is letting others influence his future and leading him down a bad path until his foster manager consults with him. The meeting helps TJ see that he can escape his life of poverty and violence and live a better life
Help and devotion are shown in many different varieties throughout communities. These good acts are documented often in literature. Such is the topic in Ben Mikaelsen’s novel Touching Spirit Bear. People step out of their lives to help others become a better individual. Edwin and Garvey take on the challenge of making Cole Mathews a better person. In Ben Mikaelsen’s Touching Spirit Bear, the help of others enables an individual to transform as illustrated through characterization, epiphanies, and symbols, which shows others that even at peoples worst times, help is all they need.
Terry knew that aches and pains are common in athlete’s lives. At the end of his first year of university there was a new pain in his knee. One morning Terry woke up to see that he could no longer stand up. A week later Terry found out that it was not just an ache he had a malignant tumor; his leg would have to be cut off six inches above the knee. Terry’s doctor told him that he had a chance of living but the odds were fifty to seventy percent. He also said that he should be glad it happened now fore just 2 years ago the chance of living was fifteen percent. The night before his operation a former coach brought Terry a magazine featuring a man who ran a marathon after a similar operation. Terry didn’t want to do something small if he was going to do something he was going to do it big. "I am competitive" Terry said, "I’m a dreamer. I like challenges. I don’t give up. When I decided to do it, I knew it was going to be all out. There was no in between Terry’s sixteen month follow up he saw all the young people suffering and getting weak by the disease. He never forgot what he saw and felt burdened to thoughts that died to run this marathon. He was one of the lucky one in three people to survive in the cancer clinics. Terry wrote asking for sponsorship " I could not leave knowing that these faces and feelings would still be here even though I would be set free of mine, s...
On one instance they met a farmer and his wife, and while the wife invited them to dinner, the husband was reluctant at first do to money being tight because there were no jobs. Josh then says, “Maybe we shouldn’t, Joey and I don’t want to take food you need.” The farmer immediately replies no and invites them to his house for dinner. Josh and Joey almost starved on many occasions and sometimes the only way to stay alive was to eat food out of the garbage cans. Josh never told Joey this is where some of the food came from because it pained him to think about it, and Josh always made Joey stay behind on these occasions, so he would not see him picking garbage cans in desperation. Sadly, what was humiliating was having to go door to door and have people watch as one begs for food in order to stay alive another day. Josh noticed that after only a few weeks how all he thought about was food, and this is another similarity between Josh and his father. All Josh’s father thought about was putting food on the table, and Josh never realized how it could consume one till he had to experience it himself. To wrap up, one can see how begging for food is demeaning and how it can leave one with emotional scars, but it also makes one thankful for the simple necessities in
A huge part of the story showed how a person could overcome all the odds to become successful is feats such as sports and other activities. Most sports champions show great endurance to win many competitions. Similarly, Hillenbrand indicated that Louis, a competitive runner, trained until “he (had) rubbed the skin right off one of his toes, (leaving) his sock bloody” (Hillenbrand 23). As a result of all the hard work, Louis overcome struggles such as a bleeding shin, broken ribs, and a damaged toe to set time records for many races. In my experiences, I see many people take sports and other extra-curricular activities as a burden without embracing the challenges. In contrast, Louis illustrates the rare athlete and human being who seeks solutions to
“Survivor Type” by Stephen King is a short story written as the diary entries of a surgeon (Richard Pine), who while trying to smuggle a large quantity of heroin on a cruise ship, finds himself stranded on a tiny island in the Pacific with no food or supplies. There are some interesting themes and ideas that are portrayed in this story. For example, the story connects to the real world because it's talking about being stuck on a stranded island and trying to survive. Mostly, this explains how someone can become insane without being adequately treated with high amounts of trauma. For example, Richard Pine's last diary entry showed that he became insane already: "Who cares, this hand or that. Good food good meat good God let's eat." Ultimately,
The two previous pieces render that motivation is used to benefit oneself, such as to return back home to family or to become more enlightened. However, The Good Soldier by Michael Griffin, proves that not all people are motivated to help themselves. Kauzlarich Cummings’ motivation to help Izzy’s daughter was not recognition or compensation, but righteousness. The idea of human decency is about being understanding of others situations, and helpful and compassionate to them in times of conflict, and Cummings did just that. Morals and instinct took over after he was presented with the situation of finding immediate medical care for a 16 year old girl who was injured by a bomb. After a number of pointless phone calls, Cummings did what he knew was right. Although Kauzlarich didn’t know if the girl was a citizen or if she was allowed to receive help on an American military medical facility, he helped Izzy’s daughter regardless (Finkel 45-65). Cummings’ motivation shows that in order to overcome mental obstacles people need to be dauntless and comprehensive. Overall this piece shows that, unlike the Odyssey, motivation can be based off of selflessness and compassion. The lesson learned from this selection is simple. Helping others is the right thing to do and it can make people feel better about themselves. Cummings makes a statement at the end of the story that he had never felt so content
Introduction- In order to succeed in life, you have to be open to trying new experiences, even if you know you might fail. If you do fail, you have to persevere and try again if you want to reach your goal. To become better than you are, you must be exposed to new ideas and moments of failure and doubt.
In the novel, the boy notices another little boy and a dog and wanted to give them some of his food because he was genuinely worried about them. However, the man did not let the boy give them any food because he knows that they were going to need it later. Regarding this, the passage also shows the contrast between the boy’s and the man’s mindset; the man is more concerned for their well-being, while the boy is concerned for everyone. I decided to analyze this quote because I felt that it was an important aspect to cover. I thought it was important because it introduces a recurring event, which is that they (the man and boy) should be helping others they see, rather than just letting them
Most people feel that they should help the needy in some way or another. The problem is how to help them. This problem generally arises when there is a person sitting on the side of the road in battered clothes with a cardboard sign asking for some form of help, almost always in the form of money. Yet something makes the giver uneasy. What will they do with this money? Do they need this money? Will it really help them? The truth of the matter is, it won't. However, there are things that can be done to help the needy. Giving money to a reliable foundation will help the helpless, something that transferring money from a pocket to a man's tin can will never do.
The boy constantly begs his father to be sympathetic and charitable to the drifters that they encounter on the road, but the father usually refuses or either puts up an argument before finally giving into the boy, and handing over one or two cans of food to the stranger. Although “the man” is in survival mode, he expresses no compassion for humanity and therefore represents “the bad guys”. “They came upon him shuffling along the road before them, dragging one leg slightly and stopping from time to time to stand stooped and uncertain before setting out again.”(McCarthy 49). “They followed him a good ways but at his pace they were losing the day and finally he just sat down in the road and did not get up again.”(McCarthy 49). “He was burntlooking as the country, his clothing scorched and black.” “One of his eyes was burnt shut and his hair was but a nitty wig of ash upon his blackened skull.”(McCarthy 49, 50). “What is wrong with the man?” “He’s been struck by lightning.” “Can’t we help him?” “Papa?” “No.” “We cant help him.” “The boy kept pulling at his coat.” “Papa?” “Stop it.” “Cant we help him Papa?” “No.” “We can’t help him.” “There’s nothing to be done for him.” “They went on. “The boy was crying” “He kept looking back.” (McCarthy 50). I was agitated with “the man” during this part of the novel, because I feel that he should have at least stopped and checked on the fee...
When people are in need you want to help them but you don’t know how. If you see a homeless person asking for money and food, buy the something to eat and when you give the the food give them some money while you're at it.
The novel “The Outsiders,” by S.E. Hinton can be defined as an emotional, heart breaking, and lesson teaching story. Ponyboy Curtis and Johnny Cade were the youngest in their gang of Greasers. They were all wild boys, who liked looking “tuff” and being known as criminals. Ponyboy and Johnny were not as intimidating as the other greasers, Two-Bit Mathews, Dallas Winston, Darrel Curtis, Sodapop Curtis, and Steve Randle. One night, Ponyboy and Johnny were both out on the street. Out of nowhere some drunken Socs began to chase and beat up the boys. One of the Socs was drowning Ponyboy in a fountain. Johnny saw the danger Ponyboy was in and pulled out his switchblade. He stabbed Bob Sheldon and killed him. The boys did not know what to do, so they ran away to Windrixville, and lived in an abandoned church. They cut their hair and Ponyboy bleached his. Eventually the boys came to their senses and planned to turn themselves in. Dallas came to pick the boys up, but first they went to Dairy Queen to eat. When they drove back to the church they noticed that the church was on fire. Ponyboy and Johnny forced themselves into the church to save the children stuck inside. Ponyboy ended up with a minor concoction and some small burns on his back. While Johnny was not as lucky, an extremely large, heavy, and blazing hot piece of wood fell on him. Both boys were sent to the hospital. Johnny remained in the hospital much longer than Ponyboy. Johnny felt weaker and weaker every day and was getting worse by the minute. After a long and depressing journey, Johnny passed away. Therefore, their group of Greasers would now be presented with how loss and grief could drive people into making illogical decisions.
Eventually his brother helped him get into track. His brother helped but what really urged Louis to join was some feminine temptation at a track meet that his brother brought him to. It wasn’t easy because thought he would be too much of a nuisance. Since Louis was a gifted runner the school allowed him to join. It was thought that giving Louis a sport to compete in would build some character in him. What kept Louis competing in track was that he liked the glory and the crowd cheering at him. Otherwise he would give up and resort to a more criminal path than an athlete. His brother became his personal trainer, building up Louis’s athletic abilit...
When we sacrifice our time to help someone in need, whether it is a great or small need, we become a part of their life and can help alleviate heavy burdens. We feel good for looking outside ourselves and contributin...