Strength of Character in No Rainbows, No Roses
Every man is born with either a silver spoon in his mouth or a shovel in his hand. If the former is the case, that individual can look forward to a life of relative ease and privilege. If it is the latter, however, the person had best prepare himself to dig through the pile of misfortune life is going to heap upon him. This is the balance of life--that for every man born under a shining sun, there is at least one born under ominous gray thunderclouds. Those individuals who have a natural inclination towards hard times do have a certain advantage, however, over those who always seem to have it easy. True adversity gives birth to a strength of character that those who avoid it can never hope to attain, understand, or even recognize.
The most beautiful aspect of this strength of character is that it enables the precious few who possess it to look beyond the hazy curtain of their suffering and reach out to those around them, touching them with something that cannot be defined and will not be forgotten. Perhaps the reason that bad things always seem to happen to good people is that without a foundation of "goodness," this strength of character could not exist and all suffering would be in vain.
This stirring strength can be seen in Beverly Dipo's essay, "No Rainbows, No Roses." Dipo, a nurse, relates her experience of being touched by the strength of a dying woman. This woman, Mrs. Trane, was at the end of her long battle with cancer. Dipo had never seen Mrs. Trane before, but when she entered her patient's room, all her previous medical experience told her she was about to witness Mrs. Trane's last night. Gathering the sterile comfort of this medical knowledge around her, Dipo began her usual ministrations, trying to make her patient as comfortable as possible. Touched by the weakness and fragility of her patient, Dipo pulled a chair up and sat by Mrs. Trane's side. She was bothered by the absence of the dying woman's family until Mrs. Trane weakly stated, "I . . . sent . . . my . . . family . . . home . . . tonight . . . didn't want . . . them . . . to .
After reading Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, I observed that both these texts share a few similarities in the way the authors portray the difficulties their characters have to face, in order to get to where they are now. After researching a few rags to riches stories and using Slumdog Millionaire and The Pursuit of Happyness as my primary sources, I found out that successful individuals from harsh backgrounds shared similar complications, yet they had the will and perseverance to get to where they are now. They faced difficulties such as dealing with poverty and hardships of everyday life, struggling to overcome the effects of addiction and abuse. They found ways to overcome these difficulties through things like having some form of education, and utilizing their knowledge, to manipulate opportunities to their advantage in order to bring about success.
Once, a wise soul has spoken, “Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful”. Adversity means having troubles and difficulties. It’s what you need to persevere through in order to do something you’ve wanted to do for a long time. If you want to pass that test, you’ve gotta conquer your fears and fight through all the troubles that arrive in front of you. Become your own hero. Adversity is a situation that took place in the novel “The Outsiders”, by S.E. Hinton.
There is no strength that is more true, more triumphant and more innocent then the power of goodness and innocence. However, Evil always is at advantage with supernatural powers whereas no matter how strong it is,
In conclusion, many soviets citizens appeared to believe that Stalin’s positive contributions to the U.S.S.R. far outweigh his monstrous acts. These crimes have been down played by many of Stalin’s successors as they stress his achievements as collectivizer, industrializer, and war leader. Among those citizens who harbor feelings of nostalgia, Stalin’s strength, authority , and achievement contrast sharply with the pain and suffering of post-revolutionary Russia.
Stalin’s hunger for power and paranoia impacted the Soviet society severely, having devastating effects on the Communist Party, leaving it weak and shattering the framework of the party, the people of Russia, by stunting the growth of technology and progress through the purges of many educated civilians, as well as affecting The Red Army, a powerful military depleted of it’s force. The impact of the purges, ‘show trials’ and the Terror on Soviet society were rigorously negative. By purging all his challengers and opponents, Stalin created a blanket of fear over the whole society, and therefore, was able to stay in power, creating an empire that he could find more dependable.
We have all been faced with countless tragedies in our lives such as the loss of a loved one or a divorce, which have tested our personal strengths. Losing your mother takes a lot out of you as a person. While reading the book and realizing how close Strayed and her mother were, Lord only knows how empty she felt inside. Personal strengths are mostly defined as incidents, or knowledge of incidents that surround our day to day lives.With no experience or training, Strayed decided to up and leave her entire way of life only driven by blind will. Strayed stated, “I knew that if I allowed fear to overtake me, my journey was doomed. Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. Nothing could vanquish me” (Strayed 30). She went o...
Many people who have succeeded in life have faced hardships. Hardships give people the opportunity to overcome difficulties and came back stronger. That is why hardships can strengthen a person.
Therefore, I can conclude that history has judged Stalin fairly as a villain. Even though it can be debated that Stalin helped to end World War 2 and with his Five-Year Plans he industrialized the Soviet Union via centralized administration and collectivisation. But the Five-Year Plans, despite its lofty aims, turned out to be disastrous in its execution. Labour camps were set up, where millions died. The process of ‘collectivization’ destroyed millions of acres of land and livestock. The poor farmers, who were supposed to be the beneficiaries of the Five-Year Plans, suffered and died from starvation. Stalin’s economic policies had benefitted the government, at the expense of the lives of his citizens. It was an atrocious abuse of human rights, and history is right in condemning Stalin as one of the world’s worst dictators.
During Stalin’s regime, the individual Russian was the center of his grand plan for better or worse. Stalin wanted all of his people to be treated the same. In the factory the top producer and the worst producer made the same pay. He wanted everyone to be treated as equals. His goal to bring the Soviet Union into the industrial age put tremendous pressure on his people. Through violence and oppression Stalin tried to maintain an absurd vision that he saw for the Soviet Union. Even as individuals were looked at as being equals, they also were viewed as equals in other ways. There was no one who could be exempt when the system wanted someone imprisoned, killed, or vanished. From the poorest of the poor, to the riches of the rich, everyone was at the mercy of the regime. Millions of individuals had fake trumped up charges brought upon them, either by the government or by others who had called them o...
A person’s character is developed by the surroundings around them as well as their experiences. The Roman poet Horace quotes “…Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents in which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant…” I agree with the Roman poet, Horace, in that adversity has a way of waking talent from slumber. Adversity can encourage people in ways success and wealth cannot, as there is a benefit in the hardship. In Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, as well as Macbeth, by Shakespeare, adversity has developed the characters. From my observation, I strongly agree that experiences, such as hardship and danger, shape a person.
Stalin and many other dictators at this time are becoming totalitarian dictators. This is because of many aspects about their lives they had and the state of the country they controlled. In Stalin’s case, Russia is in ruins and it is in chaos. He also has a life that molds him into a communist and paranoid person. He also using his administrative skills and maneuvering establishes a place for him in his party. So Stalin was successful in becoming a totalitarian dictator and turning Russia into a communist state because Russia was in chaos, he maneuvers to establish a powerful place in the communist party, and his reign of terror gets rid of all the enemies he has.
Lenin’s death in 1924 left uncertainty about who should become the next leader. Lenin had discussed within his inner circle and mentioned Stalin and Trotsky as possible candidates but stated that Stalin should not succeed him because he was rude. Only Lenin’s inner circle knew about these sentiments. From the beginning Stalin was placed in opposition to Trotsky. After Stalin came to power in 1924 an opposition mounted involving Trotsky, Zinoviev, and Kamenev, this united opposition called for local control and autonomy as well as opening up debate within the party.The opposition had a centrist position in politics that aligned itself with the previous position of Lenin. Bukharin was another of Stalin’s opposition he represented the right and called for a continuation of NEP policy.Stalin opposed his stance by calling for rapid industrialization. In 1926, Zinoviev, Trotsky, and Kamenev were removed from the Politburo because Stalin saw them as a threat. On July 11th, 1928 there was an exchange between Kamenev and Bukharin in this communication they express a need for Stalin to be overthrown because he is manipulating ideology to support his positions.(Suny 2003)...
Much like Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin was one of the most ruthless and despised people in the recorded history of the world. Stalin though his policies found it fit to abused his people in any way he saw fit. This man started what history now calls "The Great Purges."
Stalin consolidated his power base with the Great Purges against his political and ideological opponents, most notably the old cadres and the rank and file of Bolshevik Party (Stalin 2). The population suffered immensely during the Great Terror of the 1930s, during which Stalin purged the party of ‘enemies of the people’, resulting in the execution of thousands and the exile of millions to the gulag system of slave labor camps (Joseph 1). He also orchestrated a massive famine in the Ukraine in which a estimated 5 million people died (Stalin 2). It is believed that with the purges, forced famines, state terrorism, labor camps, and forced migration, Stalin was responsible for the death of as many as 40 million people within the borders of the Soviet Union (2). These purges severely depleted the Red Army, and despite repeated warnings, Stalin was ill prepared for Hitler’s attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941 (Joseph 1). His political future, and that of the Soviet Union, hung in the balance, but Stalin recovered to lead his country to victory (1).
Most of us go through difficulties, either they be family orientated, be financially based or even with ourselves but, to take hardships and look at them in a positive way is, an attribute that can make anyone successful. Failure is not the end but the beginning of a life lesson. Some of us have setbacks but to remind oneself their only minor setbacks and look at difficulties in a positive manner is a key to success. Obstacles should never deter ones decisions in life either but should be their for encouragement and set a limit to over achieve. One must have the courage to face problems instead of negating or dwelling on them. Learning how to manage those difficulties in a positive manner and overcome those hardships can help become successful.