Short Story Essay (The Boy and the Loon) Life and cultural challenges are often a continuous competition between success and failure. These traits of humanity can exist with either a victorious outcome or a painful setback. The cultural challenges and the meaningful short story, The Boy and the Loon, by Chief Lelooska, a scholar of Cherokee descent, demonstrate the virtue of kindness through a young boy’s help in return for helping another: “The more we give away, the more is given to us.”-Wayne W. Dyer. The text unveils a vital lesson that teaches how people must live together and be good humans across generations, which European colonization has impacted the majority of the world. In turn, The Boy and The Loon, by Chief Lelooska, portrays …show more content…
Although hesitant to forgive the people who turned their backs on him, the Loon Chief eventually convinced him to let it go by saying, “You must forgive your people. You must forget the sickness and remember only the song of power I give you. You must help the people, even though they ignore you in your suffering.” (Lelooska 20). People get that grudge against the ones who turn them on, and it is only natural. But to be good to humans is to be good to others, even when they may not be good to you. The author shows this in the passage when the boy is healed with a second chance, the lesson of being human is then taught to the boy by the Loon Chief. Stereotypically, human natural instincts take a heavy toll on the ones that are not fair to them. However, this text demonstrates that the ones who do that may not have the experience of learning to be good human beings after all. Therefore, the Indigenous culture teaches a grand lesson in which everyone can learn about the importance of being a good …show more content…
Kindness displayed to others can require very little, but can ultimately mean more than anyone can imagine. Regarding kindness in this cultural tale, the boy helped the distressed loon, knowing he probably would not get much back in return. Like most people, the boy was going to ignore the loon at first, but with the good nature of the boy coming out, “He thought of the suffering in the eyes of the poor creature” (Lelooska 16) and saved the loon. The boy saved the loon from the mink trap but had the option to completely ignore it or even kill it for food, moving on with his Nobel day. But little did the boy know that his little selfless action would eventually save him. Although one performs an act of kindness without anyone around, one special person from above will always see it and will owe it back one day. In most instances, people put themselves before others, to get what is best for themselves. However, this cultural novel disproves this mindset, showing how the loon was just testing the boy all along who eventually repaid the favor, showing the significance of kindness. The virtue of kindness brings all people together and breaks the borders of all social classes and cultures. This narrative is portrayed in this story by having a boy of high social class lose everything he had in an instant but is given another
In the book “The Boys of Winter” by Wayne Coffey, shows the struggle of picking the twenty men to go to Lake Placid to play in the 1980 Olympics and compete for the gold medal. Throughout this book Wayne Coffey talks about three many points. The draft and training, the importance of the semi-final game, and the celebration of the gold medal by the support the team got when they got home.
In the book “There Are No Children Here” by Alex Kotlowitz, the author followed the lives of two young brothers (Lafayette and Pharoah) while they grew up in the harsh streets of Chicago in the late 1980’s. The author uses the story of the two boys’ lives to discuss the social divide in our very own society and to persuade readers that there is a major problem in “the projects” of the United States.
A Child Called 'It' by Dave Pezler. Setting:.. 1-Russian River - "The Russian River" The Russian River is a place in California where Dave and his family usually go for vacation. He remembers this place as a quiet and peaceful place. He remembers how he and his brothers would play, how his mother would hug him, and how they would all watch the sunset together.
"It was called the Earthboy place, although no one by that name (or any other) had lived in it for twenty years."(166)James Welch in his fictitious allegory, "The Earthboy Place," presents the idea of how assimilation has caused many Indians to stop continuing with their lives as a native. Consequently, they leave their homelands to earn a living in another "world" which shows adaptation to the Westerners' culture; likewise to the writing of McNickle's.
"Children of the Forest" is a narrative written by Kevin Duffy. This book is a written testament of an anthropologist's everyday dealings with an African tribe by the name of the Mbuti Pygmies. My purpose in this paper is to inform the reader of Kevin Duffy's findings while in the Ituri rainforest. Kevin Duffy is one of the first and only scientists to have ever been in close contact with the Mbuti. If an Mbuti tribesman does not want to be found, they simply won't be. The forest in which the Mbuti reside in are simply too dense and dangerous for humans not familiar with the area to enter.
The book, Into the wild, takes us into the world of a young man named Christopher Johnson McCandless. He travelled across the western United States from 1990 to 1992, and on April 28, 1992, he started his last adventure and walked into the wilds of Alaska. About 112 days later, he died of starvation. Unsurprisingly, public opinion polarized on his behavior. Some may admire his courage and noble ideals, though some regard him as an idiotic and arrogant narcissist. Although he died on his way to find the truth and back to nature, I believe that Chris McCandless should be considered as a hero, but I cannot completely approve of all his behaviors.
James Loewen wrote the book ?Lies My Teacher Told ME? to help the students of the United States become aware of their true history. This book attempts to show how and why American history has been taught the way it has without regard for the truth. Mr. Loewen had compared twelve different history textbooks they are: The Great Republic, The American Way, Land of Promise, Rise of the American Nation, Challenge of Freedom, American Adventures, Discovering American History, The American Tradition, Life and Liberty, The United States ? A History of the Republic, Triumph of the American Nation and The American Pageant. Loewen has argued his cases for Heroification, Euorcentrism and the first settlers, and Racism in our history. He has done this knowing fully that most people do not want to know the harsh realities of our nations past. The United States has tried to maintain a positive image throughout history. Unfortunately, it has many skeletons in its closet that need to come out to heal this great nation on many levels. If the public at large new the real role of racism in our nations infancy and how men tried to pursue their way of thinking as opposed to what is good for the country they would be ashamed at what the United States has stood for in the past.
I chose the book, The Child Called “It” because one of my friends told me about the book. The whole story line caught my attention. I was amazed at what was going on in this boy’s life. This book, a true story, is very emotional. The title relates to the book because his mother calls the boy, David Pelzer, “It”. She does not call him by his real name. His mother treats him like he is nothing but an object. Also, I think the title fits well because it catches people’s attention and gives a clue what the book is about.
1. In the book, the father tries to help the son in the beginning but then throughout the book he stops trying to help and listens to the mother. If I had been in this same situation, I would have helped get the child away from his mother because nobody should have to live like that. The father was tired of having to watch his son get abused so eventually he just left and didn’t do anything. David thought that his father would help him but he did not.
A Child Called "It", by Dave Pelzer, is a first person narrative of a child’s struggle through a traumatic abused childhood. The book begins with Dave telling us about his last day at his Mother’s house before he was taken away by law enforcement. At first I could not understand why he had started at the end of his tale, but after reading the entire book it was clear to me that it was easier to read it knowing there indeed was a light at the end of the dark tunnel. This horrific account of extreme abuse leaves us with a great number of questions which unfortunately we do not have answers for. It tells us what happened to this little boy and that miraculously he was able to survive and live to see the day he left this hole which was his home, however, it does not tell us why or even give us a good amount of background with which to speculate the why to this abuse.
A Child Called It was about the struggles of a young boy named Dave Pelzer. Dave was put through hard times and at some point lost hope in his dreams and doubted the humanity of mankind, but in the end because of his strong will he was able to overcome his problems and make a better life for himself.
"The Cherokee people tell the story of a young boy who has been badly wronged by someone he considered a friend. The boy, hurt and furious, tells his grandfather about the incident. His grandfather nods and replies, "At times, I too have felt hatred for those who do great harm and seem to feel no sorrow about it. But hate wears a person down and does not hurt the enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing the enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times. It is as if two wolves live inside me; they live inside you, too. One wolf is good. He is peaceful, generous, compassionate, and wise. He lives in harmony with all those around him and does not easily take offense. He fights only when it is right to do so. But the other
In ‘Son of a Trickster’ written by Eden Robinson, Jared’s journey highlights the impact of generational substance use disorder (SUD) and its influences while growing up, as well as the portrayal of SUD as a coping mechanism and the economic effects of SUD throughout the novel, all tied into the Marxist theory. First, the impact of generational SUD as well as Jared's environment growing up is a major factor in Jared’s use of substances. Throughout the novel, both Jared's mother's and father's substance use are prominent themes within the novel. There are many instances when both of his parents' SUDs are mentioned. One example is when Jared is texting his grandmother during her cruise about spending Christmas with her, but he decides not to,
About to be sizzling bacon and yummy pork chomps, Babe had kept his time in the barn with the rest of the sheepdogs, impressing Farmer Hoggett to be an outstanding handler of the stubborn flocks instead of being on the grill for some delicious lunch. In Babe the Gallant Pig, Dick King Smith explores the idea of positive messages, like for example, with hard work and perseverance a positive result could be shown. Throughout the novel, Babe was shown to just be a random livestock pig won by Farmer Hoggett at the fair, then later shows his surprising talent and aptitude of controlling a flock even better than a regular sheep dog. You can see dedication being a highlight throughout the book because Babe has been working hard for the spot he has by helping out and working every single day,
Parents tell their children to think first and act second. Most people forget this as illustrated in Yann Martel’s satire “We ate the Children Last,” written in 2004. It starts out with an operation and humans are given a pigs digestive tract to cure cancer. Because the operation made people eat garbage, they gave it to the poor At this point everybody wants to have this operation. When people started going cannibalistic, the government puts them together to eat each other. This started out as a good thing by curing cancer. After that everybody from the poor to the people administering the operation didn’t pause long enough to consider the consequences. Real world examples of people not pausing to consider the consequences are seen frequently, whether, it be on a small or big scale. Yann Martel is saying that