Katherine Acland
The Messenger
Markus Zusak
‘The Messenger’ by Markus Zusak is a powerful book cantered on a mediocre and kind of lazy cab driver called Ed Kennedy. After stopping a seemly half-hearted robbery, Ed begins to receive cards that tell him where to go, but it is up to him to decide what to do when he gets there. Throughout this book the theme of friendship was prominent as Ed strengthens his relationship with his friends and helps them with their struggles. He is a very realistic character and is brutally honest which made me like him and enjoy the book even more.
I thought that Friendship was an important theme throughout this book. Ed has three friends who he plays cards with. Even though he sees his friends regularly, he feels
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alone and like he cannot tell them about his journey. He and his friends do not share personal stories or opinions and so at times, the friendships seemed superficial and shallow. I thought that this was an incredibly thought-provoking way of showing a different kind of friendship. Ed felt alone when he was with them and often zoned out, but still called them his closest friends. It showed me that even though your best friends can be the ones who simply stay with you, you have to be able to dig deeper into their lives to see what they need and actively participle in the relationship. What I found disappointing was that Ed needed to get a card that had his friend’s names on it for him to figure out that he needed to help each one of them. Ed had to learn more about each of his friends in order to complete the card and in doing so, improved the relationships between them. He was able to make deeper connections with them that will last a lifetime and change their friendship for the better. The strongest example of this for me was when he talked to Ritchie. Like Ed, Ritchie believes that he hasn’t amounted to anything and won’t. This mind-set makes him always slightly miserable and lazy as he doesn’t believe in himself anymore. Ed talks to him and brutally tells him “Ritchie – you’re an absolute disgrace to yourself” before having a drink by the river. This is what I found really realistic. In other books, characters have deep and meaningful talks or give inspiring speeches in order to try and change a person’s view on their selves. But Ed and Ritchie are 19-year-old men and I don’t think that deep conversations or inspiring speeches are likely to happen between them just yet. I found this easy to understand and recognise that it would work as it seemed natural and easy to imagine. It does indeed work and "Ritchie bypasses the pub and the betting shop the next day and actually starts looking for a job." Ed managed to get Ritchie to get more optimistic about his future and start looking for opportunities in (what I thought) a practical and genuine way that didn’t damage their relationship. This made me think about what I do when I notice that one of my friends is upset and if I manage to be honest with them or not. It also made me realize how different types of friendships can be and how that is completely okay as long as you are patriating in the friendship. I felt like Ed was a true friend to Ritchie there and he did something which I could never do to a friend without worry. He was brutally honest and that made me like him and respect him more. Ed was a character that I really admired as he was able to change himself from a lazy and quite pathetic cab driver, to a confident, independent and mature person. While he was doing all those challenges that were presented to him, he was slowly changing himself into a better person and going through some serious personal development. One example in the book when I could tell that he had changed immensely was during Christmas at his mum’s house.
He was walking away from his brother sitting on the steps and thought, “I’d rather chase the sun than wait for it”. This is a huge contrast to what he thought about himself at the start, “It's scared and slippery as I wait for something to happen.”. That summed up Ed’s philosophy about his life and what he does with it. When I read ‘I’d rather chase the sun than wait for it’, I immediately thought of how different that was to how Ed thought in the beginning of the book. It was really impressive to me as that signalled a big amount of personal development that came from doing small things to make other people’s lives better. Ed changes himself but does nothing to benefit himself in the process. What I think that Markus Zusak was attempting to show was how everyone is able to change and improve their selves without ignoring people around them and their own problems or insecurities. Ed had a strong sense of accomplishment and purpose after he helped each person mentioned in the cards which I think shows how people need to look out for others more and that it is enough to only do simple things for strangers as that could make a massive difference. Ed was the most ordinary and simple person I could ever think of and at the end of the book, he had subtly transformed into a confident and mature person who cares more about people and life than he did before. The last …show more content…
words in the book were, “I’m not the messenger. I’m the message”. I found this to be a really powerful way to end the book, as it left me with thinking about how ordinary people can surpass expectations set for them with only a little guidance. It left me hopeful to think that if somebody living their life like Ed did at the start of the book can change into an optimistic and confident person then surely everyone is able to. Markus Zusak made an incredibly realistic character that I completely admired and looked up to as he was able to change himself into a better person by simply doing small things for other people. I feel that everyone today can learn from Ed about what to do when faced with a stranger and their own problems. I think Markus Zusak made an interesting and powerful novel about friendship and surpassing expectations.
I think that this novel has important life lessons throughout it that serve to help the reader relate to Ed and his life. This novel showed me a different kind of friendship and portrayed it in a way that showed how the best friends are sometimes the ones who are just there. This is important to me as most other books that I have read, show that best friendship is where people talk to the other about everything. I don’t talk to my friends about everything so seeing that made me question if our friendship would last. This novel helped me to realise that different friendships are able to be just as strong and important. Ed was an incredibly realistic character I admired for being able to change himself without doing anything that directly benefits him. I thought that the idea of helping others to help yourself personally develop is so important in today’s society as there is lots bullying, racism, homophobia and hate speech. ‘The Messenger’ was an amazing novel that I really enjoyed and would recommend to anyone who wants an interesting and easy
read.
A movie, “The Other Sister,” is about two mentally challenged people name Carla Tate and Daniel. Carla Tate, a 24-year old woman, return to San Francisco from a sheltered boarding school after long years. After rejoining with her overprotective mother Elizabeth, a gentle and thoughtful father Radley, and two young and older sisters, Carla announces that she wants to attend a local school called Bay Area Polytech, a normal vocational school. Nevertheless of her mother Elizabeth’s disapproval, Radley supports her to pursue her dream. On the first day, Carla meets a boy named Danny and helps him when someone calls him “retarded.” They both get close to each other and fall in love quickly. Carla envied Danny for living on his own, so
Friendship is a necessity throughout life whether it is during elementary school or during adulthood. Some friendships may last a while and some may last for a year; it depends on the strength of the bond and trust between the two people. In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the main characters, Gene and Finny, did not have a pure friendship because it was driven by envy and jealousy, they did not feel the same way towards each other and they did not accurately understand each other.
One of the ways Steinbeck shows the importance of friendship is through interactions between characters. In the
The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson is a book that depicts two different people, that mainly focuses on jealousy, rivalry and the power of obsession over half a century. There are many characters in the novel and they build relationships with one another that eventually become intertwined. The relationships that are built end up having an effect on the character, and contributes something different to his understanding of himself and the decisions he makes. Ian in the novel is an example of that, where the relationships he builds with the others, helps him find who he is as a person and affects the decisions he makes. Specifically through the relationships with Pete, his father, and Jake, he gains something different from each character which proves to be vital to who he is. Without these characters, Ian would be very different, as each character contributed something to Ian’s ultimate understanding of himself.
To begin with, according to Lucius Annaeus Seneca, “One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood”. Even this quote explains that true friendship is when an individual stands for another individual. In the novel Of Mice and Men, author John Steinbeck examine the idea of friendship between two migrant ranch worker even when there was difficulties. Through the character of Slim and George, author Steinbeck illustrates friendship and reveals that friendships stand up for each other even when is difficult time.
Ed learns to face all of his fears, and he was able to rise above his feelings of incompetence as he helps others in areas where they need the most help in. Some of the messages that Ed receive are as simple, for example, buying an ice cream cone for a single mother, a church that needs congregation, but others put Ed in real danger. Ed’s last message, delivered on the joker card, it's for Ed himself. During the delivery of this message, Ed realized that “he was not the messenger, but rather he was the message itself.”( Zusak, p. 357). This quote shows that even ordinary ones, can rise about their perceived ability to make a difference in the world. Through his journey, Ed discovers that he has now become “full of purpose rather than incompetence, he also becomes more confident, and also improved him as a human
Through a careful reading of the deer-hunting scene in Deliverance and "Fog Envelops the Animals" the argument that Ed begins his transformation to a true hunter and killer in this moment is further strengthened. He is able to become one with the wilderness and it allows him to feel and act as a true hunter. Even though he misses the shot, his purpose is to kill.
The Messenger was originally published in 2002 in Australia, where it received the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s Book Award in 2003. The author, Markus Zusak, received several starred reviews for The Messenger. Most focusing on the successful development of a sympathetic character as he struggles to become a stronger person. The Messenger is about an ordinary young man, Ed Kennedy, who is sent playing cards with messages written on them from an unknown source. The messages written on these playing cards are perceived to be missions for Ed to complete. Ed, the main protagonist is described as the ‘epitome of ordinariness’ and is called a ‘dead man’. Zusak shows that ordinary people can do extraordinary things by pushing themselves
In conclusion, the author used a theme that conflict helps strengthen bonds. Some may argue that the main theme is about friendship. Though the author does mention this theme several themes it is not the main theme because it is not used often. The author spends more time emphasizing the value of relations between people and how they grow in times of conflict. Overall, the author uses emotional ways of the show not tell in a well-crafted novel to help readers know how we can connect it to our daily
Theme: Situations and surroundings can shatter the innocence of friendship, but more the identity of the individuals.
In the novel, I learned the with Great Friendship that it would be much easier to achieve anything, and with great determination, you could achieve anything. This shows that with a little friendship, and hard work, you can achieve anything that you want to. I would say after reading this book, that without friendship you can never have a better life, than the one Freak and Max and after all the two kids with no friends became two of the best friends you could ever
In I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak, the main character Ed is a nineteen-year-old cab driver in Australia who has never amounted to anything. One day, while with his three best friends, an event occurs that forever changes his life. While in a bank, they are held up at gunpoint. Ed ends up stopping the criminal and saving the day. Days later, as the bank robber’s trial is ending, he tells Ed that he is “a dead man… [And to] [r]emember it every day when [he] look[s] in the mirror” (Zusak 38). This overlooked statement by the reader comes back in the end of the novel to reveal an important message that “everyone can live beyond what they’re capable of” (535). Before attending the trial though, Ed begins to receive playing cards with addresses, names, times, and movie titles on them that require him to complete tasks, which challenge him in more ways than he could ever imagine. In the short story “Good People” by David Foster Wallace, the two characters, Lane and Sheri, are faced with a situation that changes their lives as well; Sheri is pregnant with Lane’s baby. Even though Lane’s and Sheri’s situation is a little different than that of Ed’s, they relate greatly as all the characters are forced to make decisions that can alter the rest of their lives. In the novel, morality is used to accomplish self-discovery and growth of Ed’s personality by pushing his boundaries, and in the short story “Good People” by David Foster Wallace, morality is used to accomplish growth and the realization of consequences of one’s actions by placing the young couple in a faith questioning situation no adolescent wants to face.
In terms of emotional stability, there is only one thing in life that is really needed and that is friends. Without friends, people would suffer from loneliness and solitude. Loneliness leads to low self-esteem and deprivation. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, the characters, Crooks, Candy, and Curley's wife all exhibit some form of loneliness. They are driven towards the curiosity of George and Lennie's friendship because they do not have that support in their life. Through his novel, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck demonstrates that often times, a victim of isolation will have a never-ending search to fulfill a friendship.
-In hard times, friends will always be there. Friendship is the most important thing in life. Without it, you are lonely and have no one to vent to. In her rough moments, Alaska exposes the real her to Miles and speaks her feelings. She puts his trust into him because she sees something kind in him. When Miles begins to date a girl, he goes to Alaska to give him dating advice. And finally, after Alaska’s passing, Miles and his friend Chip Martin must rely on each other for support. They cope and console with one
The famed nurses study from Harvard found “Not having a close friend is as detrimental to your health as smoking.” Lennie and George’s friendship is necessary to keep the better for each other. Throughout the story, Lennie and George need each other and look out for one another no matter what. Lennie and George’s friendship and journey throughout the story symbolizes the struggles to achieve the American dream. Steinbeck, in the story Of Mice and Men, combines characterization and symbolism to prove friends do whats best for eachother.