Holding on to hope is something many people do in difficult times. Through these times someone’s true feelings are often shown and they realize new traits about themselves. In Paper Towns, John Green portrays that staying strong and believing that your goal is possible, will lead to doing everything possible to achieve it. In the novel, John Green displays through Quentin that hope can persuade someone into doing crazy things. Quentin never gives up on finding Margo because if he did and he never found her, he would never have forgiven himself. Margo takes Quentin on an adventure during her last night to get revenge on everyone who betrayed her. The memory of his childhood crush sparks a rebellious and nostalgic feeling in him, causing him
Challenges and Trials: Quentin and his friends face a big bump when having to decide whether or not they are going to have to miss graduation to find Margo
Grant Wood was a Regionalist artist who continually endeavored to capture the idyllic beauty of America’s farmlands. In 1930 he had been roaming through his hometown in Iowa searching for inspiration when he stumbled upon a house that left him spellbound. From this encounter came America’s iconic American Gothic. Not long after Wood’s masterpiece was complete the once ideal countryside and the people who tended to it were overcome by despair and suffering as the Great Depression came to be. It was a time of economic distress that affected nearly every nation. America’s stock market crashed in 1929 and by 1933 millions of Americans were found without work and consequently without adequate food, shelter, and other necessities. In 1935, things took a turn for the worst as severe winds and dust storms destroyed the southern Great Plains in the event that became known as the Dust Bowl. Farmers, who had been able to fall back on their crops during past depressions, were hit especially hard. With no work or way or other source of income, many farms were foreclosed, leaving countless families hungry and homeless. Ben Shahn, a Lithuanian-born man who had a deep passion for social injustice, captures the well-known hopelessness of the Great Depression through his photograph Rural Rehabilitation Client. Shahn and Wood use their art to depict the desperation of everyday farmers in America due to the terrors and adverse repercussions that the Great Depression incited.
A stone of Hope by Jim St Germain is a memoir about the life of a young African-American immigrating to the United States and opting to the streets of Brooklyn Crown Heights. When my more expresses the poverty and troubles in the criminal justice system. As a young boy living in poverty and recently moving to America Jim used the streets as his Learning Center. The author and protagonist of the memoir, Jim, struggled in education system trying to learn a new language and adapting to his new surroundings. With the stigma of being an ESL student and the lack of support in school and at home Jim begin to invest more time into streets then into his education, he began stealing and dealing drugs and growing up increasingly violent. At the age of 15 Jim had been arrested more than a dozen times but instead of prison St Germain was placed in Boys Town. Boys Town being a rehabilitation center for troubled youth, to help change the lives of children who have severe Behavioral or mental health problems, academically and socially. Even from a young age in the Criminal Justice System St Germain knew that there was a problem lack of compassion and human capital.
“Hope is defined as the action of wishing or desiring that something will occur.” Hope helps people move forward in life to see what’s coming next for them. For example, “I had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his sole support” (Wiesel, “Night”.) This quote explains the effects of hope in a pitiful situation. Eliezer Wiesel and his father were torn apart, mentally and physically from everything they
Determination and a strong connection with the natural world can uphold a person's sense of hope. Throughout the book The Outsiders it is demonstrated that through being confronted with arduous situations Ponyboy and the gang using determination and courage establish a sense of hope through each other. As shown in “no rival gangs only socs and you can't win against them no matter how hard you try” it displays that Ponyboy at the opening of the story does not believe anything can change therefore he has disbelief in hope. However after encountering two socials Cherry and Marcia they
...the idea of the plot of land, originally opposed to the idea, saying that “Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land.”, but later coming around to the idea and offering to ‘lend a hand’. This holds significance because it shows that hope is the main pivot around which the power of dreams is centred and without collective hope from those involved with the dream, it has no influence. Crooks is not completely convinced by the dream, however, as he has endured enough hardship and had enough dreams broken to realise when a dream will not be possible as he later retracts his offer: "’Member what I said about hoein’ and doin’ odd jobs?...Well, jus’ forget it”. A parallel is therefore drawn by Steinbeck between the ability of dreams to create an illusion and the idea of hope, which is central to the American Dream and its effect on Depression Era America.
The first example of a character connecting to hope is Andy, continuing to stay determined and pushing through abuse with “the sisters” he is still able to remand hopeful and ultimately escape. After serving almost twenty years in Shawshank prison Andy’s views began to change from hope being non existent to honestly believing that hope was real. After re...
Society can be very cruel; hopes and dreams can become reality or vanish away into the shivering winds. It is important to maintain hope when life is crumbling around you and freedom is what humans strive for in order to execute what they please during their existence on earth. Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King, is a clear example of freedom combined with hope, illustrated by the characters of Andy Dufresne and Red. Andy, like Red, never loses hope of leaving prison; furthermore they gain a sense of freedom when departing from Shawshank. Having beliefs, in addition to fighting for what you believe is right are virtues that help you to strive for success which ultimately, lets you reach for freedom and hope.
Hope has the incredible ability to make or break someone. People are always told to make large goals in school and employment, and try to reach those ambitions no matter how far they are. Hope is the motivation behind accomplishing dreams, but it also has the ability to break people who have hoped for something so desperately, yet never came to fruition. Only determination and personal situations can persuade hope to fly or fall. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly highlights this ambiguous hope we depend on through the use of symbolism, characterization, and inner conflict.
This story had no fluff. It had no happy ending. It was in no way uplifting. It was a book about hopelessness, and how tragic life can be. None of the characters find happiness. No one is rescued from their misery. What makes this book powerful is that sometimes that is the way life is. Sometimes there is no happy ending, and sometimes there is no hope. It would be nice if that were not true, but it is. And this book shows the gritty side of life, the sad reality. Sometimes things do not work out the way we would like them to, and sometimes there is nothing we can do about it. As depressing as this may be as a theme, it is important to realize that it is true. While optimism is usually admirable, too much may be ignorant. Hopelessness exists. It can certainly be seen in real life, and it can certainly be seen in this book.
In the sources used, the situations that are experienced seems like there is no hope to be found, only fear. Fear will protect us, we hope. Nevertheless, hope is everywhere no matter what. For World War II in The Diary of Anne Frank, Anne Frank is the secret annex’s hope. Anne Frank is a 13-year old girl that has the most hope of surviving the Nazi Invasion. All you can think is, “Ah, the Nazi’s are coming! Run for your lives!” That is what went through many minds during this time period, fear. Fear is a strong ally to have. You can worry all the time and no one will stop you. But, hope can be an even stronger ally, if you believe.
Upon arriving in Soledad, George and Lennie meet Candy, an old man with a gimp hand who shows an interest in the farm. Candy offers to throw in $350 if he can be a part of their "dream farm". Suddenly, Georges dreams of the future start to seem more like a reality when they hear of a small plot of land for sale. When everything seems to be going right, a freak accident occurs. Lennie is invited by Curley's wife to pet her hair. He starts to pet her hair when she quickly wants him to let go and screams. Lennie panics and accidentally kills her because he hasn't learned from his mistakes. When Curley, the boss' son, hears of what happened he starts to look for Lennie who is hiding. Curley says that when he finds Lennie he will shoot him in the gut. George knows that him and Lennie couldn't run from this mistake, and Lennie will be hunted and killed painfully. To spare him the pain George kills Lennie quickly.
One’s ambition, when fueled by hope, can cause them to keep going when put in an adverse situation. When this occurs, it leaves a lasting effect on the individuals around them. In the film Shawshank Redemption by Frank Darabont, the main character Andy Dufrense experiences many hardships but perseveres through them using hope. Andy is placed in a situation that is out of his control and loses any hope he has at the beginning. Through the situations he faces, such as his encounters with the sisters, gaining funds for the library, and succeeding in his escape plan from the prison, Andy regains that hope which motivates his ambition to be free. In the film Shawshank Redemption, Darabont explores the idea that an individual’s ambition for freedom,
...ng the underlying theme that drives the story and the movie, propels the reader and viewer to rekindle the desire to hope above all else because hope is all one has in devastating as well as dire needs. Hope overcomes despair, permits others to see your “inner light” to develop integrity which connects with honesty and trust. Hope is the inspiration to continue to live regardless of the circumstances. Red may have narrated; “Let me tell you something my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.” But, Andy Dufresne states it best: “Get busy living, or get busy dying.”
The “Hope” is optimism. Freedom from hope is freedom to your soul. You can no longer hurt yourself by living. It is hard to believe that being hopeless leads to living, but living is an imprisonment. We try to be the best we can be but does life limit us?