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Importance of friendship an essay
Importance of friendship an essay
Importance of friendship an essay
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The character Thomas in the story ‘This is what it means to say Phoenix,Arizona’ is shown as a wise,helpful,forgiving and over all a extraordinary person.In this story there's two main characters,their is Victor who is the primary character and he is the one the whole story is based on,then there's Thomas who is a old friend of Victor’s,he helps victor throughout the way of his journey to Phoenix and back.Victor's dad passed away that's why they get into this adventure because he needs help and Thomas helps by loaning him money and the company to go to the funeral.Thomas is the character that mostly catches readers attention because of his storytelling and his extraordinary way of thinking.In other words Thomas Buildsthe-Fire is portrayed as
He always wants to help someone else in need before himself, whereas the father is only concerned about their own personal wellbeings. He “is the one” who worries about their ethical choices and wants to help a stranger in any way he can (259). McCarthy proves the importance of the boy’s spirit of love for other people when his dad dies and he must take the leap of faith to continue along the road with a new family. Despite all the corrupted people they encountered beforehand, the boy meets someone who is “carrying the fire” (129). This mantra by the father and son, symbolizes hope and humanity. The qualities Steinbeck labels for a writer to create in his writings can be summed up in “carrying the fire” since the two never did give up. It is the greatness of the heart and spirit Steinbeck notes that is “inside [them]. [And] [i]t [is] always there” (279). It is noteworthy that even in the midst of death and ashes, the two are able to hold onto their relationship and sanity. The “good guys” can continue to carry meaning and structure in their lives, even in a time where society turned into a battle to survive on the remnants of
The imagery of fire continues in the story; the building of their fires, how the man molds the fires, and how they stoke the fire. When the boy gets sick the father is referred to many times of how he builds and rekindles the fire. This actual fire is a symbol for the fire that the man and the boy discuss carrying within in them. The man fights to save his son and the fire within the boy
In life, everyone experiences a time of hardship, and for the most part, those affected find methods of overcoming the adversity. The idea of getting through hardship is best reflected in; Sherman J. Alexie’s story “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” (274). In the story, victor whose father had recently died from a heart attack has to travel to phoenix Arizona to reclaim his father’s ashes and his truck. Victor is joined by his former childhood friend “Thomas Builds-the-fire”, who finances the trip to phoenix since Victor did not have the means. They drove back truck from phoenix to the reservation. Throughout the trip, Thomas is always telling stories mostly reminiscing about their childhood. It is through Thomas stories that we learn much about Victor’s father. Through the use of symbolism, and character development, Alexie conveys the idea that, when someone is experiencing an adversity, reconnecting and embracing the past may lead to a discovery of a brighter future.
... The symbolism of the phoenix makes Guy realize that mission was an appealing mission because it was a step towards a normal society. This is how the Phoenix helps fire’s representation in the book be an excellent one. In conclusion, Fire has 3 different meanings which lead you to new thinking and insight towards the world. Fire represents change which is shown through Montag’s symbolic change from using fire to burn knowledge into using fire to help him find knowledge; fire can represent knowledge as demonstrated through Faber, and fire can represent rebirth of knowledge as demonstrated through the phoenix.
Walking down the hall, you notice him. Everyone avoids him and ignores the fact that he exists. You know who he is but your are hesitant in approaching him because you know of the consequences. He’s not part of the crowd and to acknowledge him will mean turmoil for you. It’s starts out with teasing and joking and slowly develops into bulling, but you can avoid that if you just turn around. In the story, “This is What it Means to say Phoenix, Arizona,” Sherman Alexie explores life by including generally recognized conflicts. Although typical, the conflicts that Victor encounters occur in more than one aspect of life at once. Some are resolvable, but true to life, some are not. The most apparent conflict in the story is the relationship between Thomas Builds the Fire and Victor. Through the death of Victor’s father, they have come together.
“This Is What It Means To Say Phoenix, Arizona” discusses the physical and mental journey of Victor, a Native American man in the state of Washington, as he goes to Phoenix, Arizona to claim his father’s remains and his savings account. While on this journey, Victor learns about himself, his father, and his Indian culture with the help of his estranged friend, Thomas Builds-the–Fire. The author, Sherman Alexie, plays on the stereotypes of Native Americans through the characters of Victor and Thomas. While Thomas is portrayed as the more traditional and “good” Native American, Victor comes across as the “bad” Native American. Through the use of this binary relationship, Alexie is able to illustrate the transformation of these characters as they reconcile with each other, and break out of these stereotypes in the process.
Victor knew he was a Native American that lived on the reservation. However, as he has grown up, it seems he has forgotten the tribal ties of the Native Americans. The people of that culture consider everyone in the tribe to be family and they are not ashamed of who they are and where they come from. Towards the end of the fictional narrative it is said, “Victor was ashamed of himself. Whatever happened to the tribal ties, the sense of community? The only real thing he shared with anybody was a bottle and broken dreams. He owed Thomas something, anything” (519). At the end of the story, Victor has finally realize that he is acting self absorbed. He realizes that this is not who he wants to be and he should not be ashamed to talk to Thomas Builds-a-Fire. Remembering his tribal ties, Victor gives half of his father 's ashes to Thomas. By doing that, Victor is thanking Thomas in his own way. Victor said, “listen, and handed Thomas the cardboard box which contained half of his father. “I want you to have this” (519). Individuals on the reservation thought Thomas was just a madman with weird stories. But in reality he was always true to his tribal identity and has even taught Victor how to get back to that. For example Thomas says, “I’m going to travel to Spokane Falls one last time and toss these ashes into the water. And your father will rise like a salmon, leap over the bridge, over me, and find his way
Most of the novel’s narration follows his perspective to some point. He is an outcast on the rez and is considered odd and strange. Thomas is lead of the band Coyote Springs, and is the songwriter, bassist, and lead singer. He falls in love with Chess Warm-Water. Johnson said, “ They are naturally quiet, do not drink, and full of stories and secrets and they are perfect for each other”(Alexie 92). At the end of the novel they decide to leave the reservation and get married. All hope left at the end of the novel goes with the couple and they wanted to give their kids a better life than what they
Thomas has a distinctive way of sharing his stories: he shuts his eyes every moment before he begins his journey, as if he is envisioning the story inside of his mind and reliving the event he elaborates on. As he goes through each particular event, Thomas’s facial expressions conveys exactly how he feels during the moments. His features light up because of his excessive joy of the memory and he proceeds to dramatically recount his memory to audience, in hopes they receive his story well and enjoy it. The pleasure he takes in recalling his memories is related as to why people tell stories themselves--it is because it invokes pleasant feelings of nostalgia. People tell stories because they want to share a snippet of their lives or the lives of loved ones with others, and in result, they also have the opportunity to reflect on their memories. Moreover, The way the audience gives an account of Thomas’s stories also correlates to Lisel Mueller’s quote (stated in the previous paragraph) which shows how every story can be told differently. People paraphrase, using their own similes and comparisons to tell their version of the story. Comparing their version to the original,
and is entered by a fire escape, a structure whose name is a touch of accidental poetic truth, for all of these large buildings are always burning with the slow and implacable fires of human desperation” (3). “Human desperation” represents the problems that people face daily. These obstacles are like a “fire”, they keep getting larger. As the fire gets larger, Tom’s eagerness to leave gets stronger. The fire is a symbol of reality. Reality is full of difficulties which Tom chooses not to accept. He believes leaving will allow him to get rid of obstacles. One of his struggles is his mom’s criticisms. She always tells him what to do and gets in fights with Tom because she cannot forget about the past issues. He also feels trapped by his job. Tom works in a warehouse just for his family but does not want to live like this forever. He wants to do what his father did and be released from his restraints, but he is unable to. Each ...
In conclusion Thomas is portrayed as a heroic, caring and compassionate character. Thomas proves he is heroic when he risked his life to save both Minho and Alby. He also proves to be caring when it comes to his young friend, Chuck, by acting as a brotherly figure. Minho is portrayed as a brave and intelligent character throughout the novel. Minho can be seen as intelligent when he deceived the entire council of Gladers into agreeing to make Thomas a runner. He is also perceived as a brave character when he ran toward the cluster of grievers, risking his life so he can figure out where their camp is.
"To Build a Fire Characters." Study Guides & Essay Editing. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. .
In this story the narrator is not participating, just observing. You can tell by the use of various phrases, as provided in the sentence, “Listen” Victor said “My father just died. I need some money to get to Phoenix to make arrangements” (Alexie 504). The use of the vocabulary “Victor said” shows that he is not the narrator of this story, only a participant. Furthermore, I cannot find an instance where the narrator is identified as a character. Therefore, another example of this would be, “Thomas Builds-the-Fire sat on the bicycle, waited in Victor’s yard. He was ten years old and skinny” (Alexie 506). In this statement the narrator is describing Thomas. This is not coming from Thomas but about Thomas from a third party. Which reinforces my
The major characters in the novel are Thomas, Newt, Teresa, and Minho. James Dashner doesn’t describe Thomas in the novel, he lets the readers decide
Thomas Builds-the-Fire entered his house filled with emotions. He had never cared what anybody thought of him, he knew he was different and would always be different. There was something inside of him that was bothering him. Maybe perhaps it was the fact that Victor finally apologized to him years later. He still did not understand why Victor beat him up that day or how Victor never spoke to him after they had shared so much as kids. He wondered if his life on the reservation would change after this trip. If Victor would share with the others how normal, funny and kind hearted Thomas really was. He was tired of being known as Thomas the story teller no one wanted to listen to. His stories where not just stories they were the truth, the truth that people were not ready to hear. Like when he told Victor his father’s heart was weak and wanted to leave him and his mother. Victor probably did not believe him but he was right. What people did not understand was that his stories were messages he had to deliver from the spirits and that is why he always retold the same stories. The messages had to be delivered but no one was listening. Victor was just not ready for that cruel truth. Thomas was finally beginning to understand why to some point he was rejected by his own people. He had hoped that their perspective would change and that Victor would own up to his word and listen to one more of his stories. He knew that the spirits would give him a story that would change the way everyone looked at him especially Victor.