The main conflict Connor was afflicted with is society desiring to get rid of the “problem child” by having him unwound. Besides Ariana-Connor’s girlfriend, Sonia, and the Admiral, everyone wants Connor dead due to his intolerable behavior, resulting in a man verse society conflict. For instance, Ariana’s parents remark about their disapproval of Connor by saying, “We always knew he’d be an Unwind, you should have stayed away from that Lassiter boy” (Shusterman 5). Connor only had two options. He could have run from the Juvey Cops, his parents, and the reality that he’d probably end up being unwound or he had the option to give society their way by giving them exactly what they desired; to have one less problem in the world. Obviously, Connor faced his conflict head on and decided he was going to fight past everything to remain alive. This depth of society’s desire to dispose of Connor rapidly grew early on when the narrator recalls, “Connor makes a split-second decision and bolts, pushing the officer against the truck and racing across the busy highway.” (Shusterman 18). Connor’s action of assaulting an officer and rapidly escaping made the Juvey cops view him as a threat and want to try even harder to get him unwound. Understanding Connor’s conflict to survive when society wants him dead, helps us better understand the choices he made.
More often than not, people don’t recognize it, but every piece of their atmosphere leaves a prominent affect on them. This is proven true in Unwind by examining Connor’s conflicts and how his actions reflect the impact of conflict in his life. Early in the novel, Connor begins to feel remorseful even before his plan of action to run away has even begun. He uses his knowledge as a weapon to make h...
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... the solution. Her logic was that if she doesn’t have to see me everyday, then she won’t be reminded of her past, and her life will be better. In an attempt to make her life less stressful, she contacted my father about me going to go live down in Texas with him, not because of something I did, but rather the factors I can’t control created a nuisance in her life that could so easily be taken care of by me being flown away. As mean as it may sound, my own father saying he didn’t have enough time, money, or room for me, was a relief for me because of the fright I still have inside me against him, yet, it meant having to continue putting up with the mistreatment from my mom. Just how for Connor, the choices to run away or be unwound both seem undesirable and unpredictable, I know that my conflicts too, must be faced in order to keep moving on with life.
Humankind has cast judgment for a very long time it is an innate part of human nature. As humans we cast judgment whether or not it is right or wrong we need to think about the repercussions of doing so. While there are various reasons to cast judgment whether it is through self-preservation or because of being self-centered. The critical take away from being judgmental is whether or not you are casting judgment where judgment is due.
Delaney's short story "Clean" is a prime and quite detailed example of how deep the repercussions of regret truly run. Foremost, because "Clean" is written in second person instead of third person, the rash actions of the main character become reality for the readers as they begin to question their own actions. For example, the story begins with the mysterious and piercing line, "You think of that night endlessly from your imprisonment, the decisions made, the chain of mistakes (Delaney 1110)." It goes on to recount how the night began with "your two buddies, a fifth of cheap vodka, and half a gallon of orange juice" that caused the main character to confront a fellow classmate named Barry in a drunken rage over a mutually liked girl (Delaney 1110). However, this confrontation would end quite tragically because "you'd picked up a rock, and you'd swung it at his head," and when "a minute later he was on the ground, dead," "you instantly sobered (Delaney 1110)." While the friends rapidly decide on the proper way to dispose of the evidence and body to prevent their imprisonment, the emotional burden of regret has already led to their own mental imprisonment, especially that of the main character. Thus, he remembers "That was '72. You think of forty years gone past, and the girl. For days after, you did the calculus, of risk and probability (Delaney 1111), yet the depth of the situation never seemed to hit him until college. "Those were the years when you
An individual’s mental well being can greatly affect their character and the way they perceive things. In the novels The Kite Runner and A Separate Peace, the protagonists are boys who are infested by internal conflicts such as insecurities and emotions. In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, a boy lets his dad negatively affect his character, causing him to treat those around him in a cynical manner. Likewise, a boy from John Knowles’ A Separate Peace bases his character on whom he wishes to be, letting his unhealthy mental state consume him. Hence, explored through both novels, is how a person’s internal conflicts can lead to their downfall, whether as a result of their struggle with identity or their feelings towards others.
In Unwind the author develops the theme that in society, the easiest way isn't always the best way. In the beginning part of the book show this theme by describing how Connor ran away from his home and the parents of his home made Connor hate his parents and made it harder on themselves. This shows that the parents didn't want her son anymore and the easiest way out backfired on them. In the middle of the book it added that the medical field has gotten lazy using unwind parts to fix health problems and relide of unwinds too much. This shows the theme by when unwinds runaway they make a big deal because they need the parts of them and depend on them in the medical field. In the end of the book describes how much Connor and Risa did to get
Often times you find yourself in deep thought, reminiscing about the past. The good, the bad, and even a few memories you wished to forget and never return. In Flannery O’ Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, you are taken along on a journey. Why yes, Flannery writes about the journey the family takes together on their way to Florida, but she does a job well done figuratively joining the forces of the past and present, as well as what lies in the middle.
First, after the mother tells Izzy she is going to Costa Rica, Izzy gets upset. She verbalized, ‘“Mom wouldn’t leave me. Right? ‘But that's only three days.’I stepped away from mom and the shards of tile. ‘I don’t have a choice.’ ‘But what am I supposed to do? That’s three whole month's”’(paragraph 11-14). Izzy gets upset with her mother due to the fact that her mother is leaving her in New Mexico for three month,s while she goes to Costa Rica. Her mother knows that it is going to benefit them, and she is doing it to help Izzy. Next, Izzy’s mother and Izzy argue over going to New Mexico. The mother announces, ‘“You’re going to New Mexico and that’s final.’ I swallowed and tried not to cry ‘Why do you always get to decide everything?”’(paragraphs 28 and 29) The mother wants the narrator to go to New Mexico and spend time with her Nana while she is in Costa Rica, but the narrator does not want to go to New Mexico and wants to stay home and she thinks that her mother is ruining her summer. Finally, the mother and narrator argue after they were talking about the narrator's plans. The mother says, “Honey, you can make friends at your new school in the fall. Besides, this is a wonderful opportunity for you.” “Opportunity?For me?Or for you?” (paragraphs 33 and 34)The narrator feels as though that she is not going to have a great
First of all, even if the past seems too horrible to think of, it needs to be remembered in order to make a better present. When one makes a mistake the first time, they learn and correct that mistake when put in the same situation. This idea presents itself quite clearly when Strayed says, “That I would get an abortion was a fact so apparent it seemed silly to discuss anything else” (56). With a tragic first pregnancy and mistake comes the blessing of a committed and ready person who conceives two children with a good husband in the future. Despite some mistakes being more horrible than others, the mind works its magic by learning how to improve oneself through those mistakes in order to be better not just for oneself but for others, as well. The past leads to acceptance with the hope that a similar encounter and situation brings about a more positive outcome. In addition to that, Strayed uses other characters to show that they can use the past to forge a better future. With this, everything goes back to the death of Strayed’s mother, which affected Eddie greatly when Strayed says, “He acted like he was our friend instead of our father. Quickly, he fell in love with another woman and soon she moved into our house with her children” (153). This presents itself as a great example of reaching a
McCarthy established his work to demonstrate the facts of immorality, fear, and the end of American standards in the aftermath of a terrible truth. In the novel, the shortage of resources has driven many survivors to murder, robbery, and even cannibalism. The principle of the narrative is the result of the shocking event that life is considered to nothing more than survival. Therefore, people in the region became very frustrated and are so agreeable under certain situation to hand over the most important concept in their life, which is their humanity and lose everything in order to survive. But, in every time and in every place in the world, we can find individuals who can continue to live stronger and are able to hold onto their morals in life. The father and the boy fight to keep what humanity they have left to be the good guys after they have realized that keeping humanity while surviving is important in someone’s life, While it is easier to turn to evil and become a bad
4). This is an excellent point, as it is clear that many of the characters O’Connor writes about face tough or “harsh” moments, usually before they face a religious influenced climax. With this in life this is when most people come to find religion and grace in their lives. An excellent example of this involves the grandmother in “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, as she is faced with a traumatic accident and the murdering of her family. All these terrible things happen to the grandmother, just as she has a revelation that she is not in the right place with grace and spiritual awareness. This is what Flaum is pointing out, that O’Connor uses unique ways to express her beliefs within her work, often harshly. O’Connor also uses the concepts of nature to represent grace, or perhaps the opposite. O’Connor describes the landscape in “A Good Man is Hard to Find”, as being rather eerie. It’s a way of foreshadowing the events that will happen to the family. As Clark M. Brittain describes it, “the feeling that sinister forces have laid a trap for the doomed family” (Brittian par. 5). It seems like O’Connor uses the concept of God’s wraith, or some force of evil, both pertaining to the family’s faith. With a lack of grace in their lives the family is seen as being doomed because of these
In most of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories a number of characters have a hard time seeing an ultimate reality in their life. They tend to have a distorted grasp on reality but not all in the same way. In the story “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the Misfit and the Grandmother are prime examples. The actions and the way of life of the Misfit and Grandmother are mostly due to the fact that they are living in an false reality where they are in their own little world, where in the Misfit’s world everything goes with no worry of repercussion in the Grandmother’s case she can do no wrong because she has a false perception of what is right.
It is sometimes problematic for readers to view O’Connor as a religious writer since none of her characters seem “good.” Her narratives and short stories seem to bring readers to the instant where a “bad” character is ready to transform, but the reader never sees the results. O’Connor considered herself a writer with “Christian concerns” and showed readers through her stories and her vision of a world where what is routinely thought of as improvement is actually the opposite. She proves humankind’s need for the cryptic grace of God, a gift that is offered swiftly in normal settings. Violence is a means to awaken characters to their own moral insufficiency, to take away their qualities so that there is nothing left but a humiliated personality ready to accept redemption.
“I stood, unmoving, stunned… Tears filled my eyes. I want my mother, I thought. My mother is dead. I thought this every hour of every day for a very long time: I want my mother. My mother is dead.” In Cheryl Strayed memoir “Wild”, the death of her mother demolished her mental stability and consumed her each moment of her life. Not knowing how to handle her grief, Cheryl ended up doing things in her life that many people would consider regretful. She ended up losing her marriage, family, friends, became addicted to drugs, and lost her own state of being. Although Cheryl is sullen, her mistakes and setbacks was her destiny to create a better life.
Therefore, I decided to attend UC Davis, which was seven hours away from my home. When I arrived at UC Davis, I noticed her depression started to worsen. Making it hard for me, but yet simple. She is my mom. I could not help to think I was to blame. I thought to myself, "What am I doing here? My mom needs me." I, then realized that she held it together because I was physically there to support her. I was her rock, but I was also seven hours away. Still, I did everything I could to help her. Calling her everyday was a part of my daily routine, as well as taking the bus home at least twice a month. Balancing school and family took a huge toll on me my freshman year, but I grew so much from
As I walked out of the courthouse and down the ramp, I looked at my mom in disappointment and embarrassment. Never wanting to return to that dreadful place, I slowly drug my feet back to the car. I wanted to curl up in a little ball and I didn't want anyone else to know what I had done. Gaining my composure, I finally got into the car. I didn't even want to hear what my mom had to say. My face was beat red and I was trying to hide my face in the palms of my hands because I knew what was about to come; she was going to start asking me questions, all of the questions I had been asking myself. Sure enough, after a short period of being in the car, the questions began.
...t that at times do not fit crimes as the Misfit in the story says it best when he states “Because I can’t make all I done wrong fit all I gone through punishment” (O'Connor 238-248). Flannery O’Connor sends a chilling message capturing the core of civilization in just a few lines the Misfit in the story is none other than every other college student trying to find himself, or someone taking the wrong turn somewhere in life. However, the truth is we all have a little bit of every character in us even the Misfit if not the talent to dream. It is the sympathy towards the value of life as he states “it’s no real pleasure in life” (O'Connor 238-248).