No matter the age, we all have faced a time in our lives in which we have had to make a decision. Not only for the embetterment of us now, but in the future as well. This is arguably Perry’s, the main character in Walter Dean Myers’ Fallen Angels, biggest dilemma. He was forced to make a decision that felt would not only benefit him now and in the future, but also benefit his brother and mother's future as well. His ultimate decision was to join the United States army. Perry, the protagonist, and I and are alike in many ways. We both share the same views of the world, are viewed by the world in similar ways and I would respond in a comparable way to the central conflict of the novel. Therefore, I believe given the chance, we could be friends. Perry views the world as many other inner city children. They faced the everyday life of living in a “big city” world. He feel as though you have to do anything, by any means necessary, so that you can survive. Facing most of the inner city struggles such as, poverty, violence, drugs, and gang activity …show more content…
will make you into either just another statistic, or make you want to work that much harder and do what you can to escape that reality. The people in these situation look for any means of escaping the grim reality of the inner city lifestyle. This is what Perry did. He knew that he didn't want to live that lifestyle so he made the decision. Perry stated that, “All the other guys in the neighborhood thought I was going to college. I wasn’t, and the Army was the place I was going to get away from all the questions.” (pg.15) He knew that college was out of the question and he hoped that his decision of joining the army would pay off in the end I also view life as a so called game of chess. You are out here trying to make every move possible that you think will put you in the best position going forward in life. Like Pery, many people around me believe that i am going to college as well. I plan on going to college, but i also know that if everything isn't right i can always go to the Marine corps. I know that in an ideal world i would go to college where i would play baseball until i receive my degree. I also know that spome times things change and that I in the end have to make the best choice possible for me and my future. The world views Perry basically as one in many but they also recognizes the resourcefulness that he possesses. There was many times in which the medics and the Sergeants in the store told him that he was ok and that he had to continue to fight in the war even though he had a bad knee and other reasons as well. When he was injured in battle after he recovered the colonel thanked them in a brief statement “You are defending the freedom of Americans and of the South Vietnamese. Your acts of heroism and courage are celebrations of life, and all America thanks you” (pg 217). But as quickly as he thanked them, those who weren't too seriously injured or injured enough that they couldn't fight, they had been given orders to return to duty. This included Perry. The soldiers he fought with also realized that perry had a way with words and they put him to use on a couple of occasions. One occasion in particular is when Turner ,who was one of the soldiers in Perry's squad, had died because of a mistake made by Gearhart who is higher in rank and in charge of the squad. Instead of Perry writing and telling Turners family the real reason he died he told them that he “died while valiantly trying to protect his fellow soldiers” This I believe in some ways this is very similar to the way that I feel that others view me. I know that some people may look at me and think that there is someone out there that is better than me or that can do they same thing as me if not better, but I also know that there are people who sees the best in me even though I may not be the best. I hear almost everyday that I can be replaced or that I'm not ass good as I think I am. But I also hear everyday that I can do anything that I put my mind to and that is what I do. I try to block out all the negative things and focus more on improving myself. Perry's had the conflict of him coming to turn with war, and the fact that the war was the nowhere even close to what he thought it would be like. There was many ways that he could have handled the situation but he chose to just face it head on. As he began to realize that the war was nothing like he had imagine it he also began to realize that there was not turning back now. That the only way to deal with it was to do everything that he could so that he could make it through the war and return home. As Perry stated on page 216 “That I had better think about killing the Congs before they killed me”. All though this was a harsh way to put it, it was true. If Perry had sat around think about why did he join or about how it was scary, he may have ended up dead in a body bag or burned to ashes like many of the other soldiers who weren't so lucky as to make it home alive. If I were in Perry's shoes, I would have responded to this conflict in a very similar if not in the same exact way.
As I've grown older I've also grown wiser and I have realized that once I make a decision I have to deal with it. That every time I make a decision I will have to live with the fact that I chose what I chose. I would have did whatever I could have done so that if and when I made it home, I could have turned that decision into another learning experience. See that me and Perry in Walter Dean Myers book fallen angels come from similar backgrounds, we are very similar and comparable. Knowing that it is easy for people that can relate to get along and also knowing That me and Perry grew up in similar conditions and act in similar ways. . Perry and I share similar views on the world and also are viewed by the world in similar ways. Knowing this I can thereby conclude that me and Perry could become good
friends.
Kody Scott was born into the gang life weither he liked it or not. Born on 1963 in South Central Los Angeles Kody?s life would be affected by the growing number of gangs inevitably. Kody knew he had a choice to be made, be a gang member or be a pedestrian. He viewed pedestrians as spineless nerds who were always victims of someone?s ridicule or physical violence, who never responded to an affront of any type. He himself had a taste of pedestrian life in grade school were he was picked on and had his lunch money taken from him. ?Early on I saw and felt both sides of the game being played where I lived. It was during my time in elementary school that I chose to never be a victim again, if I could help it?(Shakur 100). Being in a gang gave Kody a feeling of security in a city of violence. ?I felt very different, older, more attached than any of...
Perry Smith did not live the happy childhood that he deserved, abandoned by his family at a young age he was forced to live at a terrible orphanage. “The one where Black Widows were always at me. Hitting me. Because of wetting the bed...They hated me, too.” (Capote 132). In this specific orphanage, Perry was beaten by the nuns that own the place. The short sentences within this quote truly emphasize the dramatic and horrible conditions that Perry had to live with in the orphanage. Sympathy is created ...
There are many interesting quotes of the protagonist, Harold “Peewee” Gates, that stood out to me in the book Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers. There were many quotes that revealed about his life but there were two that stood out to me. In a conversation Peewee is talking to Perry about how is life in the United States and army life are different. “‘But this is the first place I ever been in my life where I got what everybody else got.’” ~Peewee (page 15) This quote reveals that Peewee came from a rough place and grew up in poverty since this is the first time he has had what everyone else has. It also shows how strict his mother was because he wasn’t allowed to have what everyone else had or what he wanted besides basic necessities.
First, Rudy’s family didn’t believe in him. Rudy’s background was a struggle, because his family, especially his father, didn’t expect much from him, coming from a common family in a small town. His father expected for him to get a job at a local factory after his high school graduation and follow in his footsteps. He doesn’t believe Rudy will achieve his dreams. When Rudy returns home to see his family, they mock him for ...
Murderer, liar, manipulator; these are only a few words that describe the enigmatic Sergeant John Wilson. In the historical book, The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson: A True Story of Love & Murder, written by Lois Simmie, we get acquainted with the complex balancing act of a life John Wilson lived. We find out about his two-faced love life, the bloody solution, and the elaborate cover up. In Simmie’s thought-provoking book, John Wilson abandons his family in Scotland, for a better life in Canada on the force. John battles debilitating sickness along with the decision to double-cross his wife. His young love interest Jessie cares for him as he battles tuberculosis. While, “many young women Jessie’s age would have had second thoughts about commitment
During his childhood, Perry experienced and was marked by brutality and lack of concern on the part of both parents (Capote 296). Dr. Jones gives a very detailed description of Perry's behavior. He says that Perry, who grew up without love, direction, or m...
In war you can just brush off a death of someone you don't care for, but how about a friend's death? In Tim O'Brien's novel, The Things They Carried, you'll read about a platoon of soldiers that experience the death of fellow friends due to war. With war comes friendships and with friendships in war commonly comes tragic deaths. I'll talk about three deaths in this novel, which affected others. Ted Lavender's quick death was unpredictable. It had affected his platoon's leader, Lt. Jimmy Cross. Curt Lemon's death was due to horseplay this made it a lot worse. His death affected his friend Rat Kiley. Kiowa was the most liked soldier in the platoon. He died by drowning in a flood, his death created a lot of sorrow and mourning.
Perry Smith was a short man with a large torso. At first glance, “he seemed a more normal-sized man, a powerful man, with the shoulders, the arms, the thick, crouching torso of a weight lifter. [However] when he stood up he was no taller than a twelve-year old child” (15). What Smith lacked in stature, he made up in knowledge. Perry was “a dictionary buff, a devotee of obscure words” (22). As an adolescent, he craved literature and loved to gain insight of the imaginary worlds he escaped into, for Perry’s reality was nothing less than a living nightmare. “His mother [was] an alcoholic [and] had strangled to death on her own vomit” (110). Smith had two sisters and an older brother. His sister Fern had committed suicide by jumping out of a window and his brother Jimmy followed Fern’s suit and committed suicide the day after his wife had killed herself. Perry’s sister, Barbara, was the only normal one and had made a good life for herself. These traumatic events left Perry mentally unstable and ultimately landed him in jail, where he came into acquaintance with Dick Hickock, who was in jail for passing bad checks. Dick and Perry became friends and this new friendship changed the course of their lives forever. Hickock immediately made note of Perry’s odd personality and stated that there was “something wrong with Little Perry. Perry could be such a kid, always wetting his bed and crying in his sleep. And often [Dick] had seen him sit for hours just sucking his thumb. In some ways old Perry was spooky as hell. Take, for instance, that temper of his of his. He could slide into a fury quicker than ten drunk Indians. And yet you wouldn’t know it. He might be ready to kill you, but you’d never know it, not to look at it or listen to it” (108). Perry’s short fuse and dysfunctional background were the two pieces to Perry’s corrupt life puzzle that soured and tainted the final “picture”.
He grew up in a different environment with a broken family with no apparent dreams. As a young boy his parents separated and he was forced to go with his mother. He later ran away to be with his father who turned him down and ended up being abandoned by his family completely. He then came to stay at a catholic orphanage, where he was abused by nuns and caregivers. His father finally decided to take him into his care and together they got away and traveled, ending his education before passing the third grade which bothered him as he became older. Perry joined the marines and army, then came back to relocate his father. Him and his father had a breakthrough over starvation, leaving Perry with no one else to turn to and therefore getting involved in committing crimes. Once he got caught and jailed, his mother had died and his brother and sister had both committed suicide. By all his experiences we can say Perry definitely lived a different life and his family portrayal was very different from the Clutters. After so much abandonment and abuse, we can understand why he almost feels nothing and how growing up has affected him. The American Dream for Perry might not have been a “perfect family” but may have been to find something with order, and control. The dream Perry’s family would be focused on is reaching a decent life as their past has been
In the following essay, I will develop my thoughts by talking about how Weirob challenges her long life friend Miller to comfort her on her death bed for three nights, about the slight possibility of her soul surviving after death. This is based on the author John Perrys’ ideas. I will also be discussing the two personal criterions that we discussed in class that I believe fit best to the passage.
Michael Chabon’s novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is a coming of age story which, remarks on sexual identity and familial issues which shift the course of the characters’ lives within the novel. The novel’s main character is Art Bechstein. Art has just graduated college and he is seeking to find himself and in the process others too. In the book, sexual identity becomes a major focus. This is seen when, Art meets Arthur Lecomte, a man who is very charming and homosexual. Art also meets Arthur’s friend, Cleveland Arning, who is attracted to danger and involved in organized crime. The story gets further complicated when Art begins a new relationship with a young woman named Phlox Lombardi. She is very insecure and Art is also attracted to
While reading through Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye one notices many points of similarity between Holden and other people in the world. Much of what Salinger focuses on in the book, for example the feelings, the experiences, and Holden's wants, are things the reader can relate to and understand. In a sense, Salinger typified the heart and soul of the disillusioned teenager. Yet, it goes deeper than that. Salinger created not just a mish-mash of teenage angst but an archetype that recapitulated every teenager caught between the little games of high school and the fear of adulthood. It's for this reason that I, as with so many other teenagers, can relate to this book.
Characters: There are four main important characters in the novel, Perry, Harold Gates (mainly known as Peewee), Sergeant Simpson and Johnson. Besides some of the secondary characters are Brunner, Lobel, Monaco, Lieutenant Carroll, Walowick, Captain Stewart, Jenkins, Brew, Sergeant Dongan , Lieutenant Gearhart, Turner, and lastly Richie’s little brother Kenny and his Mother. The list of the secondary characters id so long because, the novel revolves around the story of a Company of soldiers in the Vietnam War.
Back in the 1900s, women were suppose to wear thicker and baggier clothes. They weren’t suppose to be showing a lot of skin and were suppose to have long and luxurious hair. Brett, however, was the opposite. “Brett was damned good-looking. She wore a slipover jersey sweater and a tweed skirt, and her hair was brushed back like a boy’s. She started all that. She was built with curves like the hull of a racing yacht, and you missed none of it with that wool jersey.” (30) Also, later on in the chapter, we see Brett not wearing any stockings while she perches on a stool at a bar. This was so shocking back then because not many women were wearing tight clothes such as Brett. Her personality was very appealing and her appearance was very unique, bold, and outgoing. Men saw the outline of her body, which was very satisfying due to the tight “wool jersey” that she wore.
I had to mature quickly and learn how to take care of someone else besides myself. I am now a mother to four children. They have taught me how to have patience. This has become something I value very much. I have learned that in life you must wait for things. I now know that there was a reason why I had my son so early and wasn’t able to go to college upon graduating high school. I am so thankful that I had patience and waited for the right time to enter. It has been 14 years since I graduated high school, and I’m attending college and know exactly what I want to become. I had patience and took care of my babies at home before I decided to go to school. It hasn’t always been easy, but I’m so glad I