The First Stone You can’t make everyone happy. Sometimes the decision of the judges only satisfy some people. In the novel The First Stone, by Don Aker, a young teen by the name Chad “Reef” Kennedy finds himself in a tough situation and his sentencing is being in rehab and doing community service. Reef is responsible for putting Leeza a young girl, in the hospital because of his actions. Since he is in rehab, many people wished he went to jail. Reef’s sentence was just due to his age, his troubled past (foster homes), and his need to take responsibility for his actions. Reef is sent to rehab due to his age. Teen that are not mature, often do stupid things, because of Reef’s emotional childhood, he was given a reduced sentence. There was no one to help him get back on his feet in his current life. In the novel, it says, “In the end, he hadn’t been able to save that one person who’d meant everything to him. Had to watch the cancer burn her up, her body like an amber that crumbled into ash” (Aker 35). He was really close to his grandmother and her death affected him. Reef could have been sentenced to …show more content…
Reef’s mom was deaf and when she got pregnant by Reef’s father, he left her. After a while Reef mom left Reef with his grandparents. Reef’s grandfather hated him because he thought Reef ruined their lives but it was not reef’s fault for being born. Reef’s grandfather was always drunk and cursed at him all the time. Reef has been to many foster homes. In the novel, Royce Gould, a social worker said in Reef’s defence, “The emotional abuse he’d endured from an alcoholic grandparent, the short-lived experience in numerous foster homes since he was nine.” (Aker 76). Having to deal with an alcoholic grandparent and being in numerous foster homes, a child does not always have someone there for him/her to show him/her the right path. We can see that Reef was a perfect example of this
Lucas Hahn Mr. Rodriguez Academic Lit. 15 June, 2023 The Cellar Analysis Throughout Lucas Hahn's short story The Cellar, the author explores the limits of human endurance both mentally and physically. The author portrays the mental limits of humans when we look at the character Ryan. Ryan at the beginning of the story was just a normal teenager, but at the end of the book he turned into a murderer.
Throughout the story, Jink seems to be very uncaring and immature. But Jink makes Reef realise his mistakes.. “I was worried, but I was afraid too. Until then, I had no idea how bad a body could be broken.” (Aker, 70).
In “The First Stone” by Don Aker, he introduces positive change towards both Reef and Leeza. They both retain a rough instance in their time, but with the help of others they prevail. And if Reef were to never gain the opportunity to meet Leeza, they both may not have changed. Unfortunate coincidences can bring two seemingly, unconditionally different people – Leeza and Reef, Reef and Colville, Val and Leeza – together, and help them heal.
Secondly, the type of man that Reef wanted to be before was immature at the start of the story he threw a stone to Leeza’s car and he throws orange explosions on the streets. However, he is more responsible nowadays because he understands the pain and suffering that the patients go throughout the rehab and he is volunteering at the rehab. On page 188, “Sure he was saving Colville a pile of money by fixing the greenhouse and there was still time, when he’d been pulling out another splinter or bandaging another cut that he’d curse Colville long and tough in his head and the words pilling up like cars battle necking a merge lane”. On page 189, “started that today volunteering at the Halifax rehab”. In Conclusion, Reef is trying to be more involved in the community, more responsible as man and even if he is more responsible he needs to realize his sin since he threw a
The quote “Once a criminal, always a criminal” should not be used as they characterize all law breakers, reminding us that certain individuals can learn from their mistakes, reconsidering that criminals can change. A change in lifestyle can affect criminals attitude & mind in a positive way. At the beginning, Reef was sentenced to North Hills Group Home. Reef was limited on such things like his constant swearing and being able to go
In this essay I will be explaining why George was justified in shooting Lennie. You will read 3 reasons why I believe he is justified such as: Lennie wouldn’t have to face jail time, it would put Lennie out of his misery, and premeditation. To start off my essay I will begin with the reason of him not having to face jail time. Lennie wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box if you know what I mean so he didn’t really understand a lot.
People can change and learn from their mistake. Learning from mistakes can influence people for the better. Reef learns his lessons in the “The First Stone” by Don Aker. Reef is in the North Hills group home for a year because of the Judge’s sentence. While at the group home, Reef begins to learn the importance of respect, the need for self-reflection and how important are true friendships.
For example, During a vivid childhood flashback, Reef overhears his intoxicated grandfather saying “. . . like none ‘a this matters, like you're just along for the ride. . .” (Aker 63). This quote reflects Reef's grandfather's pessimistic outlook on life, subtly influencing Reef's character choices without his awareness. Reef's strong family ties significantly impact him more than he knows, family has a huge role in his decision-making process.
“Many times what we perceive as an error or failure is actually a gift. And eventually, we find that lessons learned from that discouraging experience prove to be of great worth. ”-Richelle E. Goodrich. The First Stone by Don Aker is a book about a young offender named Reef Kennedy who has gotten into trouble countless times. Ever since his grandmother died, Reef has been venting out his anger, hurting others around him in the process.
In the novel More Joy in Heaven by Morley Callaghan, Kip Caley has a taste of what being a free man is like. Upon release, he wants to lead a quiet life, mind his own business and live a righteous law-abiding life. However, after being in prison and coming accustom to society and the powers of the public eye it might be too much for him. The mix of love, friendship and his want for acceptance from his family and friends is too great for him. The pressure from society is too much and the fallout of Kip is ultimately his own fault along with Judge Ford for rejecting him as well as, Foley his only friend and not believing in him how Kip needed.
Thousands of people discipline their children everyday, but some of them don’t know that they are actually abusing their child. Even though some parents may abuse their children by beating them and hitting them, disciplining a child is not the same. Disciplining a child allows them to grow and learn what is wrong and right. It also allows a kid not to be out of control and harm others. The meaning of discipline is the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, by using a punishment to correct their disobedience.
“We need to realize that our path to transformation is through our mistakes. We're meant to make mistakes, recognize them, and move on to become unlimited.” (Yehuda Berg). A character metamorphosis is superficially impossible; it can only occur if one has such tenacity and passion, often unpossessed by most people. Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen, however, chronicles the journey of Cole Matthews as a “lost cause” into a rekindled and hopeful teenager after his experience on a remote island as punishment is over.
The biggest issue within the Criminal Justice system is the large number of wrongful convictions, innocent people sentenced to die for crimes they did not commit. People are put in prison for years, even executed for false convictions. This affects not only those put in prison but friends and family of the accused. Wrongful convictions aren’t solely a tragedy for those directly involved either. It weakens the faith the public has for the justice system as well as poses safety issues; when innocent people are put away, the real criminals are still out there.
Just like Amrith, there are cases in which I feel helpless, almost useless. That feeling when all hope is loss and your thoughts take over making you just want to sleep and forget everything. In this case, when “[Amrith] felt [a] familiar inner blackness come in and sweep him out, like a current… he [felt] helpless against its power” (Selvadurai 32), I related it to when times I feel so counterproductive. For example, when I fail to accomplish a task while seeing others capable of doing the same thing, it makes me feel useless and that I do not have a place in the world. This links to the text since Amrith and I feel incompetent, being overpowered by our own thoughts, when in reality it’s only our minds strengthening the belief that we cannot become successful by our own means.
Holes This novel is about Stanley Yelnats, he always seems to have bad luck thanks to his great- great-grandfather who was cursed by an old gypsy woman. Stanley gets sent to a juvenile detention camp which is named Camp Green Lake for a crime he did not commit. During his time in camp Stanley and the other guys are ordered to dig holes daily. As Stanley digs these holes regularly he realizes that the warden is searching for something in the dry lake...