How often, when you are facing a stressful problem, do you stop and think, ‘This is really going to help me develop as an individual’? Most people probably don’t see things in such an optimistic light. It is much easier to sink into the depths of self-pity and hatred than to climb out of the shadows and face your struggles with hope. In Alan Paton’s book Cry, the Beloved Country, he put emphasis on the lives of two men who were hurting deeply. Neither one of them was enjoying their current situation, but they were learning and growing, and finding how to love. They had every right, in the eyes of other humans, to seek revenge and be cold-hearted. However, the two men, Stephen Kumalo and James Jarvis, were able to look past their differences and be …show more content…
Kumalo and Jarvis did not start out with a perfect relationship. In fact, for the majority of their lives they did not have any sort of relationship at all. Kumalo, a Zulu native, had seen James Jarvis, a wealthy European man, ride past the church occasionally, but they had never spoken. Once Absalom murdered Jarvis’ son, Kumalo was terrified of confronting him and having to deal with the guilt and the weight of another person’s pain. Jarvis, on the other hand, did not even recognize Kumalo when they were in the same courtroom for Absalom’s trial. There definitely was no shalom between them, and that brokenness was caused by Absalom’s murder of Arthur. Author Pierce Brown once wrote, “Death begets death begets death,” meaning one death or tragedy leads to another. This is evident in a way in Cry, the Beloved Country, as the poverty, pain, and death in Johannesburg was the leading cause for native crime, of which Absalom was a part. Broken shalom between the blacks and whites led to broken shalom in Johannesburg, which led to crime, which led to the murder of Arthur Jarvis, which led to the smaller-scale broken shalom between Stephen Kumalo and James
The ability to possess strength is built on by a continual commitment to personal values. Individuals who are tenacious and who are willing to have faith in their beliefs are capable of being extremely empathetic and have the ability to identify and connect with others. Strength and empathy work hand in hand to create a strong sense of resilience in the face of conflict. Individuals who are able to act in a resilient manner for their personal values live balanced lives and are successful in upholding personal goals. Throughout Timothy Findley’s novel The Wars, the power of empathy is demonstrated by Robert Ross; an extremely compassionate and caring young man.
They are pushed away to seek different, better things, separated from the causes of their grief. In these cases, it would be inaccurate to claim that cruelty is little more than unjust treatment. Cruelty is not a display of power—it is the abuse of it; the ugly offspring of fear and weakness, spurred by fits of anger and doubt; a revealer of the truly weak and liberator of the wrongly
Inner struggles Twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week, the ticking clock never stops, neither do the lives of about 7,214,958,996 people on this Earth. Each one equipped with their own set of personal strengths and weaknesses, yet out of those 7 billion people, no two people are exactly the same. Some would say you’re born with it in your DNA, and others say it takes time, but what really causes weaknesses with in oneself? Personal weakness is something that no human being can avoid in their lifetime, no matter how great they have it or think they are. Two works of literature that exemplify this idea are Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange and J.D. Salinger’s
A Changed Life: Pessimism to Optimism Just like no one can escape death no one can escape the aftermath of a traumatic event. Even though trauma isn’t escapable it is overcomeable. The traumatic events that occur throughout A Separate Peace would lead most to say that it is a pessimistic book, but there are much deeper findings that is optimistic in the book. The optimistic view of the book is looked upon and isn’t the most obvious choice of the two but has many provable points.
Strength develops in someone through their experiences which have the ability to make them an emotionally stronger person. A quote by Ernest Hemingway presents that “the world breaks everyone, then some become strong at the broken places.” Even those who suffer the most will have the ability to bounce back at a stronger state. This theme reveals its relevance in A Separate Peace by John Knowles as we analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the main characters, Finny and Gene. Although some may insist that Finny’s emotional state fits the mold of a weak character, I have confidence that Finny has the most inner strength out of the two boys given his description and actions throughout the novel.
However, the burdens of responsibility can lead individuals to attempt to isolate oneself from those they love, yet it is impossible to completely remove oneself from all forms of emotional attachment. Rather, the individual may subconsciously internalize the welfare and hardships faced by others over the well-being of oneself and this can cause a forced deprivation of help and love due to the obligation that one feels to be owed in their responsibility. It is human nature to feel guilt and burdened by the consequences of love and responsibility, but although burdensome, responsibility is crucial in illustrating the inherent empathy and fragility present in all
Thus the reader is once again let down, and left wondering whether there is anyone in Africa who can fit the mold of the leader required. Midway throughout Stephen Kumalo’s journey, the reader is told about a young man named Arthur Jarvis, a staunch opponent of South Africa’s racial injustices who was shot and killed. Much to the reader’s dismay, the more they learn about Arthur Jarvis, the more they mourn his death as Arthur Jarvis embodies all the qualities needed for a
In life difficulties may arise, but an “instructive eye” of a “tender parent” is a push needed in everyone’s life. Abigail Adams believed, when she wrote a letter to her son, that difficulties are needed to succeed. She offers a motherly hand to her son to not repent his voyage to France and continue down the path he is going. She uses forms of rhetoric like pathos, metaphors, and allusions to give her son a much needed push in his quest to success.
Life can be difficult, and people every day have to endure their own type of adversity, but adversity isn’t limited to just one problem but an array of difficulties. These problems can appear from many factors may it be a physical, mental, or social situation. The problems of adversity can be seen in the book The Other Wes Moore, as throughout the book, both of the Moore’s have faced different problems, with one overcoming, and the other being stuck with obstacles. When anyone is in the face of adversity, being guided to overcome will lead to success, while the less guided will lead to more stresses. Any type of adversity can emerge at any time, but the best way to overcome it is to find guidance.
In the midst of all of this he finds a balance by focusing on what really matters. At the same time this keeps him focused on his main goal which is education. Education will be his family's way out of poverty. Through seeing his younger brother that is unemployed and will be having a child soon he looks beyond this and is genuinely proud of where he comes from. He realizes how strong his family is when he seems them fighting through poverty and making things.
Howard Schultz once said, “In times of adversity and change, we discover who we are and what we are made of.” In life, one starts to realize everything is not always peachy. Sometimes one has to go through patches of thorns before things start to look up, but in the long run difficulties in life turn out to make one stronger person. In the books Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom, and Night by Elie Wiesel, two of the main characters are pushed to their limits and beyond. How these men react to their situation is both mesmerizing, and courageous.
Growing up requires a high demand of endurance as life is filled with hardships and challenges. Thus in order to live through them, people must be as strong as the stress and anxiety which builds upon them. Both Donald M. Murray’s “What Football Taught Me” and Lisa Keiski’s “Suicide’s Forgotten Victims” demonstrate how to persist life challenges. Despite experiencing different forms of hardships that enable them to survive through their pain, Murray and Keiski transmit life lessons about individual growth. They emphasize survival through society, authority figures, and themselves.
Timothy Findley explores an individual’s struggle to keep a sense of resilience while
In the two books Freak the Mighty, by Rodman Philbrick and The Friendship, by Mildred. D. Taylor, the main characters brought positive change when they were vulnerable. In both of these books, people were vulnerable, but were able to bring positive change, whether it be to either themselves or others. In life, everyone at some point in time is in a tough position, but you can always bring positive change, no matter what the circumstances may be. For example, in Freak the Mighty, one of the main characters, named Maxwell, befriended a peculiar kid named Kevin that was much more intelligent than him, but was very small and was not very mobile.
In the end, his suffering paid off as his hope and dream of finding his family alive finally came true. Through the story of a young boy who treasured all his blessings in a harsh environment, I learned to value the things I have and to not waste these special