The purpose of this confession written by Jonathon Lethem was to alleviate an inner turmoil that he had been struggling with for years now. This essay expands upon why his obsession with the “Star Wars” series during the time where in which his mother was suffering from a mental illness and before his awkward teenage years turned into an escape from reality. Lethem’s pride in the accomplishment of watching the series 21 times seems to be masked buy his own shame, but it was obvious that he views this experience as one of the most self-defining experiences of his life. The audience is left with a loving connection for the author as well as a sense of understanding and sympathy for his losses. At the end of his essay, he ends up describing himself as “the kid who partly invented himself in the vacuum collision of Star Wars - and real loss.”
Putting yourself in danger to save others takes a huge amount of courage. This is called sacrifice. In the book Peak, by Roland Smith, every character experiences different types of sacrifice, whether they are endangering themselves, their reputation or other people. From Peak sacrificing himself so that Sun-jo would be safe, to Josh sacrificing his job for Peaks safety, and the Sherpas and porters sacrificing their jobs so that Zopa would be set free. Every character has a choice in this book and it’s up to them if they want to risk losing everything they have, including their lives. In the book Peak, it gives great examples of arduous challenges and characters showing many acts of bravery by sacrificing themselves, their reputation, or their
Making decisions in life is like growing a flower. Each and every day it may seem like nothing has changed, but later in the future, every choice one makes will lead to a blooming future. Some decision results little to no effect, while others, leave collateral damage affecting one’s life forever and those around them. Many ordinary decisions can end in regret; on the other hand, constructing a right decision can also leave great memories. The book I Am A Seal Team Six Warrior by Stephen Templin clearly interprets Howard E. Wasdin’s extraordinary life of becoming a soldier who protects the country he loves. Every single resolution causes different outcomes, and this book shows that sometimes ordinary decisions can lead to an extraordinary life.
In the movie Casablanca directed by Michael Curtiz, the theme of this mysterious/ romantic is self-sacrifice and unhappy love. These themes are best expressed in the interactions of the three main characters: Victor Laszlo, Ilsa Lund, and Rick Blaine.
A classic film, Gran Torino, which was released on December 12, 2008 and directed by award winning director Clint Eastwood, displays an emotional yet drama filled story based in the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan, in a rundown town. This film shows a multiplicity of similarities to a short story written by author Joyce Carol Oates in the year 1996 titled, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? This short story primarily focuses on a 15-year-old girl named Connie who is obsessed with herself and her appearance. One day Connie finds herself in a less than pleasing situation after a man that she does not know very well, named Arnold Friend, shows up to her home and pressures her into leaving with him; which she complies to leave everything behind in order to protect her family from any harm.
As part of the fascist conquest to create an ideal race during the World War II, Jewish people struggled to survive by evading their Nazi hunters and persecution. In Art Spielberg’s Maus he depicts his dad’s, Vladek, Holocaust experience through comics as his dad informs him of his WWII experience. In the novel Jewish people are drawn as mice and German’s cats to show how there is a constant conflict of pursuit, near captures, and repeated escapes. Vladek and other Jew are forced to hide, evade, and trick the Nazi soldiers in a similar fashion to the game to survive the persecution of his people. To survive the Holocaust as a Jew numerous sacrifices are required to be made in order to escape death.
Many people take the sacrifices that parents make for them for granted. Specifically, many mothers give up important aspects of their lives for their children. Khaled Hosseini, author of A Thousand Splendid Suns demonstrates the significance of motherly sacrifice in several different ways through Nana, Laila, and Mariam.
Have you imagined how the post-apocalyptic world will look like and will you choose try hard to survive or to die? In the book, The Road, written by McCarthy, the sky is dark. It’s cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. Everything has gone, only except some human beings who try every way to survive even by hurting and killing people. It seems that there is no reason to keep surviving in a world which no hopes remain, a father still perseveres to survive with his son and they are sustained by their love. On their journey, the father sacrifices a lot to protect his son and strongly shows his parental love.
“To persevere, I think, is important for everybody. Don’t give up, don’t give in. There’s always an answer to everything”-Louie Zamperini. This man, Louie Zamperini was a bombardier for the US in World War II. He and his crew were shot down and forced to survive at sea for forty six days. Unfortunately, he and his friend Phil were captured by the Japanese and put into prison camps. Louie needed to show resilience and resist the captors attempts to make him feel worthless. Laura Hillenbrand, the author of Unbroken, uses character to show the theme when tough situations arise one must be resilient in order to transform the bad into good or even better.
In 1998 Steven Spielberg directed a film called 'Saving Private Ryan,' this film won many awards including best cinematography, film editing, director and many more. The film is about a group of eight soldiers are sent to find Private Ryan, the youngest of his brothers. They are sent to find him after the general received notification that his other three brothers had died. The director has used aesthetic features to position the audience to believe in a dominant ideology, which is people create strong bonds in during difficult times. The aesthetic features that were used include symbolism, camera angles and lighting. By using these features effectively the director is able to portray a powerful message to the viewing audience.
“The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien, brings to light the psychological impact of what soldiers go through during times of war. We learn that the effects of traumatic events weigh heavier on the minds of men than all of the provisions and equipment they shouldered. Wartime truly tests the human body and and mind, to the point where some men return home completely destroyed. Some soldiers have been driven to the point of mentally altering reality in order to survive day to day. An indefinite number of men became numb to the deaths of their comrades, and yet secretly desired to die and bring a conclusion to their misery. Over all, this story allows us to observe changes within the mentalities of army officers.
In the novel the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini he illustrates the sacrifice one gives for love. Over the course of the novel Amir, Hassan, and Baba all face dramatic events that shape them to the person they are. Each one of them sacrifice a piece of their own happiness for the one they love. Hassan is loyal to Amir even though in their childhood Amir was not a good friend. Baba sacrifices his life in Afghanistan for Amir to have an education in America. Amir risked his life for Sohrab, Hassan’s son, to repay the wrong he commits toward Hassan. The recurring theme of sacrifice for the ones you love is presented all throughout the novel through Hassan, Baba, and Amir.
“The greatest sacrifice is when you sacrifice your own happiness for the sake of someone else”. In the book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, the author Khaled Hosseini writes a story about an Afghan girl name Mariam. Throughout the book it shows her life and growing up in Afghanistan. She learns about her country from events from her personal life and others. As these events grow throughout her life the color black appear more. As it grows it leads to her sacrificing herself for Laila and her children. A Thousand Splendid Suns develops the theme, human nature plays a factor in one who sacrifices themselves for the one they love through the archetypal uses of black, the mother figure, and the villain.
Sacrifice can have several definitions but the author believes that in its purest form, sacrifice is surrendering oneself for the sake of someone else. A mother loses sleep to comfort her child, a father skips his meals to earn a livelihood for his family, a friend gives up on his/her dreams and ambitions just so they can see someone they love fulfill theirs, and so on. One cannot simply escape making sacrifices if they truly care. An analogous relationship is witnessed in The Kite Runner.
I think the movie Interstellar is mostly based on emotions and logic. It’s director Christopher Nolan said that The further out into the infinite we went and the more we isolated these characters who have to go across the universe, the more the focus naturally becomes on their humanity, on that intimate bond they have, what makes us human, all those issues{1}. I think what’s important for us to be humans is care for others more than ourselves .It helps in us in taking risks we usually fear to take to help others. The 2014-movie Interstellar directed by Christopher Nolan had a lot of people’s effort who did research in order to make the movie more realistic to real life experience.