James Howe's 'Everything Will Be Okay'

In the novel The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton the character Darrel Curtis is unquestionably influenced by his gang as it prevents him from being successful to becoming the father of the gang, and overall being someone to look up to. Darrel, or Darry has always wanted to become something amazing in life, but sadly when his parents died in a fatal car crash, he was left to raise his two younger brothers, Sodapop, and Ponyboy. More specifically, Darrel chooses his gang over his potential future to care for his friends but sadly, “. . .

As children, Adam and Charles play many games, however Charles always has to win. This reaction causes Adam to fear his brother, and leads him to let his brother always win. Throughout his childhood, Adam gives up many opportunities for success, but only because of fear of his brother. By giving up opportunities to feel successful, Adam develops a contentious relationship with Charles. In one instance, Adam and Charles give their father a gift for his birthday, however their father appreciates Adams gift more.

The short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst elucidates the theme “selfish people aren’t the ones that suffer their selfishness: it's those around them, in which it harms”. The story is about a boy who received a brother after six years of being an only child, but because of an unfortunate disease, his brother wasn’t expected to live long. He unexpectedly lived far longer that anticipated, so his parents finally named him: William Armstrong. Because William wasn’t “all there”, his brother had plans to kill him with a pillow, but his plan was corrupted when his brother smiled at him, showing that he was “all there”. The narrator (who is also William’s big brother) renamed his brother Doodle.

Okonkwo was raised by his father Unoka who never earned any titles. Unoka was a sensitive man who never relished at the thought of war, but found joy in playing his flute. Unoka did not have the greatest luck when it came to farming, this caused him to end up in a lot of debt that he couldn’t pay back. Unlike his father, Okonkwo had no problem with the idea of war. Okonkwo grew up resenting his father for not being stronger and more masculine.

Colin is a child prodigy, and his father, doesn 't let him forget it. In the novel, his dad expected so much of Colin regarding his scholarly endeavours, and when he didn 't meet those expectations, his relationship with his father was further and further diminished and Colin as a person, was greatly affected. “If you wish to continue to grow intellectually, you need to work harder right now than you have ever before. Otherwise, you risk wasting your potential”(pg.10) this is a quote said by Colin’s father. Talk about uptight.

Gatsby differs from these characters because he has a purpose that justifies every little thing that he does. These qualities that Gatsby possesses, his ambition, dedication, and optimism, set him apart from everyone else. Ever since Gatsby was a young teenager, he had an ambition: to be the best version of himself possible. In order to become successful, Gatsby decides to continue on with his education beyond high school. Unfortunately, he drops out of college because he feels like he isn’t going along the right path to succeed.

“His life had been ruled by a great passion”, the drive from being unlike Unoka set Okonkwo’s goal “to become one of the lords of the clan” but because of him being expelled he couldn’t “[achieve] it” (131). Okonkwo’s fear of being like his father came crashing down as he left Umuofia and lost all the titles he had worked for. He was forcefully reverted to his original identity, having nothing. This experience showed Okonkwo that no matter how hard he worked he could always end back in the position that Unoka was in because that is where everyone

He is thought to be lazy and weak and does not live up to the expectations that his father has for him as his oldest son. Okonkwo’s biggest problem with his son is that he is reminiscent of Okonkwo’s father. After the arrival of Ikemefuna, Okonkwo began to see positive changes in his son. He began to adopt more manly attitudes giving Okonkwo hope for him. “He wanted Nwoye to grow into tough young man capable of ruling his father’s household when he was dead and gone to join the ancestors” (52).

“No one would have taken them for brothers” (Wolff 364). Truth be told, this is the main thought that can be drawn throughout the entire short story, “The Rich Brother” by Tobias Wolff. From the very beginning of the story, it’s clear that these two brother Pete and Donald are polar opposites of one another. The reader will discover from this that Pete and Donald, no matter what time it was in their life, had problems with each other. This would infer that Pete and Donald were in a dysfunctional relationship due to Pete’s success, Donald’s lack of success, and “abuse” incident in their childhood.

Although young, he is put to hard work by his father and is constantly belittled by him, which builds up for them to not have a healthy relationship. Okonkwo’s hard hand upon his son can be seen as a result of his own father-son issues with Unoka, because it is described that Unoka “the grown-up, was a failure.” (Achebe, pg 5), Okonkwo “wanted his son to be a great man indeed” (pg. 33) unlike his grandfather. Due to the actions of his father, Nwoye finds this new religion in town to be a mysteriously, fulfilling faith, which is one of the reasons he is drawn to Christianity; to go against his fathers wishing could be another reason to transform. As described in the book that “it was not the mad logic of the Trinity that captivated him” but rather it was “the hymn about brothers who sat in darkness and in fear seemed to answer a vague and persistent