Naveed By John Heffernan Essay

The novel Naveed by John Heffernan shows examples of how people can use certain situations to benefit themselves, while others choose not to become a victim and take up an altruistic lifestyle. “ I am not what has happened to me. I am what I choose to become.” - Carl Jung. A victim is someone who has been caught in a horrible situation. Therefore a victim mentality is taking on the mentality of a victim even if you have had the opportunity to break out of that cycle. Characters like Naveed are incredibly selfless and altruistic rather characters like Akmed choose to choose to dwell in self pity, this is where we see a stark contrast in this novel.

Usually it is not a terrible situation that determines whether a person will suffer for the rest of their lives, but it’s the person themselves who decide. Jake, the Australian soldier, chose to provide optimistic opportunities to Naveed,

After getting her legs amputated when they are blown up by an IED, improvised explosive device. Regardless of her environment she has joy and her attitude remains cheerful even when everyone else sees her condition as a disadvantage. “I used to be sad about having no legs” “but now I realise it’s a blessing in disguise”. She sees that being legless is a blessing as she doesn’t have to marry an older, uglier man. She breaks out of the victim mentality and finds a motivation to go on and inspire others, especially Naveed, “Nor has she ever shown any sign of self-pity. The opposite in fact”. Anoosheh uses dancing to lift her spirits and even to hopefully bring life to her cousin Akmed. She received prosthetic legs, with the help of Jake, the joy and thankfulness that she expresses is a true example of her focussing on the positives. While some view themselves as victims, unlike Anoosheh, and believe that they can’t do anything to improve their situation, which will never get them to any place of