Out Of The Dust Character Analysis

Imagine your home being burnt before your eyes, your family unjustly slaughtered, witnessing innocent people shot without reason, imagine being behind the trigger. Experiencing traumatic events such as these will negatively affect anyone’s character. Ishmael Beah, a child in Sierra Leone, experienced just that. In A Long Way Gone Ishmael Beah uses his life story do demonstrate how childhood and innocence are not synonymous.

“I don’t know why I did it. I was just so sad. I don’t know why” (276). In The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon, Brent tells the story of his heat of the moment decision to attempt suicide at the age of 14 years old. His brother, Craig, is the first to discover him engulfed in smoke after Brent douses himself with gasoline and lights a match. Brent’s mental illness brings severe trauma to himself and his family, and they each attempt to cope with the stress and guilt from the situation in different ways such as suppressing their feelings, caring for each other, placing blame, and distracting him/herself from the event.

This literary analysis will be of Octavia Butler’s Fledgling, exploring the role of lead character, Shori Matthews, who is both the narrator and protagonist of this captivating novel. The question being examined is whether or not the voice of the hybrid, genetically modified vampire, Shori Matthews, comes across as reliable, or unreliable to the reader. In the first chapter, Shori identifies only as a person, but through her quest to find out her true identity, it is later the reader learns she is actually a vampire. Can a vampire be thought of as a reliable, dependable source, capable of being taken at face value? Shori begins, “I awoke to darkness.” ( ) She is terribly burned, without clothes, starving for food, and has absolutely no memory

The quote “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass it’s about learning how to dance in the rain” means that we should learn how to our lives even at struggling times of our lives. There are times when we are feeling down or going through tough times. Weather it’s bad grades or a tragic event.

Josie’s Story is a truly inspirational and informative book written by a mother who used her grief and sorrow to educate people, and make medical care safe. Josie King was a curious and precocious 18 month old toddler who was just beginning to discover the world, and loved her dog Trapper. One day, while her family was preoccupied downstairs, Josie waddled into the bathroom in search of her blue airplane. She slipped into the bathtub, and turned on scalding hot water onto herself, causing first and second degree burns which covered 60 percent of her tiny body. Josie was admitted to one of the most prestigious children’s hospitals in our country, Johns Hopkins Children 's Center. After the ninth day in the PICU, Josie’s family was informed that

In this film called The Dressmaker directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse and a book called Jasper Jones written by Craig Silvey they will be comparing and contrasting the use of themes in the film and the book. Revenge in The Dressmaker happens when Tilly burned the town; in Jasper Jones Eliza burned her home. Then in Family Tilly and Molly has a rough start but when Tilly came back they turned out to be happy with each other, while in Jasper Jones Charlies mum and Charlie are happy at the start but went downhill very quickly when Laura disappeared. The themes are revenge, death, and family.

Despite the ache in her heart that her mother’s death left her with, Billie Jo conquered her pain and continued to play the piano. Despite the physical hurt it caused her hands and the emotional pain it causes her as it remind her of her mother Billie Jo persisted and didn’t give up on her dreams of piano playing. Such as when Billie Jo thinks, “I play songs that have only the pattern of myself in them and you hum along supporting me. You are the companion to myself. The mirror with my mother’s eyes,”(194.). To Billie Jo, a piano symbolized her mother and everything her mother was to her, but she rebuilt herself and continued to play and by the end of the novel Billie Jo is playing at home once again. After running away Billie Jo also realized how much her father still meant to her. Despite all the pain he has caused her, she reconnects with him and together they rebuild their relationship into one where they both know they still love and care for the other. For example, when Billie Jo returns she thinks, “as we walk together, side by side, in the swell of dust, I am forgiving him, step by step, for the pail of kerosene. As we walk together, side by side, in the sole-deep dust, I am forgiving myself for all the rest,” (206). Billie Jo is forgiving her father and forgiving herself, as they patch up themselves and each other and grow stronger together. Through strength of

Parents are always supposed to look out for the best interests of their child. Anne Tyler authored the short story “Teenage Wasteland” which depicts the story of a strained mother and son relationship between the character Donny, and his mother Daisy. Donny is a teenage boy who is struggling with his grades at school and is exhibiting poor behavior. His mother, Daisy is concerned with her son’s grades and behavior, however, she fails at getting her son the help that he requires. Told through the point of view of the character Daisy, Tyler uses irony to tell the story of a teenage boy who is failed by the adults in his life who are supposed to help him flourish, including his parents, a psychologist, and his tutor.

Where the Wild Things are by Maurice Sendak is an interesting children’s picture book. The main character is a little boy named Max, who has a wild imagination. He uses all five senses as well as thought and his actions to express his personality as well as how he reacts and interacts with his surroundings. Max’s id, ego and super-ego are greatly shown in this book through the way that the author has portrayed him. Not only is this book a children’s story, but it can also be perceived as a life lesson. Many people go through times in their lives when they make drastic decisions right away, such as leaving home. One may enjoy it for the rest of their lives or only for a little while, just like Max who felt lonely after having fun with the monsters. In this case, people end up going home to be with their family where they are not lonely, and can have more time before making a final decision of what should happen next in their life. Id, ego and super- ego is greatly portrayed in this

Alice Walker’s Everyday Use (rpt. in Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson, Perrine’s Literature Sound and Structure 11th ed [Boston: Wadsworth, 2012] 166-173) is a short story told by the mother of two daughters, Mama. The story tells the tale of the return of Mama’s oldest daughter, Dee, and the problems that Dee’s return causes for Mama and her youngest daughter, Maggie. This short story includes humor and irony, displays detailed characterization, and portrays a very effective point of view. These three literary elements contribute to this story by giving insight into the past and the true personalities of the characters, and the way the characters have changed over time.

The only woman in the world who will still cradle you in her arms even if you've stabbed her loving heart is your mother.The short story “Teenage Wasteland” by Anne Tyler is about guilt and reveals mother’s feelings towards her children. A loving mother will feel guilty for anything that happens to her children, and even for that how they feel.

"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."-Muhammad Ali. In my book, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher this quote is perfect. This is about a girl who was burned when she was younger. Everyone thinks the burns are from a pot of spaghetti but only a selected few know that her dad actually did it. Sarah is so scared of her dad that she is staying in a hospital and is refusing to talk. Eric Calhoune knows the true identity if the burns and refuses to stay on the sideline. Him, his friend and his teacher get Sarah Byrnes out of the hospital to look for her mom. But Sarah's crazy dad, Virgil knows something up. After it all Virgil gets caught and Sarah lives happily with Mrs Lemry. My thesis is "who shows courage in Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes?"

Nineteen Minutes is Jodi Picoult’s staggering and heartbreaking story about the devastating aftermath of a small town tragedy. The story begins in the town of Sterling, New Hampshire, following the lives of the citizens on an ordinary day. That all changes when there is a shooting at Sterling High. Throughout the story, there are flashbacks to before and after the killings and the reader learns about the history of each of the characters, and how that has influenced their journey throughout the novel. We are shown the once close relationship between Josie and Peter, and also about Peter’s rocky home life where Peter is often outshined by his older brother whose death creates a rift that puts him even farther from his parents. . The jumps back in

I admire how strong and fearless Jeannette is and was as a child. Her earliest memory at three years old is making hot dogs and catching on fire. Even though she screamed out of fear, like any three-year-old would, when she was told she’d be alright she responded “I know…but if I’m not, that’s okay, too”. It is baffling to me for a three-year-old child to be alright with not being physically “okay”. This was the moment that my admiration for Jeannette developed. Most kids would develop a fear of fire after an incident like that but instead she becomes fascinated with it and finds every excuse just to use fire. Her parents are to thank for this because they are the ones who drove her to be fearless and to have

Desire is the need for an object, a feeling or a person. One can have a desire for something that is essential for survival, such as water or food, but desire could be used to harm others or oneself. Through A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, Ishmael’s perspective of desire was altered dramatically. These desires were changed from his surroundings or events that were taking place. In the book, Ishmael was easily manipulated by his desires. As the story progresses, the reader sees that desires become a more important role in Ishmael’s life and it made him from being an innocent child into a bloodthirsty soldier only looking for something to slaughter. From these transitioning desires Ishmael becomes less and less stable, making him easily