Imagine being in captivity in tiny quarters without knowledge of what the future holds. How can one cope in this situation? The best way to respond to conflict is though a positive attitude, because it makes an environment more tolerable to live in, and provides health benefits. Positivity that spreads to others, creates a fellowship between the people in the same setting. In the following examples, Anne Frank, Allison Kimberly, and Viktor Frankl illustrate this point of view. It is easier to tolerate a difficult situation, if the affected people have a positive outlook. This is portrayed in the “Diary of Anne Frank”: “Thanks to Father -who brought my entire postcard and movie-star collection here beforehand -and to a brush and a pot of …show more content…
This is confirmed when Allison Kimberly, a 33-year old breast cancer Pathologist was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer with a survival rate of 40 percent in 10 years. Yet, due to a consistent positive attitude, she was able to overcome the cancer in three years. Her achievement inspired her to write about the experience in her book Red Sunshine, whose “book’s title reflects the positive attitude that helped her weather the challenging treatment, which she completed two years ago” (Brody). It inspired her to stay positive regularly, especially when her health was in jeopardy. This proves that focusing on getting better can help make progress. Another example includes Nathan Last, a Mental Performance Trainer who says, “Most athletes are not aware of how much their thoughts and attitude in sports, negative or positive, influence their performance. Negative thoughts or attitudes creates increased stress and anxiety, eventually resulting in poor performance”. A negative attitude can slow progress, resulting in overall poor mental state. This way, it is harder to become positive when most needed. Furthermore, according to The Harvard Gazette, “A Harvard study found that women who were optimistic had a significantly reduced risk of dying from several major causes of death over an eight-year period, compared with women who were less optimistic” (Feldscher). This study concluded that “the most …show more content…
“Wallenberg's Life-Giving Legacy.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 Jan. 2012, www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/opinion/wallenbergs-life-giving-legacy.html.
Feldscher, Karen. “How Power of Positive Thinking Works.” Harvard Gazette, 8 Dec. 2016, news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2016/12/optistic-women-live-longer-are-healthier/.
Frank, Anne. “The Diary of Anne Frank.” Studysync: Reading &Writing Companion, BookheadEd Learning, LLC, 2015.
Frankl, Viktor E. “Man's Search for Meaning.” Studysync: Reading &Writing Companion, BookheadEd Learning, LLC, 2015.
Goodrich, Frances, and Albert Hackett. “The Diary of Anne Frank.”
Last, Nathan. “The Benefits of Positive Thinking and Right Attitude in Sports.” Mental Grit Consulting, Mental Grit Consulting LLC, 10 Mar. 2017, www.mentalgritconsulting.com/having-right-attitude-in-sports/.
News, Positive. “Positive News Stories Bring People Together, Study Finds.” Positive News, Positive News, 22 Nov. 2016, www.positive.news/2016/society/media/24020/positive-news-stories-bring-people-together-study-finds/.
Rankin, Lissa. “Can Positive Thinking Help You Heal?” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 27 Dec. 2011,
World War II (WWII) is a very common topic discussed in high school english classes mainly due to the facts that WWII is a perfect example of good vs. evil in the real world and there is an endless amount of books written about this tragic era in history. Two examples of these type of books are Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken and Elie Wiesel’s Night; and like all of the other WWII books, these two address themes about the hardships of war and how hope is always present. One specific theme that these books support is that in war, there will always be peace; this is shown through elements of faith, happiness, and trauma. To begin, the two main characters of the books Unbroken and Night face a struggle with their individual faiths, but in very different ways. Louis (Louie) Zamperini initially was not the most religious man but when faced with the most dire of situations he turned to God repeatedly for help and counsel.
“Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live.” This was a particularly unsympathetic statement on Hitler’s part, especially considering that he made it so difficult and miserable for certain communities to fight. Even so, these victims managed to do so by enduring Hitler’s torment. Endurance- fueled by hope and optimism- can dwarf despair and anguish, even in the face of death. Negative occurrences need to be utilized in order to become stronger and practice endurance.
To appreciate and comprehend the human beings that surround us will ensure a brighter future for us as a whole. It is also important as a person to stray from the direction of hatred and silence, in a difficult situation. As Elie Wiesel put it “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.” My earlier studies of the Holocaust did not contain the voice of a human, facts were listed, sifted through, and analyzed. And then, we met Anne Frank, a young girl living in the middle of a war torn era.
Many believe that the best way to survive during times of war is to rely on others and hold on to sentimental items. Some believe that holding on to normalcy is the best way to survive through times of conflict. Others believe the best way to respond is by relying on others and attaching yourself to things and people. It is evident that from Elie wiesel’s Night, The Diary
“Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere. ”(Ellie Weisel). The Holocaust is often a topic authors use to educate readers about the horrors that happened in our world over 70 years ago. However no matter how many years go by it is not only important that the victims are never forgotten but also the moral message is passed on from generation to generation. The Terrible Things, by Eve Bunting, and Child of the Holocaust, by Fred Gross, both depict the topic of the Holocaust but emphasize different evidence and information to create an overall message to the reader.
According to Bear Grylls, “Being brave isn’t the absence of fear. Being brave is having that fear but finding a way through it.” Many situations that happen in our everyday lives focus on triumph over adversity. This quote explains that when one triumphs over adversity, the adversity isn’t absent from his life, but he must triumph over it and find a way through the situation that is affecting him. Historical events have followed this theme of triumph over adversity, including the infamous Holocaust.
It’s difficult to imagine the way humans brutally humiliate other humans based on their faith, looks, or mentality but somehow it happens. On the novel “Night” by Elie Wiesel, he gives the reader a tour of World War Two through his own eyes , from the start of the ghettos all the way through the liberation of the prisoners of the concentration camps. This book has several themes that develop throughout its pages. There are three themes that outstand from all the rest, these themes are brutality, humiliation, and faith. They’re the three that give sense to the reading.
Anne’s positive attitude and hope helped her overcome her distressing time in hiding during World War II. Other examples can also be found in the poem “Homesick”, and journal entries written by youngsters living during World War II. Having hope helps overcome obstacles that you may have thought was unfeasible to surpass. Hope can be found in everything. Fear can leave you petrified, but hope is the greatest strength that you can possess and hope will always overpower fear.
The human condition is a very malleable idea that is constantly changing due to the current state of mankind. In the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, the concept of the human condition is displayed in the worst sense of the concept, during the Holocaust of WWII. During this time, multiple groups of people, most notably European Jews, were persecuted against and sent to horrible hard labor and killing centers such as Auschwitz. In this memoir, Wiesel uses complex figurative language such as similes and metaphors to display the theme that a person’s state as a human, both at a physical and emotional level, can be altered to extreme lengths, and even taken away from them, under the most extreme conditions.
Suffering does not always change the morals of a person, “Literature depicting suffering also inspires hope and confidence in the resilience of the human spirit” (Cerullo, paragraph 7). Rabbi was one in Night who kept a strong faith throughout all of his suffering, and while his body was getting weaker, his faith remained strong. His faith was one thing that kept him pushing to survive in the harsh conditions of the concentration camps. Wiesel observed that “strangely, his words never provoked anyone. They did bring peace” (Wiesel 90).
It is believed that that the way to be human being is to be humane but as we look down to our history it is crystal clear that humans have brought much pain, suffering and crisis to other humans. In a crisis, people respond in different ways that reveal characteristics of human nature. In the short story, This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen, Tadeusz Borowski has narrated his experience in a concentration camp during the Second World War. Borowski who is a kommando in the camp encounters different kinds of people who show characteristics like bravery, fear, empathy, brutality and many more. Patience is the most important characteristics one can possess.
Anne Frank’s Character Development Throughout the War Throughout World War II Anne Frank was kept hidden away in a 500 square foot building they came to call the Secret Annexe. Anne Frank, her family, and the Van Daans endured difficult times of hunger, thirst, and lack of privacy cornered by walls for over two years. Anne confided her observations and feelings of the hard times within her diary she named Kitty. By writing in her diary both before and after the war, one could visibly notice how Anne went into the Annexe as a juvenile and came out as a young adult.
In the world today, there are good kind hearted people, and there are also individuals who have immoral ulterior motives. But, to truly gain an insightful view of the person is to regard their actions under extreme conditions and pressure. While Elie Wiesel suffers during the Holocaust in his memoir Night, he witnesses the actions—whether good or bad, of the people he meets, and their motives that were never forgotten, as displayed in the novel. Since the Holocaust was an extreme event that caused pressure to make the right decisions, and suffer by the hands of the Nazis, or to act with neglect to the victims and be ridden with guilt, it can be said many Holocaust victims suffered, and some of the bystanders noticed and took action. One such
This 330-page book describes the life of Anne Frank during her hiding. The setting of the book was during world war one. Themes of identity and isolation are present in the book. In the beginning Anne’s diary talks about her life has a 13 year old teenager.
These many positive impacts illustrate how it’s beneficial for one’s mental health, even though it can have some negative parts