The novel Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand stands as a biography that captures the real-life experiences of Louie Zamperini, a man who went from living as a troubled boy, to an impeccable runner, and then into a United States soldier. This novel defines the definition of survival. Not only has it sold millions of copies, but is read in many high schools across the world, and became a huge major motion picture. In the book, there is a character who is very close to Louie named Allen Russell Phillips, or better now as Phil. From the beginning of the story and until the end, Phil has changed dramatically. Furthermore, one of the main symbols shown was sharks. Additionally, one of the themes displayed was survival and resilience. In this paper, the
In the book Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper, the main character, Melody Brooks, is affected in a major way by the change in setting. Melody has lived her whole life in a wheelchair, unable to do anything but shriek and move her thumbs. She has a photographic memory and knows more than anyone, but nobody knows that but her. Her Special-Ed classroom is being combined with normal classes, with normal students. She has to make a major adjustment to able to fit in and prove how smart she is to the other students and the teachers.
Rachel Price is a beautiful young girl who joins her family on a one year mission trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo. She is a girl who likes herself a little too much. She is completely vain and self-conscious. Rachel is constantly worried about her appearance, as most teenage girls are in the United States. She brings along with her a mirror just to keep in touch with herself. Her vanity makes it hard for her to connect to the people of the Congo. In the Republic of Congo, the natives are dressed in whatever they can get or make. Rachel does not see the difference. In The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver, Rachel Price experiences ? which prevent her from being able to learn some lessons in the Congo and cause her to be physically
Pleasant Street seemed to be Miss Strangeworth’s play house because she thought she owned the place, at least Strangeworth thought so. Meanwhile on the inside she is evil and thinks she is at the top of the town’s hierarchy. In fact she has a god complex. Miss Adela Strangeworth, a character in the short story “A Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson, is a 71 year old who is thought by the townsfolk as a sweet puny lady but she is nothing but that. Because of the way Miss Strangeworth is, all horrible actions must have a consequence and she finds out the truth of that statement when her vintage old self turns into the evil lady that no one has seen before, and she realizes that she wants more control than she has, basically a god complex.
Melinda 's silence is triggered by different causes. The tragic event of the summer scars her deeply. By being raped she feels something has been taken away from her, as would any rape victim. The silence helps her avoid the memories that will always haunt her. I believe she is afraid of people’s perceptions of the truth. Would they believe her or would they think it’s a desperate cry for attention? Accepting what has happened is more difficult than just pretending like it never happened. Her environment at home was also not as accepting as most. Melinda felt there was no point in telling her parents because she felt they wouldn 't trust her word. The lack of friends affected Melinda greatly throughout the book too. Her friends seemed to
“The Chase” is about an adult chasing some kids, but Annie Dillard makes the story transition from throwing snowballs to “wanting the glory to last forever” and how the excitement of life at one moment can affect someone in the future to show that the excitement of life will always be there even when one is no longer a kid. The story starts with a group of friends, imagining how a game of football goes and continues with the encounter of a stranger. From throwing snowballs at his car to him chasing them till they couldn’t run anymore. The whole experience will change the way she looks at adults.
When one first reads “The Chase” by Annie Dillard they are enjoying a childhood tale taking place in the heart of the winter where Dillard creates a detailed play by play action of an event that contains a great message while also incorporating different tones that corresponds to the pace of the story. An important aspect to this short story is the theme of never giving up and giving “all or nothing.” The reader can see this theme from the beginning where Dillard talks about her experience of playing football with the guys. “It was all or nothing, if you hesitated in fear you would miss and get hurt” (Dillard 114). Dillard also shows this message through her soft tone in the beginning, “Some boys taught me to play football. This was a fine
Cass McBride, one of the most popular girls in school who desires homecoming queen, has been unsuspectingly captured by a boy who threatens to take revenge on her, Kyle Kirby wants revenge from Cass for causing his brother David Kirby suicide, he had suffered an insurmountable rejection when he asks Cass out for a date. Kyle plans to carry out his revenge through long periods of torture by burying Cass alive. When Cass wakes up to finds herself conscious she is overcome with fear when she feels as though she is trapped in a dark and enclosed space. She becomes highly emotional, trying to find methods of staying calm during her buried state of doom, but then time again it would soon come back to her that she would not be able to handle the situation that she is currently in. Possibilities of rescue are highly low, Detectives Ben gray and the others are unable to find any clues after interviewing any possible suspects in the past 24 hours.
In the short story “The Possibility of Evil” written by Shirley Jackson the main protagonist, Miss Adela Strangeworth demonstrates multiple traits of her complex personality through her actions, thoughts and the way she communicates. A couple of these traits that are significant to her character are insensitivity and masquerading.
At fourteen years old, Billie Jo living in Joyce City, Oklahoma with her mother and father during the Great Depression during the 1930’s. Billie Jo and her parents struggled to live their lives during the Great Depression, because The Dust Bowl destroyed many crops, and Billie Jo’s family were farmers. Her father, a wheat farmer, works what’s left of the farm and her mother spends her time cleaning the house. While her mother being pregnant, Billie Jo does her best to make her mother proud. Suddenly a horrific accident happened, Billie Jo’s mother gets burnt really bad due to kerosene left next to the stove, and catching on fire. A month later Billie Jo’s mother dies giving birth to a baby boy named Franklin. Franklin only lives for a few days. Billie Jo is in pain, she feels guilty because of their deaths. She blames her father as well for leaving the kerosene next to the stove. Life goes on and Billie Jo is lonely, has a few friend. But the one thing that
Numerous stories wouldn’t be as good without the minor characters in it. Minor characters can add to the conflict of the book. They also help to develop the main character’s. Specifically Rufus’s mom played a role in how Rufus grew up to be. Rufus’s mom was a greedy and nervous woman at the same time. Most of the time, she would look for something to do throughout the day. So, she would use her power over the slaves and control them. Sometimes she would yell at Dana for no reason. The way Octavia E. Butler shows the changes in Margaret Weylin throughout the book, shows how our feelings can affect us and other people.
The short story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner depicts how seclusion can certainly impact one’s life. Throughout the story, Emily gives off this “insane” impression. However, after fully reading the story, the reader can fully understand why Emily was the way she was.
Melinda’s character develops tremendously over the course of the book. In the beginning of the book, she says, “ I have entered high school with the wrong hair, the wrong clothes, the wrong attitude. And I don’t have anyone to sit with. I am an outcast” (Anderson, 4). At the start, Melinda had lost all of her friends after she busted a party last summer, but nobody knows that a senior boy at the party raped her. Throughout the course of the book Speak, she goes through ups and downs, but in the end she has gained enough confidence to stand up against the boy who raped her. Her art teacher and her are talking “Mr. Freeman: You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you? Me: Let me tell you about it” (Anderson, 198). The book ends with Melinda feeling
As Helen Keller once quoted, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken tells the life story of Louis “Louie” Zamperini. Through his troubles as a child, emerged a strong-willed Olympic runner, who later became a military aviator. He was lost at sea and then captured by the Japanese as a prisoner of war. He endured years of abuse and suffering but still managed to stay true to who he was. By showing how Louis Zamperini suffers as a prisoner of war and his struggles after returning home, readers are able to see how faith can completely transform someone.