Kids will be kids, but the meaning behind this changes with current events. The short story “The Destructors”, by Graham Greene, sets his story in post-World War two Great Britain. This story shows the effects of the war nine years after it had ended and what it was like for some kids to grow up living through it. The children in the story were raised in poor and broken-down homes from all the violence and destruction around them. Since most of the children in this book were hardly old enough to be able to remember a pre-World War two life, they have naturally become violent and desensitized to destruction themselves. In “The Destructors”, Greene describes human nature as naturally desensitized due to post-World War two effects.
As a child
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There is not much left standing so when these boys see a nice house that has survived the wreckage they wonder how and why they were not lucky enough. They think it would be fun and gain them fame if they destroyed an old man's home who did not harm them. In the story Greene shows how T disregards all his actions by saying “'Of course I don't hate him,' T. said. 'There'd be no fun if I hated him.'-'All this hate and love,' he said,' it's soft, it’s hooey. There's only things, Blackie,' and he looked round the room crowded with the unfamiliar shadows of half things, broken things, former things. 'I’ll race you home, Blackie,' he said” (Page 6). Trevor, a 15-year-old, is genuinely having fun while destroying Old Misery's house from the inside out. He has no remorse for what will happen to Old Misery after it's all done. He sees the world as materialistic, he does not consider anyone's feelings, he instead simply thinks about the present and what he can do to enjoy himself. Most would say that this behavior is not normal for a kid, but post-war, destroying the house was just another game, just like racing. He is so insensitive to the fact that he could be potentially ruining someone's life, he acts as if he does it every day because destruction is so common for
Lucas Hahn Mr. Rodriguez Academic Lit. 15 June, 2023 The Cellar Analysis Throughout Lucas Hahn's short story The Cellar, the author explores the limits of human endurance both mentally and physically. The author portrays the mental limits of humans when we look at the character Ryan. Ryan at the beginning of the story was just a normal teenager, but at the end of the book he turned into a murderer.
The Killer Angels, a book written by Michael Shaara that explains the crucial Battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War, along with the perspectives and lives of both the leaders of North and South. The bloodiest battle of the Civil War is explained through the eyes of the leaders of Union and Confederates in a way that is breathtaking and exhilarating. Even though South was determined and bold; The North was able to wear the confederates down because of their leaders who had a strategic plan and clear concept of war to take in prisoners and win for the sake of freedom. The essential concept of war for the Unions meant to free the prisoner slaves and restore the balance and freedom to the country they had fought from the British.
The mass amounts of imagination and passion that a child is able to grasp in their minds at such a young is something that, in most individuals, does not last forever. Children should be able to live carefree childhoods where their imagination is not being replaced by worry and hardships. Once imagination and passion is taken out of a child’s heart and mind, there is no getting that back. In A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah he writes about the emotional and mental changes of the children in his country that have been touched by the war and how he was affected personally as well. Beah recalls, “The children of these families [the refugees] wouldn’t look at us, and they jumped at the sound of chopping wood or as stones landed on roofs…”(5).
A Necessary Evil: A History of American Distrust of Government is a novel surrounding government myths. This novel is written by Garry Wills. From militias to sovereign states, many things that we as a society believe about our history is what he proves wrong, in this book. He brings light to the myths we all believe revealing what truthfully had happened. Garry Wills not only attacks myths that we have made but also different views we have.
Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game was published in 1985 and brought about many opinions and views. One such opinion turned into an essay by a person named John Kessel, who published Creating the Innocent Killer in Foundation, The International Review of Science Fiction in 2004. John Kessel detailed how Card created Ender for the purpose of garnering the audience’s sympathy to distract them from Ender’s bad deeds. But Kessel’s argument provides many facts and statistics from different qualified people, so whether people agree with him or not, he makes several true points and arguments that nobody can disagree with.
Lyniya Davis Mrs. Juhas and Mrs. Mitchell 3rd and 5th 2/10/23 Title: Monstrous People Jared Harris- The scariest monsters are human beings and what we will do to each other. Steve Harmon is a 16 year old boy, who grew up in a bad and harsh environment named Harlem.
The article “Tarmageddon”, written by Andrew Nikiforuk,starts by stating how Europeans felt towards Canada before and continues by explaining what has changed their stance towards Canada. He then bulges on by describing oil and the specifics of the oil Canada is refining while perceiving its problems along the way while portraying how Canada changed, explaining why those changes happened. Towards the end of the article Andrew looks into the government’s approach on the matter and how it is ignoring the entire incident. Finally, in the end he comes to his conclusion and warning about the country’s future and how it will become if nothing is done. In short Nikiforuk, elaborates about the negative effects of the tar sands on Canada.
Mount Everest is known as the tallest point on Earth. It is a climb that every climber yearns for. In 1996, a group of experienced climbers attempted to climb Everest, ultimately ending with 8 people dead. This incident became known as the 1996 Mount Everest Disaster. Jon Krakauer, one of the survivors of this climb wrote the memoir, Into Thin Air, in which he expresses that life is unpredictable and that when feeling in doubt one should never give up.
World War II and, more specifically, the Holocaust, were two devastating events in human history which changed the world forever. Those who were directly persecuted and placed in camps faced many horrific things, but the effects those events had on their psyche were perhaps more traumatizing than the events themselves. Elie Wiesel is a real Holocaust survivor and the author of the memoir Night, which details his experiences throughout various concentration camps as a Jewish individual. There are many events throughout the memoir that demonstrate the determination of people to stay alive by any means necessary, even if it means abandoning all morals and humane actions. In this essay, it will be shown that in dire circumstances, the innate human
Throughout the ages, wars have wreaked havoc and caused great destruction that lead to the loss of millions of lives. However, wars also have an immensely destructive effect on the individual soldier. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front written by Erich Maria Remarque, one is able to see exactly to what extent soldiers suffered during World War 1 as well as the effect that war had on them. In this essay I will explain the effect that war has on young soldiers by referring to the loss of innocence of young soldiers, the disillusionment of the soldiers and the debasement of soldiers to animalistic men. Many soldiers entered World War 1 as innocent young boys, but as they experienced the full effect of the war they consequently lost their innocence.
Sometimes individuals get so determined to reach their goal they become lost and find their selves blind to their original desire in the process. Throughout AVI’s nothing but the truth, Philip Malloy and his narrow minded attitude bounces from wanting to be a part of the track team to becoming allies with his homeroom teacher, Miss Narwin. Phil becomes distracted overtime which leads towards him making choices that end up affecting other character’s daily lives. Phil’s hate for Miss Narwin forces him to get kicked out of her class due to him humming which turns into neither Phil nor Miss Narwin being able to attend Harrison high school any longer. Philips regretful decisions ultimately lead to a undeserved loss of a career and a developed well
The First Decision Reef, the main character in the novel, The First Stone, by Don Aker, makes a bad decision and ultimately has to deal with the consequences. To begin, Reef latches his anger onto a stone and deliberately throws it over an overpass into oncoming traffic. The stone causes a major accident between not one, but several cars and severely injures a teenage girl. Fortunately for Reef, the Judge sentences him to live at North Hills Group Home, and to volunteer at a rehabilitation centre. This punishment changes Reef’s life for the better.
War has developed into such an unavoidable part of life that we repeatedly overlook or neglect its outcome on adolescent’s minds. Even though millions of children all around the world endure pain from the psychological repercussion of armed conflict, thousands of others reluctantly partake in the same and are damaged for a lifetime. Ishmael Beah, a former child soldier describes the condition of these children as this: “When children are subjected to war whether by witnessing atrocities, forced into a life of violence or becoming victims of the countless suffering brought about by war, they are not only traumatized, psychologically and physically damaged, but they lose faith in their own humanity, their ability to be children again, to trust,
"Into Thin Air" describes a suffering that results from the ambition to achieve an extreme challenge. While the mountain climbers mentioned in the account of Jon Krakauer's book had this special ambition, they lacked a sense of realism which ultimately ended in the demise during their journey to summit the top of Mount Everest. " Into Thin Air" conveys the dangers of perseverance through the guides' greed for the profit they are earning, the climbers' perilous drive to reach the summit under no matter what circumstance, and the effect of millionaire Dick Bass's achievement of climbing to the top of Mount Everest that left other amateur climbers with the idea that the goal of reaching the summit was easily attainable. The guides' perseverance
Nature can be very powerful against humans. In situations when humans have to deal with nature, many natural calamities occur that may cause situations such as death, injury, or illness. Jon Krakauer, the author and protagonist of the book Into Thin Air, expresses the conflict of man vs. nature to support how the natural calamities while climbing and descending Mount Everest set his and everyone else's lives at risk. John Krakauer always had a dream of climbing Mount Everest since his father introduced mountain climbing to him at the age of eight. In the year 1996, Krakauer finally received the chance to climb Mount Everest along with other clients when Outside magazine sent him to Nepal to write about his expedition to the summit of the mountain.