Facing Adversity in Life
(2) What is the theme/message in the story? Use examples from the story to support your answer. (15m)
This short story tells us about how the before and after of the tsunami of Noi’s life and her surroundings. In this story, Noi and her family went through a huge disaster that affected the entire town. Lives were lost, and most of the property were either damaged, or could not be found. This tsunami affected Noi, and caused her to lose her parents, her house, and of course, the beauty of the town that she loved the most. She had to move to her grandmother’s house which was on top of a hill behind her hometown, with her brother, Vichai. I feel that the main idea that the author is trying to communicate has a lot got to do with Facing Adversity. There are three parts to show that Noi is clearly facing obstacles before, during, and after the tsunami.
Before the tsunami, Noi already led a hard life. This is seen in her ‘walking down the tourist strip carrying her tray of shells laden with the treasures she and Vichai had recovered for the sea’ to sell, (page 104, line 6-7) and also going out to sea to ‘fish with her father’ (page 103, line 1) for food to eat. These showed that Noi did not have an easy life, she was taught to be independent since she was young, and all the survival skills she needs to learn, to survive. Unlike most of us, who get to enjoy a relaxing life, not having to worry about not having enough food to eat, Noi does not live in such luxury. She has to cope with all of that, doing her part to help collect seashells to sell to tourists, going out to get food so they won’t starve for the day. She still has to cope with the studies as she was planning to go to high school the next year. But despite all that, Noi was happy and grateful with what she has. She started to learn to be independent at such a young age, and despite having to go through all of these, she still manages to enjoy herself and live life to the fullest. Unlike us, who are more
This short story tells us about how the before and after of the tsunami of Noi’s life and her surroundings. In this story, Noi and her family went through a huge disaster that affected the entire town. Lives were lost, and most of the property were either damaged, or could not be found. This tsunami affected Noi, and caused her to lose her parents, her house, and of course, the beauty of the town that she loved the most. She had to move to her grandmother’s house which was on top of a hill behind her hometown, with her brother, Vichai. I feel that the main idea that the author is trying to communicate has a lot got to do with Facing Adversity. There are three parts to show that Noi is clearly facing obstacles before, during, and after the tsunami.
Before the tsunami, Noi already led a hard life. This is seen in her ‘walking down the tourist strip carrying her tray of shells laden with the treasures she and Vichai had recovered for the sea’ to sell, (page 104, line 6-7) and also going out to sea to ‘fish with her father’ (page 103, line 1) for food to eat. These showed that Noi did not have an easy life, she was taught to be independent since she was young, and all the survival skills she needs to learn, to survive. Unlike most of us, who get to enjoy a relaxing life, not having to worry about not having enough food to eat, Noi does not live in such luxury. She has to cope with all of that, doing her part to help collect seashells to sell to tourists, going out to get food so they won’t starve for the day. She still has to cope with the studies as she was planning to go to high school the next year. But despite all that, Noi was happy and grateful with what she has. She started to learn to be independent at such a young age, and despite having to go through all of these, she still manages to enjoy herself and live life to the fullest. Unlike us, who are more