In the novel a tree grows in Brooklyn, the protagonist, |Francie Nolan displays three virtues, courage, honesty and acceptance. Courage comes in many shapes, sizes and forms; it can be saving an old lady from a burning building or small encounters of courage, like asking out a secret admirer. Francies display’s courage when the doctor makes several comments about poor people being filthy, Francie feels hurt immediately. When the needle went into her, “… Francie never felt it. The wave of hurt started by the doctor's words… drove out all other feelings” unlike at the school yard when a girl with the blackboard erasers spit in Francie faces, she spoke up, Francie got the courage to stand up for herself…
In this section of the novel, Rowdy and Junior reconcile over a discussion on how most Native American’s are no longer nomadic as their ancestors used to be, and the only nomadic person on the entire reservation was Junior. Knowing that he and Rowdy would part ways someday or another, Junior started tearing up. Rowdy tells him to stop crying and throws him a basket ball, and the two play until the sun sets. This illustrates the emotional side of Junior by showing that he often can’t control his feelings and emotions. Junior realizes himself that he can get emotional at times, and this can be seen on page (FILL IN THE PAGE WHEN YOU HAVE THE BOOK), where he says,” And that made me cry. Man, I’ve always cried too easily. I cry when I’m happy or sad. I cry when I’m angry. I cry because I’m crying. It’s weak. It’s the opposite of warrior”. The…
For instance, Gene makes an effort to define himself and his identity as he grows into an adult. Unlike his friends and their struggle to find themselves in relation to the war, Gene’s crisis resolves around Finny. He gradually finds himself thinking about his friend as he would himself. John Knowles states: “Phineas seemed older that morning, and leaning quietly against that great tree wrapped in his…
Throughout the novel Stand Tall by Joan Bauer, the protagonist, Tree, demonstrates he is perseverant through all of the hardships he faces. For instance, when Tree is left home alone with his disabled grandpa during the flood grandpa says, “‘Call your dad’… No answer ‘Call the neighbors we’ll find somebody’… ‘I’m gonna call the police, Grandpa. Tell them we need a ride’ He punched 911. Circuits busy” (141). Clearly this indicates, that Tree is incredibly tenacious during this hardship. Tree is left home alone with his grandpa, who only has one leg, during a flood not knowing what to do. His grandpa helps guide him but Tree courageously takes over. Therefore, Tree does not easily surrender. He continuously perserveres through the hardship. Even…
Junior lives on an poor Indian Reservation, but goes to school at a rich, white people school. He was shunned at first because of his skin tone, but he was accepted by the students after he showed that he could stand up for himself. Roger was agitating Junior when he first arrived at the school, after Junior punched him in the face, he started to respect Junior, even though…
Janie’s concept of marriage is unique in her own, sixteen year old, eyes. “Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches.” (pg. 8) Janie saw her marriages like bees who visit the beautiful blossoms of the pear tree, her life was formed around this tree because of the experiences she had underneath it. She experienced love and life that she wants to replicate. Janie also knows that her life and loved ones would bring her joy and suffering and not everything would be what she hoped for. Joe Starks to Janie was the opposite of her pear tree---he was the suffering. Just like Logan, Jody did not give Janie her ideal pear tree image. “Janie pulled back a long time because he did not represent sun-up and pollen and blooming trees, but he spoke for far horizon.” (pg. 29) Hurston uses the word “sun-up” to symbolize hope and “pollen and blooming trees” to symbolize sex and new life, but Jody did not give her these things he only gave her fortune. Janie's relationship to Jody was also very poor because there was a lack of communication between the two and too much…
James Dean is a troublemaker who moved to a new town; as a consequence, he is supposed to have a clean record because of his behavior and his problems with the justice and the alcohol. He first met with Judy and Plato at the juvenile he was taken to just after he got drunk one night, on the other hand, they didn’t know each other by then. Judy is a young teenage girl who is frustrated at her father, he calls her names such as dirty tramp, and moreover he doesn't like anything about her. Plato was at the juvenile as a result of shooting some puppies, his family is divided, his mother is always away and his father hasn’t visited him in a long time. Dean is frustrated seeing that his mother is acting like the father of the house, she’s always picking at his father (Rebel without a…
The character John Bender throughout the movie was the criminal or in other words the bad kid. John really didn’t respect anyone in the movie he either made fun of them or made them feel like crap. John didn’t care what he did, in the beginning of the movie he walked across the street and the cars had to stop for him. Also John also bossed everyone around, when someone sitting in a chair he wanted to sit in he would make them move to another seat. John has a bad home life, when he was talking about his parents, he said that his dad yells at him and his mom. Also when the other kids were not believing him, John showed them a scar from cigar burn. John feels like all people are mean, and no one likes him, that’s why he doesn't care if…
Junior year is extremely difficult for Gene as well. He began the year as a naïve and protected student. To Gene, the tree represents a passage to manhood and symbolizes vitality, strength and courage. He sees the tree as “tremendous, an irate, steely black steeple” (14). It is a force to be reckoned with, and even though he is scared, Gene feels triumphant and hopeful for his future and the future of his friendship with Finny. Gene even states, “We were best friends at the moment” (18). Gene really admires Phineas. He admires his athleticism and…
Peer pressure can act both positively and negatively. The three friends were influenced by peer pressure to become doctors. George was the most influential personality in the story and he influenced his friends a great deal in appositive way. The friends were always there to ensure that a friend that was losing hope was reassured and returned to the right track. However, the power of negative peer pressure is also evident in the story. The three friends were always in trouble due to the influence of their criminal friends. This is the reason why both Rameck and Sam had already been convicted for having engaged in criminal activities. When Rameck shared his aspiration of becoming a doctor with his neighbourhood friends, they laughed off his dreams, as they believed that they were not attainable. Had Rameck remained in this kind of friendship, definitely it would have been impossible for him to become a doctor. However, the positive peer pressure from his friends influenced him to live his dream. The other lesson from the book is that with determination someone can rise above any obstacle and become somebody regardless of the background. Two of the three friends had come from fatherless families thus lacking any role model. Moreover, being blacks and living in the slums exposed the three in negativity of life raging from crime, drug addiction and hopelessness. However, the three youngsters…
The books gets violent when Junior’s friend Rowdy punches him in the face. Junior is punched in the…
Dally Winston and Johnny Cade have a similarity of having abusive parents. For example, Dally’s parents do not pay attention to him at all. Dally is talking to Johnny about his father; “‘Shoot…
"Dally's okay," Johnny said defensively, and I nodded. You take up for your buddies, no matter what they do. When you're a gang, you stick up for your members. If you don't stick up for them, stick together, make like brothers, it isn't a gang any more. It's a pack. A snarling, distrustful. bickering pack like the Socs in their social clubs or the street gangs in New York or the wolves in the timber. "[Dally's] tough, but he's a cool guy."…
At first, everyone would make fun of his appearance and name. When Penelope found out he was from the reservation, she said, “Oh. . .that’s why you talk so funny” (61). Junior was sick of having everyone pick on him. So he finally went up to a boy named Gordy and straight-up said to him, “I want to be your friend” (94). At first, Gordy was surprised and didn’t know what to say. But soon after, Gordy and Junior became friends. Gordy taught him that learning is an amazing thing. Gathering the courage to ask Gordy if he wanted to be friends overcame Juniors fear of being alone, friendless, and not having anyone there for him through the difficult…
Relationships, experiences, and obstacles, these are the types of foundations, that makes a person turn and develop into a healthy adult in their future. In the novels like “Kite Runner” and “To Kill a Mockingbird”, these foundations are really important to the main characters when they are maturing, because it shows the growth of the characters throughout the book. The importance of relationships, experiences, and obstacles is tremendous due to the impact it can have on someone maturing and developing into an adult.…