My Sister's Keeper And The Five People You Meet In Heaven
Rachel
Summer 2006
Honors English
Perseverance Essay
In My Sister’s Keeper and The Five People You Meet in Heaven, characters demonstrate the quality of perseverance. To persevere is to “persist in a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement”, according to The American Heritage College Dictionary. Characters in each book go about different ways showing perseverance throughout their lives. Yet no matter what, perseverance in the characters always comes down to the bottom line of never giving up. My Sister’s Keeper is filled with examples of perseverance. Anna, the main character, is a matched donor for her older sister Kate who was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) at a young age. Throughout …show more content…
The main character, Eddie, shows it throughout the whole book. The book starts with Eddie at an old age working at Ruby Pier. He is a hard worker, checking rides and their parts, always making sure that everything is safe with Ruby Pier as the head of maintenance. Then, when a ride breaks down after one of the cables snap, Eddie dies trying to save a little girl who would have been hit by the falling ride. After he goes to heaven, he meets and spends time with five people who affected his life and died before him, reliving his past and the pasts of others. As he relives his past, he struggles with remembering and discovering some hardships that he and others had to face throughout their lives. Yet with every person, he tries to find out whether or not he saved the little girl, never giving up on his question. As he goes from person to person, we are shown flashbacks of Eddie’s life that are filled with perseverance. One example is during his time as a soldier in a war. Eddie and the captain and some of his fellow soldiers were captured and taken as prisoners. The living conditions were horrible for them for months on end. They had to work in a mine, eat bug infested food, never shower, sleep in dirt and grime, and were at risk of being killed. One of Eddie’s comrades was even shot and killed after he got so sick that he couldn’t work in the mine. However, Eddie always looked for ways to escape. Finally, one day he saw one of his captors trying to juggle. Eddie took this as an opportunity, even though it was very risky, for escape. Eddie eventually got them all out of there after showing the guards his juggling skills and tricking them. No matter how tough life got for Eddie, he never gave up. Even after his father died and he was stuck working at Ruby Pier, he persevered. He continued to help support his mother and wife until they died. Even after his beloved wife died, he carried on, no
Summer 2006
Honors English
Perseverance Essay
In My Sister’s Keeper and The Five People You Meet in Heaven, characters demonstrate the quality of perseverance. To persevere is to “persist in a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement”, according to The American Heritage College Dictionary. Characters in each book go about different ways showing perseverance throughout their lives. Yet no matter what, perseverance in the characters always comes down to the bottom line of never giving up. My Sister’s Keeper is filled with examples of perseverance. Anna, the main character, is a matched donor for her older sister Kate who was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) at a young age. Throughout …show more content…
The main character, Eddie, shows it throughout the whole book. The book starts with Eddie at an old age working at Ruby Pier. He is a hard worker, checking rides and their parts, always making sure that everything is safe with Ruby Pier as the head of maintenance. Then, when a ride breaks down after one of the cables snap, Eddie dies trying to save a little girl who would have been hit by the falling ride. After he goes to heaven, he meets and spends time with five people who affected his life and died before him, reliving his past and the pasts of others. As he relives his past, he struggles with remembering and discovering some hardships that he and others had to face throughout their lives. Yet with every person, he tries to find out whether or not he saved the little girl, never giving up on his question. As he goes from person to person, we are shown flashbacks of Eddie’s life that are filled with perseverance. One example is during his time as a soldier in a war. Eddie and the captain and some of his fellow soldiers were captured and taken as prisoners. The living conditions were horrible for them for months on end. They had to work in a mine, eat bug infested food, never shower, sleep in dirt and grime, and were at risk of being killed. One of Eddie’s comrades was even shot and killed after he got so sick that he couldn’t work in the mine. However, Eddie always looked for ways to escape. Finally, one day he saw one of his captors trying to juggle. Eddie took this as an opportunity, even though it was very risky, for escape. Eddie eventually got them all out of there after showing the guards his juggling skills and tricking them. No matter how tough life got for Eddie, he never gave up. Even after his father died and he was stuck working at Ruby Pier, he persevered. He continued to help support his mother and wife until they died. Even after his beloved wife died, he carried on, no