In life, everyone makes mistakes. Some are minor, some are major, but all in all, it happens. Eddie Rake made his fair amount of mistakes in life but managed to gain forgiveness back from every player and family because of the positive impact he made on the lives of the people of Messina. In John Grisham’s, Bleachers, Neely Crenshaw, one of Rake’s former players, said, “Coach Rake was not easy to love, and while you’re playing here you don’t really like him. But after you leave, after you venture away from this place, after you’ve been kicked around a few times, faced some adversity, some failure, been knocked down in life, you soon realize how important Coach Rake is and was” (Grisham 223). This tells one that no matter how bad Rake hurt a …show more content…
Sometimes he said and did things he did not mean. In his mind, these things were used to provoke his players and make them mad which would ,in turn, make them play more aggressively. One game he took this method way too far. He explains this situation in the letter he left behind to be read at his funeral. In this letter he admits, “At halftime, in a fit of rage, I physically assaulted a player, our quarterback. It was a criminal act, one that should have had me banned from the game forever. I am sorry for my actions. As I watched my team rally against enormous odds, I had never felt such pride, and such pain. That victory was my finest hour. Please forgive me boys” (Grisham 204). Eddie Rake knew he messed up by getting physical with one of his players and he lived with that guilt every day, but the connection he had with his team overcame Rake’s actions. Neely proves his forgiveness toward Rake when he speaks at the funeral and says, “‘I’ve loved five people in my life’ ‘My parents, a certain girl who’s here today, my ex-wife, and Eddie Rake” (Grisham 224). His players knew he was never trying to actually hurt them; Rake just wanted them to win, and overall, be the best they can
Cara Sierra Skyes has a hard role in Perfect by Ellen Hopkins. Cara is in love with her boyfriend Sean, she describes him as fun, good-looking, adventurous, and a jock. Everyone expects the perfect girl to go out with the perfect guy. Caras mom has always taught her, appearances are everything. So, Cara held onto that. She is a pretty and popular cheerleader. Cara holds a special trait, she is actually really smart and has a scholarship lined up at Stanford. Problem is, Cara has a twin brother, Connor. Connor is super suicidal and has tried many times to kill himself, sadly one day he succeeds and leaves a girlfriend and his family behind in his high school years. So everything is definitely not the idea her parents have of “perfect”. At Least she tries. Cara is in love with her boyfriend Sean but she starts to spark an interest for a girl at the ski slopes one day and she becomes very confused. Between dealing with all her school activities, her grades, and her brother that she worries about all the time, Cara is struggling to keep her life together and be
During his journey, McCandless was a leather tramp, he travelled on foot and he would
All the players knew “the assault on the bleachers” was about to happen (Grisham 74). It was a miserable morning while rake “growled along the track, whistle hanging around his neck, yelling at the stragglers” (Grisham 75). One player, Scotty Reardon, was running the bleachers and went unconscious and died that day on the bleachers. Scotty passed away on the bleachers that Sunday morning. Scotty’s uncle was the superintendent of the school and had the power to fire Eddie Rake. The town split because of people’s view whether or not Eddie Rake should be fired. The Reardon’s did not forgive Rake for a long time and Rake practically went into hiding. The town took a long time to recover from this loss of their coach. When Rake finally passed away he had his own personal closure with Scotty and his family. Rake had requested to be buried next to Scotty and said he would greet him in heaven. The Reardon’s said it would be okay for Rake to be buried next to Scotty. This was their way of forgiving Rake for what he did to their
The Power of an Author Authors have the ability justify the worst actions. Authors have a way of romanticizing certain situations in order to convey a specific message. A good author has power to influence the reader into believing whatever it is the author wants. When it comes to the story of Hannah Dustan, authors such as John Greenleaf Whittier have romanticized her captivity story along with the actions she took throughout her journey. Introducing a character that will be seen in the story is one of the most vital parts when creating a piece of literature.
The new phases of life and social context is predicated through the sum of feats and experiences as crises and adversity are usually the greatest motivator which propel individuals to become better than they were before. J.C. Burke’s ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’ (TSTB) is an example of the transitional process through entering a new, unknown area which acts as a catalyst for beneficial change. Obstructed by turmoil both mentally and physically, the protagonist Tom Brennan relieves his severe life in the town of Coghill achieving new standards in conjunction to Lisa Forrest’s article ‘Testing new waters after leaving the swimming pool’ (TNWALTS) is another type towards transitional change that explores the personal crisis and career changes over
In the locker room, the Spartans had just won a game, after the coaches walked out, Rake walked up to Neely and punched him in the face. Nobody knew what Rake did but they all knew something happened. It was never the same, Neely never planned to forgive Rake because he had caused him so much trouble and ruined his life and everyone knew it. So when Neely stepped up to the podium at Rake's funeral, the whole town of Messina, his fellow Spartans in their green jerseys and even Neely himself were aghast at the kind-hearted words he spoke in memory of his coach. This was a turning point for Neely Crenshaw. Long gone were the feelings hate and resentment only to be replaced with appreciation and acceptance for the man he formerly called Coach. Neely was a new person who through forgiveness found peace and renewed love for his sport that he thought he had
The town of Messina revolved their life around the football team, so they knew everything about anything that happened with the boys. Coach Eddie Rake was a thick headed individual who continuously pushed his players past their breaking point every day. Practices included the many players puking and the death of one after their daily bleacher run that the boys dreaded. Games included one breaking his hand, Rake becoming unconscious, and the team “just doing the impossible” of winning a State Championship with no coaches after being down 31-0 at halftime (Grisham 144). Like every person in Messina, Rake has two sides to him; the shrewd side and the compassionate side. Rake’s many personalities made each and every person in Messina have a different opinion of him. “The question is, ‘do I love Eddie Rake, or do I hate him (Grisham 223)?’” Coach Rake loved every one of his players, but he had a reputation to maintain which made people think differently about him.
Throughout the history of America’s pastime, baseball has continually battled scandals and controversies. From the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal to the current steroid debate, baseball has lived in a century of turmoil. While many of these scandals affected multiple players and brought shame to teams, none have affected a single player more than the 1980’s Pete Rose betting scandal. Aside from the public humiliation he brought his family and the Cincinnati Reds, nothing has done more to hurt Pete Rose than his lifetime ban from baseball making him ineligible for hall of fame. While many are for and against putting Pete Rose in the hall of fame, the four ethical theories, Kantianism, Utilitarianism, Egoism, and Ethical Realism, each have their own unique answer to the question. Through Kantianism Pete Rose should be inducted into the hall of fame, while Egoism, Utilitarianism and Ethical Realism all support the lifetime ban.
In the beginning of Something Wicked This Way Comes the story introduces Jim Nightshade and William Halloway. Jim is an ornery and impatient teenager, desperately wanting to break free from the yolk of childhood to become the adult he has always desired to be and Will wants to stay inside his comfort zone, which involves him staying a child for as long as he is able to. Something Wicked This Way Comes accurately addresses the sometimes difficult transition from adolescence into early adulthood.
Everyone has pride B y swallowing, getting over, or pushing it aside; everybody has pride. However, some people let that get in the way of their life, eventually swallowing them whole. With Neely Crenshaw, his embarrassment of not winning that Heisman trophy, along with his pride, kept him from returning to his hometown. The same hometown that gave him his pride, making him think he was a hot shot quarterback and nothing bad would ever happen to him. When he came back to honor his coach, his old football pal Paul Curry, had to remind him to move on.
In the book Bleachers by John Grisham, Rake was a long time hero because of the winning streak of 84 games and the 13 state titles Rake, but despite the legacy and popularity of Coach Eddie Rake, he is a horrible person.
In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, there is an abundance of minor characters. Three of these characters, Dill, Alexandra, and Calpurnia are especially significant because of the influence they had on Scout.
As a child, Almond was so in love with football until the accident that took place in 1978, doing the pre-season game, when the wide receiver for the New England Patriots name Stingley lost his balance, while lunging for a pass and got hit by Tatum, an Oakland Raiders. After getting hit really hard Stingley fell on the field. This whole scene was sad and it causes the audience to respond emotionally. For Example, when the team doctors rush on the field to rescue Darryl Stingley, he was not able to shake or move his body. Those who came to his rescue, begin to use reflex hammers on his knees while he lying down on the field. The longer Stingley lay on the ground the more embarrassed and guilty shame Tatum fan made of him. Even the fan knew that the interest or pleasure of American football was all about the feeling and excited of such hurt, damage transactions of football. On the other hand, Jack Tatum and his fan were happy and satisfy that he had caused damage and harm to Stingley while protecting the area or space to central his mystique position. His feeling and commitment to such played was flashy with
The first personal traits that Coach Dale was forced to exhibit were his toughness and his assertiveness. On his first night in Hickory he met the men of town in the barbershop who were all willing to provide their experience and insight on the team and how to coach. Coach Dale had enough self confidence to know that none of these “insights” were going to help the Hickory team win basketball games and let them know they weren’t welcome by turning his back and walking out. Additionally, he was forced to demonstrate his toughness twice more on the first day of practice by telling the temporary coach, “Secondly, your days of coaching are over,” and then by standing up to the group of men after he dismissed Buddy from the team. These actions made no friends of the men; however, th...
The author George Elliot once said “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Appearance can be very misleading, and you shouldn't prejudge the worth or value of something by its outward appearance alone. This philosophical idea has been included in many works of literature, including the timeless classic To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee. The novel takes place in the town of Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s. Many citizens of Maycomb tend to make judgements based on outward appearances alone. In the novel, Lee uses minor characters such as Boo Radley, Mrs. Dubose, and Tom Robinson to convey the book’s theme of prejudice.