Attempting New Things Can Make One’s Life Content

Humans are born with pursuits: some search for fame, some go after money, some seek achievements in professional fields, and some only wish their lives to be content . If one wants to become content with life, one should alter one’s old ways of living and embrace new things. Both in Cathy Jewison’s The Prospector’s Trail and Eva Lis Wuorio’s The Singing Silence, the main characters used to be dissatisfied with life. In search for true happiness, they begin to try things that they have never experienced before. At the end, the two protagonists find that their new activities can bring them happiness, and they start to live satisfying lives.

First of all, the protagonists of both stories started out unsatisfied with life. In The Prospector’s Trail, Norman’s life was full of stress and misery. He and his girlfriend Jennifer, who was brilliant and competent both in college and at work, received their tourism studies certificates at the same college, and “[he] found a decent job shortly after graduation, but was unnerved by the formality and high expectations of the office” (Jewison 25). He had a job that he was neither suitable nor competent for; both his girlfriend and his boss expected him to complete his tasks well, yet he could not meet their expectations. There was pressure constantly exerted on him, and he was not gratified about his life because of it. In The Singing Silence, the main character Vicente lived on the island of Formentera when he was

young. Vicente was poor, but he wanted to achieve something greater, like money or fame: “He had been an ambitious boy 60 years ago… there was not much for a Spaniard to do in his country of Spain” (Wuorio 158). He was dissatisfied with his living conditions and he eagerly wanted to ...

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...e protagonists finally arrive at lives of satisfaction from their lives of discontent after they have tried new activities.

In conclusion, the experience of main characters, Norman and Vicente, from Cathy Jewison’s The Prospector’s Trail and Eva Lis Wuorio’s The Singing Silence respectively, prove that, in order for one to attain a fulfilled and content life, one needs to be open to new things and try a new way of living. At first, the main characters are both unsatisfied with their old lives; as the stories progress, they try to embrace new ways of living; finally, by experiencing what they have never done before, the main characters find their true interest and become contented with life. Both of the stories convey the idea that, one should not be afraid to try new things, because these attempts may help one find one’s true interest and bring one a gratified life.