Wm. Paul Young’s novel, The Shack, explores the theme that people find it difficult to forgive others that cause them harm. Firstly, Papa wants Mack to forgive the man that caused him all his pain so that he can be reborn as a better human. Mack states, “How can I ever forgive that son of a bitch who killed my Missy.[...] I want him to hurt like he hurt me...if I can’t get justice, I still want revenge.” (Young 224). Mack cannot let Missy’s murderer be forgiven of his sin as the child’s death brought too much pain to the family. Mack feels that the murderer should experience all the pain that he gave others throughout the years. The pain and sorrow the man inflicts prevents the victims from being able to forgive him as they think that the man …show more content…
Mack needs to forgive to live on and enjoy the present and future. Through this theme, Mack reveals that he is a vengeful person. He wants to repay the murderer for the pain and loss he gives others. Mack holds onto his hurtful memories to be able to get revenge on the inflictor. Secondly, Mack feels a strong hatred for what his abusive father does to him in his childhood and continues to struggle with his past. For instance, “Mack never talks much about him, but when he does his face loses emotion[...]. From the few stories Mack has told me, I know his daddy was not a fall-asleep-happy kind of alcoholic but a vicious mean beat-your-wife-and-then-ask-God-for-forgiveness drunk.” (Young 8). The indication that Mack “loses emotion” when he talks about his childhood means that he is not able to confront those memories and reconcile with his father. He feels that his father wrongfully treats him and his family and cannot bear the thought of forgiving him. Mack’s inability to address his father’s sins breaks him apart from his family. Mack escapes his home and grows up without having a father figure in his world, weakening his own confidence in his ability of being a father to his …show more content…
This legacy of brokenness goes all the way back to Adam, what about him? But why stop there? What about God? God started this whole thing. Is God to blame?” (Young 160-161). Mack’s inability to be able to forgive the people that hurt him is brought all the way back to the creator, God. Mack feels that the people causing others pain should be punished for their deeds. Sophia uses this relation as an insult to the common thinking of wanting revenge on those that inflict harm. God is usually seen as a symbol to what is morally good, a being that is all-forgiving and loving of all people. Through building on a human’s refusal to forgive another person for their crimes, Sophia connects this situation to the action of refusing to forgive God. Sophia conveys that to want another person to suffer is alike to wanting God to be punished. However, Mack cannot find it in him to forgive the people that have hurt him as he does not think that they deserve it. Mack’s refusal reveals his severed relationship with
After covering 262 pages of Raising Adults: A Humane Guide for Parenting in the New World, the reader would read four chapters, with plenty of subtopics, that enlightens him or her concerning teenagers and how to approach them. The author, Jim Hancock, fulfills his purpose within this book: to cultivate “people determined to be more intentional, more skillful, more realistic, more effective” concerning their relationships with teenagers. He successfully fulfilled his purpose by structurally discussing the current cultural composition of teenagers, and previous generations; strong relational skills that may aid an adult into becoming an effective parent; and practical strategies to raise adults. Although this book is extremely beneficial for any parent, it does have a con for me: it is too verbose. Namely, it could state what it attempts to convey in fewer words. After
Authors can make even the most horrible actions, such as Dustan murdering ten savages in their sleep and justify it; somehow, from both the type of mood/tone set in this piece of literature, along with the powerful word choice he used, Whittier had the ability to actually turn the tables on to the victim (i.e. the ten “savages” who were murdered in their sleep). “A Mother’s Revenge” by John Greenleaf Whittier, is a prime example of how authors can romanticize any situation into how they want to convey their
"The family I strained to hear no longer existed" (Welch 196). This quote is said by Liz Welch; she lost both of her parents at the age of sixteen (Welch 168). Many people lose one or both parents at a young age. In fact, "one in nine Americans lost a parent before they were 20 years old" (Zaslow 1). Losing one parent usually causes a person to have detrimental effects, so losing both parents will most likely ruin a person's health. Even though the Welch children, in the memoir The Kids Are All Right by Liz and Diana Welch, have grown up and appear well, growing up without parents can have negative effects on a person because the cultural impact of the book details the negative outcomes and the historical information and professional reviews provides a context for it.
I enjoyed reading Disciplined Hearts by Theresa O'Nell because i find that many people today do not know a lot about the Native American culture and what they have been through. Their cultures history is not talked about as much the African American or Hispanic's are. Most Americans know about the hardships that the African American and Hispanics had to overcome to assimilate to the level that they are today. I think O'Nell is trying to talk about the history of the Native American culture because, she believes that the reason that their culture is not well-known because of the fact that they have chosen to keep living like their ancestors and not assimilate to the American culture.
“Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies”(Margaret Stunt). This quote is saying that if you don't forgive them it's not hurting them as much as it's hurting you. In the book it shows that mankind is unforgiving to everything. They are mean to animals, plants, and each other. In the following paragraphs I will show you evidence to prove my point.
The 21st century has brought great change and advancement in all aspect of life for mankind across the world. From the creation of high-tech gadgets to innovative ways of basic living, millennials have had a huge engagement in the works of creating such things. They have brought change and advancement through ways in which mankind has never seen before. On the contrary, past generations believe that Millennials are bringing negativity and corruption into the world. The article "The Beat-Up Generation" by Abby Ellin says that " Millennials are, arguably, the most reviled generation in recent history, and armies of consultants are hustling to decipher them. Called the "Trophy Generation," notorious for receiving prizes simply for showing up,
In the story Stray by Cynthia Rylant the theme is people can change. One example to show this theme is when Mr. Lacey said “ I sure don’t know where it came from but I sure know where it’s going.” This shows that at the beginning of the story Mr. Lacey was not going to let Doris keep the dog. But by the end of the story he ended up bringing the dog back after seeing where she would be living. For instance at the end of the story he changed, “I wouldn’t leave an ant at that place,” he said “So I brought the dog back.” It really showed that his attitude changed when he said “Well are you going to feed it or not?”This theme is shown throughout the story that if people want to they have the ability to change. Another example was when Doris changed
In the first chapter of God Behaving Badly, David Lamb argues that God is unfairly given a bad reputation. He claims these negative perceptions are fueled by pop culture and lead many to believe the lie that the God of the Old Testament is angry, sexist, racist, violent, legalistic, rigid, and distant. These negative perceptions, in turn, affect our faith. Ultimately, Lamb seeks to demonstrate that historical context disproves the presumptuous aforementioned. In addition, he defends his position by citing patterns of descriptions that characterize God throughout the Old Testament. “Our image of God will directly affect how we either pursue or avoid God. If we believe that the God of the Old Testament is really harsh, unfair and cruel, we won’t want anything to do with him” (Lamb 22). Clearly, they way Christians choose to see God will shape their relationship with Him.
A unique word choice introduces this essay, causing readers to be misguided. Staples begins by saying “My first victim was a woman…”(383). This choice of words obligated our minds to perceive this man as a criminal who was about to tell us his story. Staples allows himself to be portrayed as such a horrible person because that is exactly what people viewed him as. He uses self-blame as though he has accepted the fact of reality that he was viewed as a criminal and always will be. It seems as though he wanted to mislead us as readers so we would make the same mistake others did. A feeling of great guilt is created for judging this man that we barely knew. In such a simple way, Staples creates an ...
In a young boy’s life, making the morally right choice can be difficult especially when the choice goes against someone that is suppose to be respected, such as a parent. “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner is a coming of age story about a son of a poor and evil sharecropper. Showing the difference between good and evil, Faulkner uses character descriptions and plot, revealing Sarty’s struggles’s as he chooses between making the morally right decision or to be loyal to a dishonest father.
The Cass Mastern story provides an interesting parallel to the ongoing saga of Jack Burden and Willie Stark. Cass is tormented, as Jack is, by the truth and this drives them both to the brink only Cass falls over and can not recover. Cass hit the spider web when he committed adultery with his good friends wife and after this the venom never seemed to stop flowing. He could not stop tormenting himself because the ripple in the web he caused had been so huge that it swallowed up his friend and destroyed him. Cass could not correct what had been done and that destroyed him. Jack, even though his ripple had also destroyed another, had the opportunity to redeem himself because, even though his action was bad, it truly was in the pursuit of the truth, which, by definition is good.
Many books and movies have strived to capture the teachings of the Bible, and one book by WM. Paul Young titled The Shack, tries to confront the dramatic scenario of finding and understanding God’s reasons for not stopping horrifying incandesces from happening. The book as a whole is heartwarming and does highlight some things that people may forget about God. However, some parts of the book can be debated as to whether or not that is God’s true intentions over the Ten Commandments, the dialog between the protagonist Mackenzie Allen and the Holy Trinity, along with the denial of God’s wrath, and reasons why other movies and books change the words in the Bible.
There are many policy issues that affect families in today’s society. Hunger is a hidden epidemic and one major issue that American’s still face. It is hard to believe that in this vast, ever growing country, families are still starving. As stated in the book Growing Up Empty, hunger is running wild through urban, rural, and even suburban communities. This paper will explore the differing perspectives of the concerned camp, sanguine camp, and impatient camp. In addition, each camps view, policy agenda, and values that underlie their argument on hunger will be discussed.
The Shack, a New York Times number one bestseller, written by WM. Paul Young published in 2007 is the redemptive story of a man named Mack who was driven away from his relationship with God and pushed into a “Great Sadness through an unexpected loss in his family. When invited to reopen a deep wound and revisit the fateful events that severed his ties with God, Mack rediscovers who God is and his place in his life. He lets go of grief and restores his broken heart. Through this story of Mack’s devastating loss and his restitution, Young illustrates that times of pain, suffering, and confusion result in hope, forgiveness, and self renewal through a relationship with God.
At the early stage of novel, God is used as narrator’s scapegoat for failures that resulted from his actions. Narrator mentions God multiple times in the passage that usually talks about his failure. The views on God seem to be neutral as Narrator slightly mentions that “…God only knows if there’s any sense in my looking for a job any longer! All these refusals, these partial promises, simple noes, hopes built up and knocked down, new tries that ended each time in nothing” (Hamsun 5). Narrator believes that God is omnipresent and confess that only God understand what he is going through. But narrator’s view on God turns into anger as more misfortunes befall upon him and he states that “I came on the weightiest objections against the Lord’s arbitrariness in letting me suffer for everyone else’s sins” (Hamsun 20). The narrator suddenly changes his attitude toward God and goes into delusion like thought that God has chosen him to suffer and he thinks the God is the root of problem and that he is the problem for all his unfortunate ends regarding his living conditions and job status.