Comparing Kamau's Finish And Bunion Derby

694 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Comparative essays on short stories

Running is proven as a sport that is extremely difficult, both mentally and physically. By looking at two different short stories, “Kamau’s Finish” and “Bunion Derby” both about the hardships and mental challenge of running, we learn that in life humility and perseverance play a large role in a satisfying victory. While these two stories share a common these, the way each main character portrays the theme through their challenges is really what sets the two apart. In “Kamau’s Finish” the reader meets Kamau, a young boy who wants dearly to impress his father, Baba, by winning a race at school. When Kamau begins the race he was winning, ahead of all him competitors thinking of how proud Baba would be. Suddenly he falls and the others pass …show more content…

While Andy’s victory is traditional, winning first place and the grand prize of $25,000, Kamau’s is not. The main difference between these two stories is not just the length of the race, but the victory each runner took home. Kamau’s one goal was to win the race and impress Baba showing he is not just a dreamer with poor grades. One quote from the story says “I’d prove to him I’m not just a hopeless dreamer.” Through this quote the reader can see that Kamau is running the race for Baba’s approval. When he loses he immediately thinks of how Baba will be unhappy. When he sees Baba beaming with joy, he truly seeing that Baba is proud of his perseverance and ability to get up even after falling. Though Kamau took last place in the race, he learned humility and perseverance from his yearning to impress Baba at all costs. Andy’s story is different, Andy was an aspiring running who decided to take chance and run the race of his life. While the reader learned humility and perseverance through Kamau, they were taught the same lesson by Andy. Watching Andy never give up and continue running is inspiring. It clearly shows how any victory can be achieved. After looking at the two stories, the way the reader internalizes the theme of humility and perseverance bringing a victory is really what sets the two short stories

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Hawaii Irongirl's Story '

    875 Words  | 2 Pages

    The passage, Hawaii Ironman: An Irongirl’s Story, is about Greta, a triathlete. The passage explains what her journey to qualifying and then competing in the Hawaiian triathlon was like. The passage informs us on all of the training, determination, and perseverance Greta had. The passage then explained what running the Hawaiian Ironman was like. A race that consisted of swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles, and running 26.2 miles all in the hot, Hawaiian heat. The author uses details from the journey she went through in order to qualify for the race, her thoughts and feelings while competing in the race, and Greta’s feeling and mindset when she finishes the race to develop the theme that to finish is to win.

    Read More

  • Unbroken Chapter Summary

    466 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, young Louie Zamperini is the troublemaker of Torrance, California. After his life had taken a mischievous turn, his older brother, Pete, managed to convert his love of running away, into a passion for running on the track. At first, Louie’s old habit of smoking gets the best of him, and it is very hard for him to compare to the other track athletes. After a few months of training, coached by Pete, Louie begins to break high school records, and became the fastest high school miler in 1934. After much more hard work, goes to the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936 but is no match for the Finnish runners. He trains hard for the next Olympic Games, and hopes to beat the four minute

    Read More

  • Analyzing The Story 'Running For His Life' By Michael Hall

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    They race against themselves: to conquer their wills, to transcend their weaknesses, to beat back their nightmares" (603). This quotation shows that running is not always competition, but it helps runners overcome their

    Read More

  • Terry Fox

    1217 Words  | 3 Pages

    Terry knew that aches and pains are common in athlete’s lives. At the end of his first year of university there was a new pain in his knee. One morning Terry woke up to see that he could no longer stand up. A week later Terry found out that it was not just an ache he had a malignant tumor; his leg would have to be cut off six inches above the knee. Terry’s doctor told him that he had a chance of living but the odds were fifty to seventy percent. He also said that he should be glad it happened now fore just 2 years ago the chance of living was fifteen percent. The night before his operation a former coach brought Terry a magazine featuring a man who ran a marathon after a similar operation. Terry didn’t want to do something small if he was going to do something he was going to do it big. "I am competitive" Terry said, "I’m a dreamer. I like challenges. I don’t give up. When I decided to do it, I knew it was going to be all out. There was no in between Terry’s sixteen month follow up he saw all the young people suffering and getting weak by the disease. He never forgot what he saw and felt burdened to thoughts that died to run this marathon. He was one of the lucky one in three people to survive in the cancer clinics. Terry wrote asking for sponsorship " I could not leave knowing that these faces and feelings would still be here even though I would be set free of mine, s...

    Read More

  • Survival In Unbroken

    544 Words  | 2 Pages

    A huge part of the story showed how a person could overcome all the odds to become successful is feats such as sports and other activities. Most sports champions show great endurance to win many competitions. Similarly, Hillenbrand indicated that Louis, a competitive runner, trained until “he (had) rubbed the skin right off one of his toes, (leaving) his sock bloody” (Hillenbrand 23). As a result of all the hard work, Louis overcome struggles such as a bleeding shin, broken ribs, and a damaged toe to set time records for many races. In my experiences, I see many people take sports and other extra-curricular activities as a burden without embracing the challenges. In contrast, Louis illustrates the rare athlete and human being who seeks solutions to

    Read More

  • The Contrast of Two Great Short Stories: The Rocking Horse Winner and The Lottery

    878 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Rocking-Horse Winner” is a short story about a young boy, Paul, who has the supernatural ability to choose a winning race horse. It is not clear how the boy has this ability but he hears his mother’s voice echo in his mind saying that they are poor and so he sets out to change that. Paul takes on the stress of his mother’s greed. This short story relates to the obsession of wealth which what motivates the characters aside of neglect, faulty sense of value, opportunism and deceit. Paul believes that there is more money to be made and thus goes on a frenzy to win more, but consequently dies after falling off his rocking horse due to convulsions of a fever.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Book Unbroken

    1675 Words  | 4 Pages

    As a teen, Zamperini acknowledges that great things demand hard work and if a person is exceptionally persistent, he will become unstoppable to achieve his goal. The words, “A lifetime of glory is worth a moment of pain (34)” illustrates Zamperini as a strongminded character. Although this quote has only been said in chapter four, it remained remarkable since the beginning of the story. These were the words of Pete that resonates in Zamperini’s head during the exhilarating moments he encounters. Pete is a loyal friend of Zamperini and the coach who never gets tired to motivate Zamperini. The inspiration words of Pete also echoes the social commentary of the human experience that people at any point in their life will experience pain, and the question is not why they have to suffer. But, will the outcome worth the pain. Since, everyone has the free will to decide which goals they desire to accomplish, it is also essential for them to realize that accomplishment is the product of hard work. In the novel, Zamperini strives to win Olympics for distance running. He trained so hard to prepare for this big competition that he begins to be numb from any pain. Therefore, Zamperini as a teenager discovered his defiance character is indeed the key into running. Due to perseverance, he uncovers a phenomenal gift that lead him

    Read More

  • Theme Of The Lottery And The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

    1261 Words  | 3 Pages

    The two stories start off with the same calm tone. ‘...fresh warmth of a full-summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green.” from the first line of “The Lottery” is similar to “the air of morning was so clear that the snow still crowning the Eighteen Peaks burned with white-gold fire across the miles of sunlit air, under the dark blue of the sky” in the first paragraph of “...Omelas”. The authors do this to create a more dramatic reaction to what secrets will be revealed about the villages.

    Read More

  • The Fleeting of Glory in To An Athlete Dying Young

    1500 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gardner, Janet E. "To An Athlete Dying Young." Literature: A Portable Anthology. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004. 542-43. Print.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of King Of The Bingo Game

    985 Words  | 2 Pages

    They were taking him slowly but he cannot leave the wheel he try to run and run back again in the wheel and say he cannot give it up and when those man try to pull him up from the stage he see it rest at double zero. Finally he wins the game and he gets the prize. He did not get the justice of the man ‘s tight smile and he knew even as it slipped out of him that his luck had run out on the stage. As I mentioned that this story is internal conflict because in this story we can see how the main character uses his mind by watching and learning.

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Descriptive Writing

    621 Words  | 2 Pages

    The timers near the finish lines start their timers and the intense rivalries between individuals and schools start with the gun as the runners take off. The course, now filled with hundreds of hot runners, is matted down as the runners run over and trample it. Action and intense competition filled the air. The fans all crowd around the edges of the course pushing and trying to get the best view of their favorite athlete or team. The parking lot’s now packed to a max with only a few forgetful spectators running back to their cars for forgotten items. Similar to the parking lot, concessions only has a select few little children to whom candy is more important than their older siblings. Team tents vacant, except for the food and it’s wafting aroma left to be eaten after the race along with numerous numerous sweat stained smelly duffle bags. The finish line shoot, now bustling with activity, has the clock running, bustling with the activity of exhausted sweat drenched runners stumbling across it. The smell of sweat now filled the air along with the sound of the occasional cry from the medical tent which was now filled with runners who either had dropes out of the race or had already finished and hurt themselves and were in

    Read More

  • Graduation Speech: Perseverance and Determination

    668 Words  | 2 Pages

    I love to run hurdles, but unfortunately last year, little pulls and strains prevented me from running to my full potential. One Thursday, we had a home track meet against Lake Stevens. For the first time I was in pretty good shape for my race, the 100-meter hurdles. I began jumping up and down partially to stay warm, and partially to let out some of my excitement. By this time, I had butterflies in my stomach and the adrenaline was pumping. The starter asked us to 'Take your sweats off and stand behind your blocks.' 'Runners take your marks.' Hands shaking, I crouched into the starting blocks. The gun was up. 'Set!' 'Bang!' I bolted out of the blocks. I was way ahead of the other girls when suddenly, I realized I didn't have enough speed to carry me over the next hurdle. Gathering all of the strength I could, I grabbed at the air in hopes of guaranteeing clearance. I had just brushed over the wood when my foot hit the ground and my ankle gave out. I fell. I heard a gasp from the crowd and the other racers' feet pounding past me. I got back up. I had never gone over a hurdle with my right leg first, but I did after that fall. Sprinting as fast as I could in between hurdles, I found myself basically bunny hopping over the rest of them. My goal was to cross that finish line and to be able to say that I did the very best that I could, even if I didn't look very graceful along the way. Although it might have seemed like a bad day, I was proud. It was the first time I had ever fallen in a race, and not only did I get back up and keep running, I managed to place second.

    Read More

  • Humor In The Movie 'Cool Runnings'

    984 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many people have different opinions of the movie “Cool Runnings”. Some may say that the movie is amazing, while others may say that it is a terrible movie. “Cool Runnings” is about four Jamaican men who want to become Olympic bobsledders. They find themselves a former Olympic gold medal winner, and find themselves qualifying in the 1988 Winter Olympics. They struggle, but in the end, experience a life changing event. “Cool Runnings” is considered a quality movie because of the use of humor and being inspirational. On the other hand, some people may not like the movie because of the difference between it and the real story.

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative - Race

    1229 Words  | 3 Pages

    Going into the first race we had not expected much since Susan and I had never run this type of race. There were so many crucial things that we had to remember. It wasn't just to get out of the blocks and burn up the track; there was a baton involved, a certain amount of steps to take, and even a certain way to hold the baton.

    Read More

  • Cool Running Movie Analysis

    551 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cool running’s is a 1993 American sports filmed based on the true story of the Jamaica national bobsled teams and their debut in the bobsled competing that took place at the 1988 winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta Canada. This movie puts quite a few sport psychology qualities such as motivation, determination, leadership, imagery and goal setting. The movie showcases how an underdog Jamaican team who lives In a constant summer can compete in a winter sport due to the fact that they never gave up and used every resource they had available to them including sport physiology. Throughout this summery I will talk about the certain aspects of sport psychology and how the movie shed light on them.

    Read More

More about Comparing Kamau's Finish And Bunion Derby

Open Document