Going For Kebabs Essay

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Friendships are vital in helping children develop emotionally and socially. They provide a training ground for trying out different ways of relating to others. Through interacting with friends, children learn the give and take of social behavior in general. They learn how to set up rules, how to weigh alternatives and make decisions when faced with dilemmas. They experience fear, anger, aggression and rejection. They learn how to win, how to lose, what's appropriate, what's not. They learn about social standing and power - who's in, who's out, how to lead and how to follow, what's fair and what's not. They learn that different people and different situations call for different behaviors and they come to understand the viewpoints of other people. …show more content…

'Going for kebabs' is a short story about teenagers going for kebabs when a girl their age, Carmina - classed as being a 'gothic witch', arrives to the kebab shop pushing into the front of the line. All the people in the queue call her names as she refuses to line up, not only to realise Carmina was buying food and drink for the poor man and herself who everyone else ignored. Libby Gleeson, the author of 'Going for Kebabs', questions if life is in black and white and obliterating the action too often practiced; prejudicial behaviours. The author suggests that we step aside from seeing life in black and white where people reduce life to gross generalisations. That in fact, life is a lot more complicated than we all think. She also presuades is to believe all of us should attempt to step aside from prejudicial behaviours and not make a judgement until we know the real facts. This is displayed through direct use of a metaphor in, "More studs than a cowboy belt and that's just her face". Although Carmina may look sleazy, on the inside she is a different person who cares about making a difference to the lives of others whether it be big or small. Through this the author conveys to the audience that Carmina is a typical gothic figure who doesn't care what people think of her, but remains attacted to what she is interested in and believes in. In this case she is interested in a dark, gothic figure, however, with a soft spot in her heart. This applies to our everyday lives today. Think of a time when someone has reached out to help you. Gleeson gives us a small insight into the powerful effect our words and actions can have on others. She conveys to us that every now and then, the universe decides to show us these outcomes. Just small simple acts of kindness such as a short 'hello'

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