Rohan: Transforming from a hesitant boy into a hero There are periods in life when individuals are faced with inquisitive predicaments in which the answer is unclear, but oftentimes, instinct proves to be the most reliable source to depend on. The heartwarming short story, “Out of Bounds” by Beverley Naidoo illustrates the concept that making a decision based off of one’s own instincts results in a better view on everything. The story concerns a group known as the squatters who had lost their homeland in a flood while the main character, Rohan, was forced to make his own decision between aiding the squatters or ostracizing them like everyone else. Although the story first portrays Rohan as a selfish and indecisive boy, he later transforms into a hero that makes a significant change in society by providing the squatters opportunities when everyone else refused to aid them. Rohan was not always obliging and generous to the squatters, but had instead resented their presence. At first, Rohan believed that if “the squatters moved away, then he and his friends could get their territory back” (Naidoo, 772). The squatters infuriated Rohan because they settled near the area where he and his friends used to entertain themselves. He yearned for the …show more content…
He also would have paid no heed to the everyday struggles of the squatters, and would be ignorant to the consideration of helping others. Rohan had assisted Solani in hauling the water bucket back to the squatter camp, and as a result, he came to the realization that everything was not as simple as it seemed. In this situation, Rohan relied on his own instincts rather than what his parents advised him to do by treating others with respect. He comprehended that there were people that needed help, transforming from an indecisive boy into someone that provided hope for
When individuals face obstacles in life, there is often two ways to respond to those hardships: some people choose to escape from the reality and live in an illusive world. Others choose to fight against the adversities and find a solution to solve the problems. These two ways may lead the individuals to a whole new perception. Those people who decide to escape may find themselves trapped into a worse or even disastrous situation and eventually lose all of their perceptions and hops to the world, and those who choose to fight against the obstacles may find themselves a good solution to the tragic world and turn their hopelessness into hopes. Margaret Laurence in her short story Horses of the Night discusses the idea of how individual’s responses
A human being is a complicated entity of a contradictory nature where creative and destructive, virtuous and vicious are interwoven. Each of us has gone through various kinds of struggle at least once in a lifetime ranging from everyday discrepancies to worldwide catastrophes. There are always different causes and reasons that trigger these struggles, however, there is common ground for them as well: people are different, even though it is a truism no one seems to able to realize this statement from beyond the bounds of one’s self and reach out to approach the Other.
However, three ethical decisions that this learning will make after viewing the film is to always assist individual to the best of your ability, despite personal issues with loved ones or friends; next, always report crimes, no matter the consequence they may have; and last but not least, stand up for what’s right, even if it leads to misfortune. The pros of each of these decisions is peace within yourself. However, one of the cons is dealing with negative pressures. For example, when you report a crime, you may be summoned to court, and have to deal with the negative criticism.
“I wish I could be a hero!” Many adults in today’s society hear small children wishing they could become heroes. Children wish to be more like heroes for the reason that heroes are the type of people who risk their lives to help others. Throughout history, children have had a positive connotation with the word “hero.” The heroes many small children talk about are the fictional ones who protect cities from villains: Superman, Batman, Spiderman, and others. However, these are not the only types of heroes in today’s world. Firefighters and policemen are also considered heroes because they save the lives of those in danger. Many adults consider their inspirations to be heroes, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Michelle Obama. Heroes do not always have to be real; for instance, they can also be literary characters such as Atticus Finch, Jonas, and Odysseus. Heroes, fictional or not, only have one purpose, to help people in need. These motivating people are in the rare category of people who willingly spend their whole lives helping people achieve their dreams. Heroes are the people who unselfishly help people live their lives in a peaceful manner. Many children wish they could become heroes, such as Bilbo Baggins. In The Hobbit, J.R.R Tolkien explores how Bilbo Baggins matures and ultimately becomes a hero.
In life, situations arrive that force us to make tough choices. Sometimes those choices are not what we feel are compassionate or morally right. We make these decisions to save ourselves. These are decisions of self-preservation, and they override compassion. Tadeusz Borowski depicts these choices in his book This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen. He shows that when people are put in the choice of doing what’s right or preserving their life, one is preferred over the other. Would they rather save their selves or just watch others be sent to their death. In the novel, the narrator wrestles with his decisions and like Borowski suffers from them.
Moral decisions can be difficult to make if it goes against your beliefs. You could choose to either follow your orders or follow your instincts. The stories “Gregory” by Panos Ioannides and “The Day of the Last Rock Fight” by Joseph Whitehill, both have endings that results in a negative outcome; both the protagonists are conflicted whether they should be loyal to their leader or friend, or follow their instincts. The soldier from “Gregory” is conflicted to whether he has to kill Gregory or not, and Ronnie is in a situation where he has to make a decision to whether he should have reported his best friend Peter or not. These protagonists are negatively affected from the decisions they make. In “Gregory”, the soldier regrets killing “Gregory”, and in “The Day of the Last Rock Fight”, Ronnie is heavily burdened after making the decision not to tell the detective of how Gene Hanlon dies. Furthermore, both the stories portray how it can be difficult making decisions when you know that your decision could have a great impact on the society and yourself.
Parental pressure is often part of a child’s life. The pressure depends on gender, society, and also culture. The really short story “Girl” by Jamaica Kinvaid is a conversation between a mother and daughter. The mother talk most of the time; she gave a long series of warnings and advice to the daughter, who responds only twice. These advises are mostly about how to take care of her dad, or future husband, and also household chores, cooking, manners, social conduct. The voice of the mother seemed commanding and “bitchy” but the mother seems to expect a great deal of her daughter, and she did say what she had to say to let the girl know it.
Overcoming obstacles in one’s life can lead someone along the path of ultimately taking pride in themselves. This is apparent in William Bell’s novel Crabbe, in the case of young Franklin Crabbe. Firstly, Crabbe’s ordeal in nature teaches him to put others before himself. At the beginning of his journey, he is self-centred whilst making decisions, whereas at the end of his journey, he is able to consider others first. Secondly, during Crabbe’s time in the wilderness, he gains self-satisfaction from hard work. Crabbe learns about how good it feels to accomplish something in his waking hours, and continues to realize this after his encounter with nature. Lastly, throughout Crabbe’s time in the wilderness, he learns to take responsibility for his own unhappiness. In his bounty of moments for reflection, Crabbe realizes his parents are not to blame for his every moment of depression. During Crabbe’s journey in the bush, he overcomes frequent obstacles which send him back to civilization as someone he can be proud of.
All blondes are dumb. Gingers have no soul. All Jews are greedy. All Asians are bad drivers. Imagine living in a world where people are put into a category simply because of their appearance, race, or religion. It limits a person’s chance of expressing individuality through categorization. Desmond Cole’s article, “The Skin I’m In” introduces the struggles faced by black people through racial stereotypes in Canada— a country known for its diversity. Cole reveals the experiences of black people who are stereotyped as dangerous; as a result, they are victimized with prejudice, discrimination, and injustice by society.
...s a bigger and harder step not very many citizens of the world today are willing to do. Loosing the happiness that one gets in exchange from injustice in the world is an action that is unthinkable to humankind. The right ethical decision has to be made to entirely resolve the issue, but making that right ethical decision is impossible with the other factors of life such as personal happiness. In “The One Who Walks Away From Omelas” the reader is taught the importance of making the right ethical decision and can relate these morals in their own community. One cannot just choose to ignore, one cannot just choose to observe and still do nothing, and one cannot just simply walk away. The reader is taught the momentous moral of not being a bystander, the importance of moral responsibility, and the great significance in learning to overcome the ethical issues in society.
Another sense of the attempt to retain a moralistic self-identity and persevere through the obstacles present was the reaction had by the tenant farmers when forced to move off their land. Standing in conflict with "the cat,"--the destr...
Taking everything into consideration, Rohan would have stayed as a hesitant and arrogant boy if the Solani had not came to his house to beg for water. Without the squatters, Rohan would be ignorant to the consideration to help others. In this situation, Rohan improved his behavior and transforms from a indecisive boy into someone that provided hope for
Furthermore, understanding the fact of how the villagers in that village practiced and participated in such a barbaric ritual and archaic event were not accepted by people. In addition, people who read the story commented that the modest people of the Midwest are superstitious and backward. Here, Jackson conveyed successfully with her subtle writing style that something is about to happen. She also used a third person point of view when writing this short story. The third person point of view permitted the author to keep the outcome of the story an exposure. This therefore led to the reader to consider everything is well but actually there is something wrong somewhere. Furthermore, what could be seen from the story is people were different compared to present, there is a huge difference in cultural practices. Therefore the actions of the story go in the opposite direction of people’s opinion in the present in terms of value of life, violence and the development of respect in a family.
This simple short story bleeds into the minds of its readers, and mixes into our perception of the world we know today. Eventually, the reader begins to connect the thought process and ideologies of the mentally deranged villagers within the story to those who exist or existed within the real world. We begin to peel away at our own society, and see that the same way of thinking which spawned these lotteries, held within the fictional world, may have counterparts in the real world, which is the truly perturbing fragment of this story. While each person who reads this tale...
There is another type of hero that almost no one is aware of. In the poorest areas of the country, live mostly minorities and other ethic background. All their lives they’ve been expected to work harder and expected not succeed in life. Some individuals living in poverty with a determination to succeed work hard all of their lives to become what everybody doubted they could. Escaping the crime, drugs, and prostitution is enough to escape hell, even if they don’t go to college. Despite of their financial problems, drug and crime surroundings, or difficulties in the language skills, their desire to triumph fuels their persistence. Those who make it to success are the few living examples of the purest form of hero anyone can be. They are not only their own heroes but also the heroes of the poor children who dream of becoming like them someday.