The Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks
Through our life experiences, we all have a different story or perception of an event that we envision to be the truth. The question is, how do we know what is the truth? In the novel by Russell Banks, "The Sweet Hereafter" tells a handful of stories from different points of view providing contrasting angles and meanings to the same event. As these stories interlock with each other and intertwine together the accounts of how each of these people cope with this tragedy, Banks helps readers explore the complexities of grief. In "Books of The Times; Small-Town Life After a Huge Calamity", Michiko Kakutani feels Banks draws on the school bus accident as a catalyst for enlightening the lives of the town's people. "It's as though he has cast a large stone into a quiet pond, then minutely charted the shape and size of the ripples sent out in successive waves." Told in a fluid stream-of-collective-consciousness the four parallel first-person narrations shows the reality and vulnerability behind the cruel twist of fate. The shifting of these tales backward and forward in time fits into the mosaic perfectly in conveying the meaning across to the readers.
Taking place in the wintertime a representative of death, the story beginning with Dolores Driscoll is told in a simple and straightforward way. Dolores describes herself as "the kind of person who always follows the manual. No shortcuts." (4). Kakutani also describes her as "the perky, well-meaning bus driver." As we follow Driscoll, we catch a glimpse into the lives of some of the townspeople in her eyes. We read into her life as if we are living in it, watching and knowing her innermost thoughts. We follow behind just like Billy ...
... middle of paper ...
...uch more meaningful. Kakutani does an excellent job of summing up the meaning of the story in a short and straight to the point message,
In the end, of course, there is no one person or agency responsible for the accident. The accident is just that -- an accident, one of those frighteningly random events that occasionally disrupt the even flow of daily life, underscoring the innate precariousness of life, our susceptibility to grief and loss and hurt.
There are things that happen without reasons; maybe it is just the cruel twist of fate with no one to blame. The story ends in August representative of warmth and the total opposite of winter where people learn to accept the fact that it was uncontrollable the accident and no one could have done anything to stop it… and now they begin to experience "the sweet hereafter". A time of healing and recovery.
In conclusion, the story describes that life changes, and nothing stays the same throughout it. It is in the hands of the people to decide that how they want their life to be. They can make it as beautiful as they want to and they can also make it worse than it has ever been
Sister souji has her participate in her meeting that she has for the young girls and older adults on how to make life better and fix the neighborhood talks some sense to them but winter seems to think it's just a waste of time and hates it there . She seems to feel sick and runs out the meeting and packs her stuff because she is tired of being there , goes into sister souji room and gets midnight file and see her file and it had newspaper articles of her father and mansion and her . She knew all along of who she really was and played it cool . Then stops by the Doctor room and steals money where she stashed her cash , steals it and puts it in her sports bag but they get switched up and noticed once she was already at the bus station that she had no money . Someone in her past seems to recognize her in a lexus which was bullet the guy she spent her seventh birthday with while her father was arrested
the commander of the Rebel army, General Robert E Lee. General Lee is skeptical too of
One in five veterans from Afghanistan and Iraqi wars have been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition triggered by a terrifying event and mostly effects military veterans. The book Lone Survivor, written by Marcus Luttrell, is an eye witness account of the 2005 operation Red Wing that tells the harrowing story of SEAL Team 10. Throughout the book, Marcus hears voices in his head of his fallen teammates. Even today, Marcus wakes up in the middle of the night because of the terrible nightmares, which are symptoms of PTSD. There are a lot of ways to combat PTSD so our troops do not have to endure this hardship. Some of the ways to combat the disorder is to understand PTSD, detect it early, having family support and preventing it.
Robert Laurence Moore has written a delightful, enlightening, and provocative survey of American church history centered around the theme of "mixing" the "sacred" with the "secular" and vice versa. The major points of conversation covered include the polarization caused by the public display of religious symbols, the important contribution that women and Africans have made to the American religious mosaic, the harmony and friction that has existed between science and religion, the impact of immigration on religious pluralism, and the twin push toward the union and separation of religion and politics.
Main theme: How a person deals with drug and alcohol addiction while in an institution
Of all the novels I've read, not that I've read a lot, but 'The Sweet Hereafter';, written by Banks, is by far the best. I especially enjoyed the first person narration used. The plot in this novel was dependent on three main events: the bus accident, Mitchell Stevens, Esq. (the lawyer), and the testimony of Nichole Burnell.
Country music singer, Reba McIntire, recorded a song called "The Greatest Man I Never Knew." In the song, she speaks of how she never really knew her father. It exemplifies the way I feel about my own father. Everyone has a person who has made a deep impact on his or her life. For me, it was my father Donald Alexander. He was a great man with a wonderful sense of humor. He was the reason I wanted to become an attorney. He said I never lost an argument. I feel tormented that I was unable to know what a great person he really was.
An Uncommitted Child The novel, High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, describes the life of a man who lives through his music and his childish ways. Rob Fleming is a man who struggles with commitment when it comes to what he needs, yet commits to what he wants. This lack of commitment leaves Rob struggling with the relationships with the people in his daily life. Living his life in a careless and childish manner, Rob Fleming burns the bridges with those who are close to him, and as a result realizes how much he truly cares for them when it’s too late. There were many jobs that Rob had taken over over the years; with each job he has there is a lack of passion and drive which results in his lack of commitment.
“August 2000, our family of six was on the way to a wedding. It was a rainy day, and Gregg was not familiar with the area. The car hit standing water in the high-way, and started hydro-planing. Greg lost control of the car. Then, the car went backwards down into a ditch and started sliding on its wheels sideways. After sliding for 100 feet or so, the car flipped, at least once. After flipping, the car came to rest on its wheels, and the passenger window broke out.
Communication is cited as a contributing factor in 70% of healthcare mistakes, leading to many initiatives across the healthcare settings to improve the way healthcare professionals communicate. (Kohn, 2000.)
In the essay “Everything Now” Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers, author Steve McKevitt blames our unhappiness on having everything we need and want, given to us now. While his writing is compelling, he changes his main point as his conclusion doesn’t match his introduction. He uses “want versus need” (145) as a main point, but doesn’t agree what needs or wants are, and uses a psychological theory that is criticized for being simplistic and incomplete. McKevitt’s use of humor later in the essay doesn’t fit with the subject of the article and comes across almost satirical. Ultimately, this essay is ineffective because the author’s main point is inconsistent and poorly conveyed.
Who is the birthday party a rite of passage for, the birthday boy or his mother?
If the accident occurred as a result of the negligence of a property owner or proprietor, it is important to hold the parties responsible for the injury you received as a result of the unsafe conditions they failed to correct.
The subject of the book Touching The Void Is about three adventurers that climb a mountain and have something go terribly wrong. Joe, Simon, and Richard ascend the mountain in search of the summit. “Of rough walking and, and surrounded by by ice mountains.” Page 15. Richard stays at the base camp while Joe and Simon head out. “What time you’ll be back?” Richard asked. Page 20 Joe and Richard reach the summit of the mountain and on the descent Joe breaks his knee. They try to make it back down but they get stuck. Simon has no other choice but to cut the rope and let Joe fall. Simon continues back down with the guilt of having killed his friend. Little does Simon know, Joe is alive crawling back down the mountain fighting for his life.