"Captains Courageous" written by Rudyard Kipling, tells of a boy spoiled by the immense wealth of his family. This boy would not do a hard days' work for the life of him. His father pampered him with servants and little discipline. His mother would not discipline him either. This book shows the effect of lax discipline on the young. Harvey, the boy, had no respect towards his elders nor superiors. He did not care to work, but to merely order those around him to work. He thought that all men could be bought and thought very linearly. Neither did he care for other men, nor did they care for him. Many thought him crazy or insane. He projected an air of smugness, arrogance, and cockiness. He thought most men to be below his consideration. After he fell overboard and a nearby fishing vessel picked him up did he start to change. He spent many long months aboard this fishing vessel. All the while he "learned the ropes" so to speak. At the beginning he could do little except swab the deck. He bragged of his families immense wealth. He called the men thieves. He would not work and he got punched. Throughout the voyage he learns his lessons, often at the end of a rope, even from a kid his own age. It takes time but throughout the voyage the spoiled young man first introduced changes into a young man any father would be proud of.
In the beginning of the story Harvey walks on the deck of a steam liner that his parents rented. The other passengers on the boat gathered together in the parlor on this deck. Harvey walks in and the men's conversation falls short. Harvey walks in and says "Say, it's thick outside. You can hear the fish-boats squawking all around us. Say, would n't it be great if we ran down one?" (Rudyard 3). This quote alone sh...
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...extreme hit on his pride.
All in all, this book relates to teens better than teens know. They think themselves above the conventional man and in doing so demean themselves in the eyes of those conventional men. It is extremely hard for any teen to admit that they were mistaken. It took Harvey many excruciating months to become aware of his follies. The fact that parents will look the other way when a young adult misbehaves or is in-polite is indicative of why they are this way. Any decent parent will discipline their child even when that child is grown. They will discipline their children through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. The point is, however hard you may try, a young adult is malleable and what you do influences their future and insights. Without discipline and hard work they are being molded into adults who do not work and cannot follow direction.
A prevailing theme that is present in The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown is the idea of grit. Grit is the mental toughness and firmness of mind and spirit; it is also the courage and resolve of character. The theme of grit evolves and unfolds throughout the entirety of the book. From the beginning, Joe has had to persevere through rough child hood, barely scraping by and each day strengthening himself to be more self-reliant. During school, Joe was required to change himself in order to better himself and the team. He was driven to be the best that he could; and maybe one day, he could finally fill the void left by his father. Whether it be his childhood, college, or the Berlin games, Joe had to fight through and toughen his mind
The story describes the protagonist who is coming of age as torn between the two worlds which he loves equally, represented by his mother and his father. He is now mature and is reflecting on his life and the difficulty of his childhood as a fisherman. Despite becoming a university professor and achieving his father’s dream, he feels lonely and regretful since, “No one waits at the base of the stairs and no boat rides restlessly in the waters of the pier” (MacLeod 261). Like his father, the narrator thinks about what his life could have been like if he had chosen another path. Now, with the wisdom and experience that comes from aging and the passing of time, he is trying to make sense of his own life and accept that he could not please everyone. The turmoil in his mind makes the narrator say, “I wished that the two things I loved so dearly did not exclude each other in a manner that was so blunt and too clear” (MacLeod 273). Once a decision is made, it is sometimes better to leave the past and focus on the present and future. The memories of the narrator’s family, the boat and the rural community in which he spent the beginning of his life made the narrator the person who he is today, but it is just a part of him, and should not consume his present.
Growing up and becoming mature can be an intimidating experience; it is difficult to let go of one’s childhood and embrace the adult world. For some people, this transition from youthfulness to maturity can be much more difficult than for others. These people often try to hold on to their childhood as long as they can. Unfortunately, life is not so simple. One cannot spend their entire life running from the responsibilities and hardships of adulthood because they will eventually have to accept the fact that they have a role in society that they must fulfill as a responsible, mature individual. The novel “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger follows the endeavours of Holden Caulfield, a sixteen-year-old teenage boy who faces a point in his life where he must make the transition from childhood to adulthood. In an attempt to retain his own childhood, he begins hoping to stop other young children from growing up and losing their innocence as well. As indicated by the title, “The Catcher in the Rye” is a book that explores a theme involving the preservation of innocence, especially of children. It is a story about a boy who is far too hesitant to grow up, and feels the need to ensure that no one else around him has to grow up either. His own fear of maturity and growing up is what leads to Holden’s desire to become a “catcher in the rye” so he can save innocent children from becoming part of the “phoniness” of the adult world.
“The Boat”, narrated by a Mid-western university professor, Alistar MacLeod, is a short story concerning a family and their different perspectives on freedom vs. tradition. The mother pushes the son to embrace more of a traditional lifestyle by taking over the fathers fishing business, while on the other hand the father pushes the son to live more autonomously in an unconstrained manner. “The Boat” focuses on the father and how his personality influences the son’s choice on how to live and how to make decisions that will ultimately affect his life. In Alistair MacLeod’s, “The Boat”, MacLeod suggest that although dreams and desires give people purpose, the nobility of accepting a life of discontentment out weighs the selfishness of following ones own true desires. In the story, the father is obligated to provide for his family as well as to continue the fishing tradition that was inherited from his own father. The mother emphasizes the boat and it’s significance when she consistently asked the father “ How did things go in the boat today” since tradition was paramount to the mother. H...
The father’s upbringing was such that financial stability was the priority. The child learned that dads are busy and do not have time to spend with their children. What a devastating realization for a child to conclude. Yet like most little boys, this one wanted to grow up to be like his role model, no matter the example. During the time from childhood to adolescent, parental influence can be either beneficial or detrimental. If the parents have a stable home, clear boundaries and open communications with their teens, the transition could flow easier. The perfect father does not guarantee the child will not rebel.
Parents should be more involved with their children’s lives, and try to discipline and set rules at an early age. It is better for a juvenile to be confined rather than him/her influencing average teenagers to follow in his footsteps. It is a sad day when a teenager has to spend his/her days in a juvenile facility rather than outside enjoying his freedom and childhood. Children, who attend these programs and cannot cope with the challenges, can be easily abused. The risk in enrolling these teenagers into such disciplinary programs may either break them or make them improve their behaviors and quality of life. Teenagers who come out of these camps are stronger, disciplined, educated and even become role models to other teens can someday help other delinquents. In order to change someone’s life, one must first change his/her actions and
personalities collided. Harvey asked, “ ‘Do you suppose I’d fall overboard into your dirty little boat for fun?’ ” (Kipling 15). From this sassy question, Kipling makes Harvey seem like an annoying rich kid that is difficult to sympathize for. Surprisingly, Harvey quickly realizes that being snobbish to the captain is a bad idea. He visits Disko to say, “ ‘So I’m
There is a singular event that unites every single human being on the planet, growing up. Not everyone can say it was pleasant, but no one can deny that it took place. The transition between childhood innocence and adulthood is long and confusing; often forcing one to seek out the answers to questions that likely have no definitive answer. During the process, the adult world seems inviting and free, but only when we are on the brink of entering this cruel, unjust society can the ignorant bliss of childhood be truly recognized. Catcher in the Rye explores the intimidating complexities associated with adulthood and how baffling it seems to the naïve teenage mind. Through the main protagonist, Holden Caulfield, J.D. Salinger captures the confusion of a teenager when faced with the challenge of adapting to an adult society.
The extract from Rachel Cusk's article 'Raising Teenagers:The Mother of All Problems' uses techniques such as juxtaposition, similes and antidotes to persuade the reader to see teenage girls as irritating, privileged and disrespectful. Cusk writes of her experience as a mother losing traction/ connection with her teenage daughter. It was a development she also saw among her daughter's friends, who scoffed at their mothers. One can argue this article extract has a very negative stance on raising teenagers,however adolescents are as different from each other as adults are different from each other. Therefore, Cusk's story is her own personal anecdote – her own experience of raising a teenager. The technique of a personal anecdote influences a particular reader, one that shares similar experiences to the authors. They may see teenagers as disrespectful, privileged and irritating, as they can relate to similar experiences with raising their children, and are more inclined to believe all teenage girls share these traits. In contrast, there is another group of readers that are more likely to disagree with this stance, and claim all teenagers are not like
This article was interesting to read. This article makes me think about all of my siblings who I have seen grown up around me and I can relate the article to their life. One adolescent that comes in mind is someone who would have parents that would try to get involve in school work and other activities. The only problem was that the school climate and the friends that surrounded this adolescent didn’t help at all. This led to a lot of conduct problems like running away from home, smoking, and coming home after
Unlike old times in which only the eldest obtained the rights and land to curate while the others were just expected to marry well. Every parents’ goal is to get their children to have a better life than what they endured. HOwever, not wanting their children to suffer they spoil and enable their children to the extreme. Thus, children are unprepared for the real world because they had never been exposed to the truth. Parents tend to disregard their children's actions and blame others for their mistakes. For instance, if a child is given a F in class, parents go to the teacher demanding a reason as to why that happened. Versus holding their kid responsible, for they know the rules and requirements that are needed to obtain an A. Parents are forgetting to instill key character traits like discipline and responsibil in order to succeed in life without the help of mommy and daddy. Hence, the generation of teens that complain about everything and are unprepared for a job or college that are essential to them being thriving
...parents were much more successful in the working world encouraged him to complete many daily activities such as choir and piano lessons. His parents engaged him in conversations that promoted reasoning and negotiation and they showed interest in his daily life. Harold’s mother joked around with the children, simply asking them questions about television, but never engaged them in conversations that drew them out. She wasn’t aware of Harold’s education habits and was oblivious to his dropping grades because of his missing assignments. Instead of telling one of the children to seek help for a bullying problem she told them to simply beat up the child that was bothering them until they stopped. Alex’s parents on the other hand were very involved in his schooling and in turn he scored very well in his classes. Like Lareau suspected, growing up
It is tragic to hear the anguished cry of parents: "What have we done to harm him? Why doesn't he care about anything? He is a bright boy, but why does he fail to pass his examination? Why won't he talk to us?" A remarkable and absorbing novel, J. D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye," may serve to calm the apprehensions of fathers and mothers about their own responsibilities, though it doesn't attempt to explain why all boys who dismay their elders have failed to successfully pass the barrier between childhood and young manhood.
Children are taught that the principal is their friend and that the police men are there to help. As a child one is taught, protected, and cared for by their parents. As those parents become older, there is a regression where the parent almost becomes the child and the child the parent. In J.D. Salinger?s novel, The Catcher in the Rye, the adults whom Holden Caulfield appreciates are childlike and helpless.
First I’m going to talk about how this lie affects relationships between adults and teenagers. Here’s the problem; adults don’t expect enough out of teenagers today. When I was doing research for this speech, I came across the website parentingteens.com. This website popped up first on Google, so it must by good. Right? WRONG! I went to the “setting up expectations” section by author, Denise Witmer. The list of expectations is pathetic! For pre and young teens, the expectations are making your bed everyday, being able to take a phone message, and cleaning your room once a week with help from Mom and Dad. (parentingteens.com) There is a warning at the top of this list saying that these expectations might be overwhelming and too much for your teen, so just pick one to start with! The li...