It’s year 2036, the government has collapsed on itself, the economy crumbled. Riots & Rebellion and violence fill the streets. The cities abandoned, suburbs a ghost town. Resources used up, and the chance of survival is rare. After the government shutdown, they couldn’t seem to start back up again. Attempts of restarting were common, but never successful. After the government was gone, the oil taken from the east was no longer being replenished, and being used up daily. Technology failed due to a virus and basic electricity we have depended on for centuries. The chance of survival for a 15 year-old girl is rare but this is my story of survival in a complicated and confusing world, alone.
Common fears of society include the basic things that the human race depends upon. The government collapsing, the economy failing, and riots breaking out are realistic fears and a possibility for our future. The narrator is a young girl all alone in the new and failing world, another big fear of people is isolation; having no family, and being by yourself is a big anxiety of the majority of people. Without the government, there is a lack of freedom and authority that keeps the country sane. Pain, death, failure, and the unknown are popular and relatable anxieties that are constantly running in the back of our minds. In my story a girl who is all alone, has dealt with death and pain, and will never know where she will end up with frighten the audience due to how realistic it is. The whole government shutdown that was occurring in our country in 2013, comes up in my story, some people still have the fear that our government will shutdown again and never open back up again. The economy issue in 2009 that caused the stocks market to drop and lead ...
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...urs looking for a protected, covered and hidden place to catch some shut eye, but today that didn’t happen. I also would normally look for some vegetation to eat, or maybe a dead animal to cook. Tonight I’m going to sleep hungry, cold, and drained completely of my energy and motivation to make it to the coast.
I don’t know if I will make it to dawn, if the gang finds me, or I just cant seem to wake up, whoever is reading this journal will know my story. I want to make it to Florida so badly, I know that’s what my parents would have wanted for me. Now I’m on my own, as a 14 year old. No other 14 year old has had to travel a thousand miles alone, without food, family or someone to love.
-Lillian
P.S. If I don’t make it, pass my story on to others. Make them want to survive, in hopes that our country can again be functioning and have their peace and order restored.
Fear is a powerful emotion. Wikipedia.com describes fear as “an emotion induced by threat perceived by living entities, which causes a change in brain and organ function and ultimately change behavior, such as running away, hiding or freezing from traumatic events.”Most people tend to avoid fearful situations, not realizing that something positive may come out of the event or experience. Victor Villaseñor focuses on the topic of fear in his novel titled Burro Genius. Villaseñor demonstrates to readers how growing up he was extremely fearful of any situation. Victor also tells his readers how he turned his fear into motivation into motivation to keep going and reach his ultimate goal of becoming a published author.
There are many different fears that one may have including: Monophobia, the fear of being alone, Agoraphobia, the fear of being in crowded places, and Achluophobia, the fear of being in the dark. While looking at these different phobias, one may notice that they all are specific ways that a person may act depending on the setting they are in. It is common for authors to place their characters in a designated setting to reveal the most basic traits of human conduct. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding establishes to his readers the type of isolation that a group of young boys would feel by putting them on a deserted island with no adults, having to adapt to the setting, and learn to survive and get along in a small, confined space. Similarly, in I Only Came to Use the Phone, Garcia Marquez also portrays the big idea of isolation by making the setting of the story a sanatorium for mentally disturbed women. Maria, the main character, whose car broke down in the middle of the desert, was taken to the institution to use the phone to call home, but once she got there she was separated from the rest of the world and was forced to stay there forever. In both stories the setting is very peaceful at the beginning, and so are the characters. As the stories continue, the setting starts to fall apart until the end where the setting is complete chaos, and the characters also become chaotic. One also will see that in the nighttime, characters become immoral about their decisions and actions. Throughout Lord of the Flies and I Only Came to Use the Phone the interaction between the setting and the characters shows a complete parallel. Depending on what the setting is, the characters will act in different ways.
Though fictional, this novel illustrates the fear surrounding disease, viruses, and contamination and how, if uncontrollable, it could lead to a global spread that could jeopardize the human race. Traveling internationally, World War Z represents a zombie epidemic that brings forth infection, which can be considered an unconscious actor during this time of confusion and destruction. Scientifically, fear is defined as a natural response found in almost all organisms that revolves around the emotions and feelings induced by perceived threats and danger. Max Brooks illustrates the societal interaction with fear, “Fear of aging, fear of loneliness, fear of poverty, fear of failure”.
"Culture of Fear" is a book that describes that it is our perceptions that dangers have increased, and so much the actual level of risk. Glassner explains in all of his chapters how people and organizations use our fears as a way to increase their profit. Glassner also states about the prices we pay for our panics and all the time and energy we spend worrying. Americans are afraid because of the media's broadband expose of crime, violence, drugs and diseases.
Fear is an emotion brought on by danger, evil, or pain. Sometimes the threat is real and sometimes it can be imagined. A person who is walking through a dark alley in the middle of the night may experience fear because they do not know whether or not it is safe to continue on. The fear of the unknown is also expressed in 1984, The Lottery, and Harrison Bergeron. The government in 1984 uses fear to control the masses. They set strict rules but leave a level of life completely unknown. The Party uses the people’s easygoing, trusting personalities to their advantages. In Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery, the government holds an annual meeting where names are drawn and someone is toned to death. Not knowing through the whole process who will be chosen is a way for the government to instill fear in the people. Shirley Jackson used the fear of the unknown just as George Orwell did. In Harrison Bergeron people are afraid of what will happen if they disobey when putting Harrison’s case into consideration. They also do not know what the government does not want them to know because of their handicap. Not being able to finish a complete thought may bring the fear of the unknown as well. The government controls the masses using fear to keep total control over everything in their society, and in each story, Orwell, Jackson, and Vonnegut all use the idea of fear of the unknown to further control the people.
Fear motivates many people to act upon matters, right or wrong. This emotion has been important in many events in both works of literature, and in the real world. It has forced military geniuses into retreat, and influenced them to plan another method of attack. Fear can be both a positive and a negative acting force in one’s life, a quality that can motivate one to success as well as to downfall.
Fear brings forth a certain atmosphere which compels us to act upon it. The era in which the book was published allows us to see how common these fears were. Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House is an excellent portrayal of how fear controls the human mind by using the characters as examples. In the book Eleanor, Theodora, Luke, and Dr. Montague have all been influenced by fear in the story, whether it be the fear of love, the unknown, family, rejection, expression, or loneliness. These different types of fear plagued their minds causing their actions to reflect upon them. Jackson explores the theme of fear in The Haunting of Hill House by creating a cast of characters that in turn are manipulated by the inner workings of their minds and the
Philip Roth's Everyman relives the story of the unnamed protagonist who is faced with every person's fear of illness and their inevitable death. Everyman's fear began at the age of nine when he was admitted to a hospital for a routine hernia surgery. It is this fear of illness and death which slowly became a crippling fear, driving wedges between him and people he cared about in his personal life. The fear almost becomes an obsession; he begins basing his life off how healthy he is. Because of him basing his life off his health, he starts to compare himself to his older brother, Howie, who has never been admitted to a hospital or had any surgeries in his life. All of Everyman's comparisons led him to eventual resentment and envy of his brother. This envy and resentment would have probably never happened if the little boy next to him at the hospital was still in his bed when Everyman woke up.
As people grow up, they tackle their own challenges, fears begin to fester and grow inside of them. These fears have the potential to change the way people will live out their day-to-day life. Along with fears is foresight. This can aid people in the search for how to overcome, or work around their fears. Foresight can also help people picture how their fears may affect their life. Both fears and foresight have the potential to offer people life-altering choices that will help people grow. Fear and foresight can both have a large part in influencing life-altering choices, just as Nora Helmer, Florentine and a choice of my own, all illustrate.
The only thing I can think about is food. I don’t think I can remember the feeling of having a full stomach, or my thirst quenched. Even the feeling of strength, of movement has left me. There’s no getting those feelings back until the war is over. The only thing that can be truly felt is the burn of the cold, and the fear. The fear is everything, consuming my thoughts, vision, and blurring the days together. It’s almost strong enough to overpower the hunger and thirst. I fear for my family’s safety, their sanity. My mother has started to go mad from the stress of taking care of my two younger sisters and myself. The war has stolen many things from my family; my father, brothers, home, everything. Even the sky is crying for us as it smudges my writing and blurs my vision even more.
Throughout one’s life, he or she will experience many situations where a lesson is learned, or a fear is amassed. One person may be able to deal with such terrors easily, while another will suffer because of the dread and panic that now haunts them. The poem ‘My Fear’ by Lawrence Raab discusses the haunting situation of fear following someone, and the personification, imagery, and tone of the speaker all provide depth to this seemingly innocent poem and allow one to truly appreciate how fear and troubles affect him or her.
Fear is an amazing emotion, in that it has both psychological as well as physiological effects on the human body. In instances of extreme fear, the mind is able to function in a way that is detached and connected to the event simultaneously. In “Feared Drowned,” Sharon Olds presents, in six brief stanzas, this type of instance. Her sparse use of language, rich with metaphors, similes and dark imagery, belies the horror experienced by the speaker. She closes the poem with a philosophical statement about life and the after-effects that these moments of horror can have on our lives and relationships.
Introduce Topic: A phobia as defined by medicalnewstoday.com, “is an irrational fear, a kind of anxiety disorder in which the sufferer has a relentless dread of a situation, living creature, place or thing.”
The theme fear of the unknown can be similar to being afraid of the dark. Darkness is a symbol of fear, mystery or evil. The darkness creates fear because one is visually impaired. The dark itself it not terrifying, it’s the fear of whatever might be lurking around. Hearing a little creak makes one afraid and anxious that will eventually lead them to come up with their own theories and solutions. The mind 's imagination takes over and makes one think of their worse fears. Many people can say that they are not afraid, but what if something comes up from behind you? What if something is underneath your bed, just waiting for the right time to hurt you? The truth is that everyone is afraid of the dark, and because the vision is impaired, it is essentially the fear of the unknown. Fears creates itself and prevents an individual from making the correct decisions for their survival. Fear is not only unknown, there are many kinds of fears many individuals have for example some fear their body weight, relationships, jobs and public appearance. Fear comes in many different types of forms; and every form has a different effect on someone. One can overcome fear by understand their fear and having hope that good will come. In every bad situation, the only way you can bring light in the darkness is by having
I use any excuse to walk along the ocean, especially alone and without my phone. The wind blew cold air, but the sun’s warm rays kept my body at a perfect temperature. It was three in the afternoon and I was calm.