Beyond a doubt, suicide is the cowardly way out of a tough situation. For example in the novel Tears of a Tiger by Sharon Draper, Andy Jackson loses his good friend. Instead of using his grief to help others, he commits suicide.
nFirst of all, he could have used his experience with the accident to help others. Being on an accident like that would give survivors a whole new perspective on life and drinking and driving. With his new views on how dangerous and scary the consequences are, he could have possibly prevented similar accidents like this from happening. Rather than deciding to become something like an alcohol counselor, he is selfish and ends his life without any idea of how he could give insight to others.
Another alternative to ending his life so abruptly was he could have confided in his therapist. It is his therapists job to try and get Andy to open up and to try to release some grief. Although he shares some problems with his therapist, he could have tried to open up more about what he was truly feeling. In one of the their conversations, his therapist tells Andy, “seriously, Andy, I want you to call me at anytime if you need me, you hear?” (pg.47)This shows how his therapist truly cares about him but Andy never took up his offer until it was too late.
Lastly, Andy Jackson is the new captain of the basketball team and has a lot going for him. He should have used basketball as his outlet to release some anger and grief. By continuing to play basketball, he could have healed a little more or just used it to get away from reality for a bit. Instead, after the season ends Andy takes his own life.
Beyond a doubt, suicide is the cowardly way out of a tough situation. In the novel Tears of a Tiger by Sharon Draper, Andy Jackson could have used his grief to help others instead of committing suicide. His bad experiences could’ve allowed him to help others, he could’ve confided in his therapist or continue his life and get a basketball scholarship.
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