In his spoken word "Complainers," Rudy Fransico uses jarring survivor accounts to frame his audiences' perspective and to make the distinction between inconvenience and tragedy. He wastes no time in reminding his listeners that life is by no means easy and that it could always be worse; if you should be so lucky to find yourself with a glass "half empty" or "half full," to stop complaining and allow yourself to be strengthened by your hardships. What I can infer about Rudy from the context of his poem and from the passion in which he delivered it, is that he has a spirit of persistence and an unwavering strength to forego the lure of one's own pity party. He is poised with much ferocity and has a stony attitude that reflects his petulance for…
The play ‘The Shoe-Horn Sonata’ composed by John Misto, is primarily focused on the incarceration of women and children in P.O.W (Prisoner Of War) camps located in the jungles of Japan in World War Two, rather than the most common factors of the male soldier wartime stories and other masculine hardships dealt with at the time. As the play unfolds Misto presents the audience with various theatrical components to convey the relationship of two women being interviewed to reminisce about their experience in captivity during the war. The composer also exposes Bridie and Sheila’s inner conflict within themselves due to 50years worth of built up tension, the absences in each other’s lives and unresolved issues which later leads them to the process of implementing harmony back into their friendship.…
The story takes place in Gorazde, a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where political tension is rising and a war is clearly escalating. Fearing the worst, Slovenia and Croatia declare independence from Yugoslavia, while Bosnian Serbs are quickly trying to organize their armed forces. All this turmoil at home causes Edin, the main character and a graduate student who was studying engineering in Sarajevo, to return to his homeland in order to protect his family. Days before the beginning of the war, the tension between Bosniaks and Serbs is clear as they segregate each other around several parts of the city. In 1992, the first attack is made on Gorazde, in which people are raped, cruelly massacred and left homeless. Despite this, residents of the area manage to take back Gorazde even though they are living without the basic…
Half of the prose demonstrate raw pain, and the other half are devoid of emotion. By living through those awesome moments the author lost something of himself in those ten years. With each passing horrible event he quiets, soon the reader too finds himself becoming numb. One must be very wary as his message becomes muddled! Thomas L. Friedman wrote this historical diary of his memories to preserve the importance of the real life rather than just the politics of it, yet his pain in his biography leave a profound effect that dulls the pain with each additional account of violence. This leaves the novel light, and superficial. Further, it leaves the readers with feeling they watched a 6 hour news broadcast, resulting in feeling that they can’t care anymore, like the Beirutis, the readers must protect themselves, drown out the pain, and move…
Stephen Kumalo’s compassion for the people of his village allows him to overcome his fears of their judgement. After all that had occurred in Johannesburg Kumalo feared going to and remaining in the village of Ndotsheni with his even more broken family. For he had a son that was to be put to death for his crime, a sister that was ready to come home to Ndotsheni with him but when it was the day of the departure, was nowhere to be found. In addition to his now motherless nephew and his pregnant daughter-in-law. For Kumalo had much fear of what the people in his village would say of and about him for, “many people know him, and he is afraid of their questions” (p.254). However, Kumalo had compassion for the people of his suffering village and…
Throughout People of the Book, it is evident that the Sarajevo Haggadah touches the lives of many of the characters who interact with it. The prayer book possesses a rich history from traveling through many time periods and to many destinations. Character growth is emphasized regardless of the setting through interactions with the Haggadah. In the chapter named “Wine Stains”, the reader is introduced to a drunken and short-tempered priest named Giovanni Domenico Vistorini who is incharge of filtering Jewish books that do not agree with Catholic ideals.…
My prediction for the novel, The Cellist of Sarajevo, is that the novel is going to be out the siege in Sarajevo. It’s also going to be out a survival story for different kinds of characters in the novel. For example, on the inside flap of the novel, it said that a character in the story name Arrow, who is a counter sniper in the novel tries to protect the cellist from danger. The cellist had to stay in front of a bakery store, where a bomb killed twenty two people to play some tunes in memory of them.…
When faced with a difficult situation, a person usually does one of two things: gives up or shows strength and fights through it. In Farewell To Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, the author recounts her story of her experience in Manzanar, a Japanese internment camp in California, during World War II. In The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez, the author recalls his journey as a migrant child in the 40’s in California, as his family struggles through all kinds of labor camps. Both Francisco and Jeanne show resilience in the difficult situations they face; however, Jeanne shows defiance towards her father, while Francisco is always sweet and kind. Ultimately, neither character has a lot of control over their fates,…
Big or small, conflict arises on all social levels in society. Whether conflict comes from within a person or comprises of two or more opposing forces, the way in which we react to conflict greatly reflects our personal qualities. Although the diversity of conflict varies, we are always with hope, even in the most adverse situations. Paradise road highlights the significant responses of Adrienne and Margaret, reflecting incredible fortitude and bravery to keep hope alive. The loyal nature of Oskar Schindler enables over 1200 Jew’s to fight survival, and the burning desire of Nicky Winmar demonstrating hope despite heavy discrimination are examples clarifying that regardless how adverse the situation, hope is always alive.…
Mariatu's story of life as an 11 year old child in Sierra Leone with a loving family is shattered immediately with the arrival of the civil war that brings rebels into villages to search and destroy. The rebels are as young as Mariatu, and they have guns, machetes, stones and boards for beating, killing, and maiming all of the people in a village. Mariatu is forced to watch 20 people, many she knows, be herded into a hut and then the hut is set on fire. Mariatu is then one of many that day who has her hands chopped off and then set free to show the President of Sierra Leone what the rebels are doing. Mariatu didn't even know what a president was. Mariatu goes on to tell what happens afterward, how she meets up with kind people, and also reunites with other family members who have also had their hands removed. She has journalists interview her and as her story spreads, Mariatu comes to England and Toronto to become educated and help her family back in Sierra Leone. This memoir is a testament to one girl's courage in spite of adversity…
“Conflicts” among characters in Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home” helps the reader to understand the main character’s feelings and physical conditions - depression. The story starts with two different pictures showing Krebs before and after joining the army. The author stages the story of Krebs’s inner conflict to the relationship with his family. Indeed, the author leaves a lot of doubts that make the reader believe Krebs had pain of heart broken while in the war. The author does not directly describe the cruelty of war that Krebs experienced; however, through the conflicts among the characters in the story, readers can assume how the post young soldiers had suffered in the war and understand their trauma by the aftermath.…
Given that young people today are constantly bombarded with images and reports from the media of the horrific things going on in the world, it is oftentimes helpful to them to be able to put things into a context with which they can identify. By reading an account of a child like themselves and seeing through her eyes how these unimaginable horrors affect her so directly and so terribly, it makes the realities of war more real to them than any far-away news broadcast ever could. On the flip side of the coin, however, this book is not for every 9 to 13-year-old reader, and adults should take care to know the children to whom they recommend this book. Sensitive youngsters would undoubtedly find the graphic depictions of both the bandits…
Self-sacrifice is an action that everyone must go through sometime throughout their life. Its an action that develops who an individual is. In Steven Galloway’s book, The cellist of sarajevo, individuals are faced with self-sacrifice numerous times. The novel takes place in sarajevo during the war and has split perspectives between Kenan, Dragan, the Cellist, and Arrow. These three characters are representing differents parts of life in Sarajevo. Kenan is trying to provide for the family even when it means going out into the horror filled streets. Dragan is trying to live life normally and continue his job at the bakery amidst the terror. The cellist throughout the book inspires hope to anyone who comes to hear him, He plays for the individuals…
“We, as human beings, must be willing to accept people who are different from ourselves” once said Barbara Jordan, an important leader in the civil rights movement. The stories “Two Friends” and “Cranes” show how this quote applies in difficult scenarios. The story “Two Friends”, written by Guy de Maupassant, is focused around two friends from Paris who cross enemy lines during the French-Prussian War to go fishing, which results in both of their deaths. The story “Cranes”, written by Hwang Sunwon, is centered around a man named Songsam during the Korean War who struggles with deciding to let his childhood friend, Tokchae, go free after being captured. These two stories can be compared but also contrasted.…
War is cruel and war is kind. One one hand, lives are ended pointlessly and cruel regimes have no mercy; but on the other, there is an odd sort of kindness, contrary to the cruelty that war can bring, people putting themselves in danger selflessly and the war itself brings about these sudden and extreme acts of generosity. Albert’s struggle to find his horse Joey in the trenches of World War I and Liesel’s hardship as she understands and use literature to combat the issues in the world in World War II show that some people can still be kind in the cruelty of war. These are stories that are set in wars that show the relentless cruelty people, and at the same time, the heartfelt kindness of people.…