Realization Actualization

Last week I finished Paper Towns by John Green. In Paper Towns, Quentin and his group of friends try to find their friend Margo Roth Spiegleman after she leaves their town of Orlando, Florida leaving behind a series of clues in poems. *Spoilers*, they find her at the end of the book.

Paper Towns is a good example of a coming of age book, though only the first part. When Margo and Quentin were little they found a man dead in the park. Not long after this scene is a jump in time where Margo and Quentin are now older and go on a night long excursion to take revenge on the people in Margo's life who have hurt her. When reading this, I saw immediately how Margo had changed from the beginning of the book in her state of innocence to her new, matured self. I saw Margo's immediate thrust into realization turn her into a much more adult like character. I think Margo's coming of age was much more noticeable, and therefore seemed much more drastic versus Quentin who became an adult much quieter. Quentin throughout the entire book has been much quieter and more reserved in contrast to Margo, who grew up much faster and louder, versus Quentin who didn't have a major personality change or a sudden realization like Margo did when they stumbled upon the dead man in the park (who's name I forgot since I don't have the book with me anymore). I think Margo felt like the world was a mean place where people die which explains her massive one night revenge strike on all of the people at school who had hurt her. I think after Margo's realization, all of her accumulated anger towards the world and its cruelty built up until her and Quentin went out all night seeking revenge. I think the realization that people can really die started the accumulation of anger inside of Margo and over time this could only build if not vented, and all of Margo's anger was vented in one long night with Quentin. Quentin though didn't change externally. Quentin became different in his thoughts, and even though throughout the book I was unable to tell what Quentin was thinking, by seeing how he responded to Margo's actions and what he thought about her revenge. I think Quentin knew too that the world can be a bad place, but learned to accept it. Quentin went from action, and loving the world, to apathy, just accepting the world for what it is, whereas margo went from apathy, and just being a kid, to taking action against those she believed had wronged her.

I think that in the real world, people change, like Margo and Quentin. A lot the kids at 51 who went to my elementary school have changed since 5th grade and we aren't really friends any more. I think a lot of these friendships aren't still active not because we've grown up, but just from natural personality changes and the new opinions about life that people discover as they grow up. In Paper Towns, the realizations that Margo and Quentin have initially change their personalities and bring them together, though later Margo's personality takes her away from Quentin, who's personality brings him back to Margo.

Revenge

I'm reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Liesel and her foster dad, Hans, are at a parade of Jews that are being marched to Dachau to a concentration camp. Hans sees one man who comes up to him and Hans gives him a piece of bread. This is followed by Hans being beaten in the street along with the man, and a lot of dirty looks in the days following.

I think that Hans felt that he had to give him the bread. Hans has this view of Germany and how the Nazis have destroyed his homeland that he feels the need to help the ones who are being hurt by the ones who are hurting him; the Nazis. Hans only wants to good, which is a reoccurring theme in the book. Hans starts off by adopting two children, (Liesel's brother dies on the train heading to Molching), and then goes on to adopt a Jew, Max. Hans works extra hard to ensure that Max can be fed the little that they are able to give him, and to ensure that he can stay in the basement and write and paint. Hans goes out of his way to protect Max and worries not only about himself being killed for hiding Max, but what would happen to Max if he were to be found.

Hans is completely selfless and wants to even bring him along when the bomb raids begin, though he knows that he would certainly be killed.
' "It's a shame we can't take you with us. It's a disgrace."
"It's how it is." ' - Page 372
This quote just further proves Hans' selflessness, and love for all. Hans wants to bring Max to the Fiedler's basement to protect him from the possibility of radiation from the bombs in their basement. If Himmel street was bombed, and everything was destroyed, even possibly everyone in the Fiedler's basement, no matter how deep it is, all Hans is concerned about is if Max will be alright in their not as deep basement six doors down.

When the bombs do inevitably come, and the ash washes over everything, Hans wants to go out and help.
'At home, Pap told Max all about it. "There's fog and ash--I think they let us out too early." He looked to Rosa. "Should I go out? To see if they need help where the bombs dropped?" ' - Page 383
Hans again, is willing to risk his health to go out and save people from the ash, and risk getting something like Lung cancer, just because there's a possibility that someone needs help.

Hans is a perfect role model of someone who just cares and loves too much to a point where he can be stupid, and has to be told by others (Rosa, his wife) to stop.

Ed is the Hope

I'm almost done reading I am The Messenger by Marcus Zusak. The protagonist, Ed Kennedy, is a 19 year old cabdriver, who gets playing cards (specifically aces) in the mail giving him missions, through riddles. It becomes very clear that all of these missions are to make people happy, or make their lives better.

I think that Ed is the symbol of hope, because everything he does makes families and people so happy, and give them hope and faith in other people and humanity. Ed starts off by not caring about anyone or anything, being perfectly happy with his life as terrible as it was. After the first ace Ed doesn't care at all, I think that was because he just didn't want to do anything or have to care about someone else. The first ace forced him to see the social injustices in his world, and made him aware of what other people have to deal with on a daily basis. He sees a woman repeatedly raped, a lonely old woman, and a girl named Sophie trying to achieve her dreams facing poverty. I think he helped the old woman because he felt bad from his own family issues with his mother that he just wanted to help, and after feeling like he had a really caring mother, found he had actually made a difference to the woman, Milla. I think after this Ed felt like he might be worth something. Sophie wanted to be an athlete, specifically in track and field, and Ed saw that she thought she wasn't good enough because of her junky running shoes, so he gave her an empty box, after seeing her run barefoot in the morning. I thought this was such a great gift, because he knew that she really didn't need fancy expensive shoes to make her a great athlete, and this made me really happy seeing Ed make an actual difference in Sophie's life, even after she doesn't win the race while barefoot. When Ed finally returns to the abusive husband and almost kills him, he realizes that he isn't some prophet, or some great man going out to save humanity and bring hope. He think he's just as worthless again, and I really disagreed with him. I thought that Ed was really noble, after letting the man live, but scaring him out of the town. After the first ace I really saw Ed grow as a character, into what I saw as a symbol of hope. He was finally seeing his purpose, though he kept on driving his cab, and took this as a great opportunity to go ahead and take action against the social injustices he was seeing in the world around him.

In my life, to make a positive change, I've done charity work. My friend Akash started a charity called Kids For a Better Future several years ago, and I've repeatedly volunteered for that over and over. Last year we sponsored Seeds of Peace, which helps children living in the Middle East. Through fundraising I was not given an actual mission or an actual problem, but I was given the problems in the Middle East, and by fundraising, raised several thousand dollars for Seeds of Peace, and gave a little push towards helping resolve those conflicts, without having a specific direct conflict to resolve, but just to spread hope and make little things better like Ed did.

http://www.seedsofpeace.org

Shouldn't They Be Sad?

In Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles, two children living in the south adventure through town on a summer day as civil rights begin to stir and change everything. I noticed that this inequality of race doesn't really make anyone sad which confused me.

John Henry isn't allowed in the general store. He doesn't seem to mind standing outside while Joe goes in to get Ice Pops for them. I wonder if because life has always been like this for John Henry and his family that he doesn't think of life any other way. He doesn't want to stand up for his rights, and he doesn't want to make a big scene trying to change everything. He's fine with Joe going into the store and he doesn't get upset over it. Joe doesn't think much of his friend having to stand outside, it's almost tradition. Later on when Joe and John Henry see the pool as it closes, John Henry makes a transition from apathy to action, as he later goes in the general store with Joe to show that he isn't afraid, and won't have his opportunities denied because of his race.

I think that John Henry doesn't care at the beginning of the book because he doesn't realize how unfair segregation is. If he was an adult wandering through the town on his own he would see how intense the segregation was and how unfair it really was. I'm sure John Henry's mother tells him some things about how it isn't fair for them but I'm sure he doesn't know a lot of things and because of this he isn't so frustrated by this until the pool closes. The pool closing is an emotional climax for John Henry because he really wanted to swim in the pool and forget about the unfairness in the south and be just like Joe. He wanted to do everything Joe could do, with Joe, but because of the racial segregation John Henry cannot, and is upset by this. I think John Henry wants revenge, in a mild way. He wants to stand up for his rights and get revenge by swimming in that pool or going into the general store with Joe. When the pool closes, John Henry obviously can't swim in it now and I felt like that motivated him to go into the general store.

I've not been allowed to do certain things but not because of race, only because of age. For example, I can't drive. This is nowhere near not being able to swim in a pool or go into a store but it's something that eventually I can do. John Henry would not be able to one day swim in that pool. John Henry wouldn't just be able to go into the general store one day. This is his life and how it will always be whereas I, as I grow older, will have even more opportunities.