A Life Worth Living In Jojo Moyes's After You

Throughout the book there are many references to Lou’s state of mind. At the beginning of the book Lou introduced the fact that her boyfriend, Fred, had recently passed away due to a cycling accident. This effected Lou in a way which made her a quiet and withdrawn character, it was clear that it was difficult for Lou to cope at the outdoor education camp as her close friends were overseas at the time of when she was grieving. Lou visited a psychiatrist, Esther, to help with her grieving process; she encouraged her to write in a journal to express her emotions, feelings and thoughts (page 7). This is evidenced throughout the book as all of Lou’s chapters are in the form of a journal entry. It is clear that the suggestion of Lou writing in a journal really helped as towards the end she developed friendships with Sibylla and Michael which allowed her to overcome her depression and

Amy Lyles Wilson father’s passed away and left her mom widowed. Her mom now had to deal with not only grief but learning to do many things that she had never done before. She was a fast learner so learning how to do things she’s never done before wasn’t hard, it just took courage. For example, pump her own gas or any car mechanics but even throughout the obstacles that her mom had been challenged with after her dad passed away she learned that always, and she means always, you keep going.

Lets say Brently had died that day what was Louise going to do? Its not like she can get a job and take care of her self and theirs two reasons why. One! She was a woman and they didn’t have any rights in those times. Black men were able to vote first than white women. That tells you a lot of how things were back then. The second reason is Louise had a heart condition and one had to be very careful with her. So I guessing she couldn’t do any hard labor or be stress. That’s why I don’t understand her. It might because I am male and I cant really see it from a female point of view. Maybe that’s why I can’t really see why Louise is full of joy because of her husband death. Also another thing I wonder was if she had heart attack because she was happy or sad that Brently was alive? I also wonder if Kate wrote this because she was going through personally?

She was not happy in the state that she was in and not feeling safe where she was living. She sought out her family an friends to help her get through this. Wes quotes in the book ,” And finally, I want to show them that I wasn’t alone as I thought I was, and that maybe they are not alone either”(Moore 4).Over time she met a great husband and had loving children. Her kids got opportunities she always hoped they would. Without her hope that time would fix almost all problems, not of this would have

There was one moment in the book where she had to make probably one of the most difficult choices in her life, yet she did not hesitate to make that choice. Jeannette’s older sister, Lori, always wanted to move to New York to escape her delusional parents. However, she did not have enough money to pay for a bus ticket, wiping out any hope that she had. " ‘I'll never get out of here,’ Lori kept saying. ‘I'll never get out of here.’ ‘You will,’ I said. ‘I swear it.’ I believed she would. Because I knew that if Lori never got out of Welch, neither would I.” Then one day, Jeannette was offered $200 and a bus ticket back to Welch to take care of a woman’s two toddlers in Iowa for the summer. Instead, she insisted that the woman, Mrs. Sanders, should take Lori and her payment be a “bus ticket to New York City.” The fact that Jeannette easily made the decision of sacrificing her ticket for Lori amazes me; she knew how important the trip the New York was for her, so she wanted to make that dream happen. When Lori left, Jeannette still did not give up on her dream to go to New York and become a journalist. She joined just about “every extracurricular event at the school” to gain the attention of colleges, particularly in New York. The motivation that can be found in this is that you cannot give up on your ambitions

She is quickly promoted to floor manager, which boosts her confidence and makes her more comfortable telling people what to do. Even Taylor notices Lou Ann’s new found self assurance and sees she has stopped cutting her hair and insulting herself as much. She described the job as “smoothing out Lou Ann’s edges.” Lou Ann seems to become less neurotic about safety. She tells Taylor, “You can’t promise a kid that nothing will hurt them. All you can promise is that you’ll take care of them the best you can, Lord willing and the creeks don’t rise, you just hope for the best.” Lou Ann also begins to stand up to others, yelling at Taylor for abandoning Turtle and encouraging her to fight back and not give up hope. When Taylor thinks she is going to lose Turtle, Lou Ann encourages her to take action and “do something stupid.” If this had happened in the beginning of the book, Lou Ann would have just accepted it and said there was no other way around it. Despite the fact Lou Ann originally wanted Angel back, in the end she decides to divorce him. After speaking to Angel’s mother she realizes that it was not her fault he left her and that he “always wants what he can’t have.” Lou Ann begins to date a man she claims, “Six months ago would’ve scared the living daylights out of me just to have to walk by him on the

On her short home visit she was able to see the different between her formal life and her new life. She was struggling to pay rent because her jobs didn’t pay her enough. In previous life she was only concern about writing and she did have to worry about rent money or finding a job.

Lou Ann’s parents also seemed to depend on her a lot. They depended on her to help them when they didn’t understand. Since a lot of people don’t know ASL she was there to help. I think her parents depending on her all the time also had a toll on Lou Ann. She knew she always had to be there to help them with simple things. I think part of her did not want to have the responsibility. I think she just wanted to be a kid most of the time but felt obligated to help her parents, since she had something they didn’t have. Lou Ann states “from a very early age I ordered for Mom and Dad in restaurants and explained what they wanted to clerks. When I was about eight they began giving me their letters so that I could correct the grammar.” (21) She lied helping her parents out with the day to day task they could not do,

The novel “The Bean Trees” follows the lives of Taylor Greer, and her housemate Lou Ann Ruiz as they struggle with the challenges of single motherhood and the search for their identity and place in the world. In contrast to Taylor’s boldness and confidence is Lou Ann’s timidness, skepticism, and low self-esteem. At the beginning of the novel, Lou Ann has no confidence in herself or her abilities to get along without her husband Angel, or be a good mother. But when Taylor and Turtle move in with Lou Ann and her son Dwayne Ray, Lou Ann slowly begins to regain her self-esteem and independence as she and Taylor come to rely on, encourage, and effectively support each other through their similar upbringing and shared experiences. Although she doesn’t

It is even crazier when one can love that special person even more, after they pass away. Nonetheless, that is not what it is called true love. The truest love of all is the one that remains the same by death, the one that is left unchanged. The narrator devoted his whole life to his woman, even in death. That is true love, when it is certain that there is love and it is a realization that both lovers could never live without each other. This goes hand in hand with the narrator, as he finds it difficult and almost impossible to part with the love of his life. He believes that without her, he finds no purpose in life. She does pass away, but that doesn’t stop him from being with her one bit. Death is the ultimate barrier, in this poem.

“I realize now that dying is easy, living is hard” (Forman 175). This quote is so much more than just words; it represents a choice, Mia’s choice between life and death. Stuck outside her lifeless body, Mia is presented with the choice of staying and living with what she has left on this earth, or leaving and joining her deceased family. With her loved ones watching over her, Mia reminisces about her life and the possibilities of her future, as she is faced with this powerful decision. In the end, Mia decides she has so much more reasons to stay, than leave.

She lost another love by the name of Oluf, could not find much work, and lost hard-earned money through a bad business investment. After all this peril she took Russell and Doris and moved to Baltimore. Another move equaled more stress, less money, and more struggling to get by. With what seemed to be the world against her, she made it. She remarried, bought a house, and became the success she demanded of herself. Every step of the way Russell was exposed to all the ups and downs. His mother’s life during those times shaped and influenced his own.

The beginning of the story sets the theme for the whole story. We are told about the heart condition that inflicts Louise. This is significant throughout the story. The heart condition is a symbolic way of describing her thoughts of oppression she felt about her marriage. She was trapped and isolated by the marriage. She felt the need to hide these feelings. Women of her era were supposed to be home and under their husbands command. The story has her going through this journey privately. That is significant in the fact that now in her husband’s passing, she will be alone. She will need to work through things by herself. She will be able to go through the whole process on her own, without being judged and persuaded to feel differently.

By the repetition of the words as a reader we come to understand the meaning behind the story and how Louise actually felt towards her husband. The theme of the story is mainly the forbidden joy of independence. Due to that the story was written years ago where women were very dependent to their husbands Louise actual feelings of joy and happiness towards her husband death was forbidden by society during this

As the novel progresses, the two major themes of love altering one’s soul and misfortune being