Analysis Of ' Seconds ' By Bryan O ' Malley

Burke illustrates Tom’s inner conflict with first-person narration. The guilt he feels over the inactivity he had on the night of the incident, his frustration with Kylie and the added guilt he exhibits because he feels sorry for himself all adds up to his conflicted thoughts. Tom doesn’t know or feel like himself anymore. But Burke brings this to the attention of the reader in a good light when Tom thinks, “But now I knew what I missed most. I missed me, Tom Brennan, and that’s why now I could smile, ‘cause I could see he was coming back.” Thus, when J.C. Burke aptly finishes the book with the line “that was the morning Tom Brennan came back, forever,” the true development in Tom’s character and conflict is shown through the employment of first-person narration. Therefore, J.C. Burke thoroughly addressed the conflict in Tom’s mind as it was overcome in the

In closing, I would like to address something that I believe negatively affects a lot of friendships, specifically between women. There seems to be an atmosphere of cattiness, competition, and backstabbing that is prevalent in female friendships. This kind of behavior is portrayed heavily in the media and seen as normal behavior. Even though we have experienced this in other friendships, Cindy and I have always avoided these pitfalls with each other. It is not in either of our nature, and it is something we do not want to perpetrate. Although this behavior is competitive, ultimately no one wins. It is much more productive to be a good friend and surround yourself with people who want the same. In doing this, Cindy and I

For this book analysis, I read the book A Piece of Cake by Cupcake brown. It is a memoir told by Cupcake about her life. She starts the book at age 11, when she was living a normal and pleasant life with her mother in San Diego. She was quite close to her along with her step father (who, at the time, she thought was her biological father), and her uncle. Then out of nowhere, she finds her mother dead in her room and her life is shaken into disaster. The court system had to turn both her and her brother over to her biological father whom she never met, instead of giving her to the man she was raised by. Her father then sent her to a foster home where she was raped and beaten constantly. When she

In Richard Rodriguez, "Days of Obligation he is comparing and contrasting Mexico and California and how they are similar and different to each other. Richard distinguishes the two by explaining how California was compared to comedy while Mexico has seen tragedy. He then writes about how he as a Mexican who lived in California saw a huge difference in culture, religion and in how American valued life. Rodriguez compares how even though they believed in different religions they still all believed in god. Richard Rodriguez use of comparing and contrasting Mexico and California gives us insight to how they both lived a different lifestyle.

“At night I’d go home smelling of pig. It wouldn’t go away. Even after a hot bath, scrubbing hard, the stink was always there – like old bacon, or sausage, a greasy pig-stink that soaked deep into my skin and hair. Among other things, I remember, it was tough getting dates that summer. I felt isolated; I spent a lot of time alone.” (O’Brien, 41).

Firstly, Kate is noticeably affected almost immediately after the death of her mother and father. We see this by her descriptive quotes about how she was feeling and the observations she made about others in her life. Some instances include “I remember being rigid with fear, not daring to look at him” (19), “it was like being at the bottom of the sea” (53), and “...there was a whirlwind howling through me” (54). These quotes represent how Kate felt overwhelmed by unmanageable emotions; she felt almost numb and empty. She even ends up cutting her finger just to feel something and it hardly hurt at all. This is a confused, traumatized little girl. Next, Kate is affected by the basic principles her parents taught. The simple memory of her parents provoked thought of the Presbyterian Commandments they would follow. These principles shape who she is and represent a background where people do not talk about problems or share emotions. “No, you swallow your feelings, force them down inside yourself, where they feed and grow and swell and expand until you explode, unforgivably, to the utter bewilderment of whomever it was who upset you” (36). Lastly, the trauma she has endured has made her scared. Scared of sharing feelings, scared of commitment, scared of loving someone. Daniel, Kate’s boyfriend, feels he is in the dark when it comes to Kate’s past and her emotions. This is because Kate is simply scared to love him. She proves this and it’s connection to her past by saying, “people I love and need have a habit of disappearing from my life” (89). The death of her parents has definitely shaped who she is but some may say, it helped her show resilience and strength to embrace her past and move

Religion is a big influence in Flannery O 'Connor 's writing. “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” stresses the idea of good and evil. This can also be viewed at the evil in Christ. The story is set in the early 1900s. “The Life You Save May Be Your Own” begins with a woman and her disabled daughter sitting on their porch and she notices a man walking towards their home. The man, Mr. Shiftlet, sees an old car that he wants. The old woman, Lucynell, is also craving something and takes the opportunity to achieve it. By her use of symbols, imagery, and irony, she reveals that there is corruption within Christ.

The novel translates our problems into real life by showing us how people can, without knowing it, emotionally abuse others because of their lack of knowledge or decisions they have made. The main character Kate, in her adulthood, sees Matt (her older brother) as an unhappy man - because he was unable to follow through with his university dreams. Kate, later attends university expanding her knowledge past that of her brother Matt’s making her feel as if she cannot speak to him in the same way that she used to. At one point in her adulthood Kate said “He was waiting for me to go on, to describe my work to him, but I could not bring myself to do that” (Lawson 275). This connects with the subject matter of emotional abuse because Kate is hurting her older brother Matt. She does not realize that he wants to speak with her and have a relationship with her - she feels that because of her university education she cannot interact with him any more. In the real world many people face emotional abuse. People are ostracized for many reasons including level of intellect or the decisions they have made. Family members and close friends have changed their loved one’s lives because of their opinions on them. In the article Nature vs. Nurture: Mental Illness Triggered By Life Events And Not Through Genetics it is stated that “despite the fact that genetics can potentially influence the individual's mental health, traumatic events are still considered as the most influential factor”. The traumatic event of their parent’s dying resulted in Matt making bad decisions and then later not going university as a result. This caused the greatest tragedy in the novel; the loss of the relationship between Kate and Matt. Kate began to speak less with Matt and when she came to visit him he suffered from anxiety, lack of sleep, etc.. Kate stopped talking to Matt even though

What is your goal in life? No matter how small, everyone has a goal or dream. In the book Eleven Seconds by Travis Roy the main character Travis had a dream of playing division 1 hockey. He had that dream every since he stepped foot in a rink. When he finally achieved his dream, be fell head first into the boards within 11 seconds of the first period.

Firstly, Tom, the main protagonist of this story is affected the this accident socially. This means that because of this tragedy, Tom finds it hard to bond with people who know about it. This is shown when Tom is reluctant to allow the people of Coghill to know about the accident and hates her sister when she tells them. Tom makes a fuss about “Kylie [having] a bit a story to tell.” He feels that “she had no fucking right” because he feared that the people of Coghill will tell the “Brennans [to] go home.” This is also shown when Tom hesitates to see Fin at times. Tom feels guilt for

“Easing My Heart Inside” is a personal essay written by Terry McMillan on how she eventually became a writer without having a “conscious decision.” In her essay, she mentions the events, authors and their books that made the person who she is now. The focus McMillan is trying underlay to the readers is that simply, “shit just happens.” She points out how people’s experiences and hobbies could eventually lead them to have an unexpected career. When McMillan was in High School she got a job shelving books at her local library. This was the beginning of her “travels” with the authors she met while reading. While in her exploration she met people with similarities to her. They were Amelia Earhart, Robert Frost, John Steinbeck and with James

In Jeannette Walls’ novel Half Broke Horses, Lily Casey was always willing to sacrifice everything to defend her principles and the rights of others. Even from childhood, Lily’s parents assisted in developing her strong morals, her family having a huge influence on her moral convictions. They directed her in the right direction, teaching her about wrong and right. Lily had to realize from a young age that people in the world can be very cruel. The children in the town used to follow her father around and make fun of him because of his disabilities and although he never showed that it bothered him, Lily could tell it was hurting him.

Her journey of self growth is largely based on the fact that Lily feels that she has committed a terrible sin that has left her unlovable. Forgiving herself for her own mistakes is the most difficult obstacle Lily has overcome. Despite the great difficulty, the love and support that is given to her, as well as the lesson she had learned in forgiving her mother were essential to Lily’s ultimate forgiveness--“I have forgiven us both, although sometimes in the night my dreams will take me back to the sadness, and I have to wake up and forgive us again.” (Kidd

A woman without parental guidance can be disrespectful to people that she interacts with on a daily basics. This is another aspect that goes into being a bad friend. In “Seconds” the graphic novel by Bryan Lee O’Malley shows a disrespectful side to Katie when she says “and what do we have her? Oh. It’s garbage”(32), when she is overlooking what Andrew has prepared. When Katie insults Chef Andrew’s cooking he gets very angry with her, and begins to yell at her in the middle of the kitchen. O’Malley also shows Andrews anger by turning his face red and having smoke coming out of his head. Even though Andrew and Katie were is in relationship shortly after Katie this argument Andrew broke it off with Katie. When woman is insulting to her so call friends, it

However I feel that Brian and Sara forgot to focus on what could be better for Anna when the time came for her to live her own life. At first Anna was experiencing psychological altruism which sometimes motivated her to put Kate’s interests ahead of her own. As Anna grew older she realized that the donations were at her own expense and she wanted to be free. Everyone, including children has the right to act in one’s own best interest. Therefore if Anna felt that she was not living to her best ability because of her connection with Kate then this egoism should be respected. This contrasts her mother, Sara’s psychological egoism, because she was acting in her own interests to save Kate. In this case, what Sara finds acceptable for Anna is negligent against Anna’s autonomy.