Courtney Weber This Is What Gets Me

She holds on to tradition, cares for elders and brings the good out in others. These actions show how she is a symbol of hope, like the warrior of the past. Alexie uses Norma to help to defines what it means to be a warrior. Another instance where the warrior term is defined is in the story of “Jesus Christ’s half-brother is alive and well on the Spokane Indian Reservation”. Alexie draws connections between the Christian Jesus and this warrior type character. He uses the character James as a warrior and makes connections to Jesus. James is born innocent and grows to hopefully become the change the reservation is so desperately needing. The story is told through the view of Jimmy expressing how life is possible because of James. Jimmy tries to stop drinking: “Been in A.A. for a month because that was the only way to keep James with me” (124). James gives hope to Jimmy and a reason to continue living. These simple actions define James as a warrior. This further helps to define a warrior as someone who can make a difference regardless of the situation.

Since the day he was born, James had his strong and independent mother looking out for him. No matter what life brought on the

Shortly after becoming a faculty member, Jamison had an extreme manic depression episode that forced a colleague to confront her about and was able to convince her to seek help. Jamison is put into the position of the patient and going

In the essay, Williams commences to bring on immense emotions of fortitude and restraint. She pleaded these emotions when disclosing her personal experiences, proclaiming “I watched the women in my family die common, heroic deaths. We sat in waiting rooms hoping for good news, always

She also shared her dreams she was having after the event. This really brought the tone to a dark, gloomy type of feel. This helped readers grasp how traumatizing the event was. She knew

It was John’s bravery and her inner conflict and emotions which stressed and inspired her to pen down this incident in her book.

This is fueled by, not only the changing emotions that teenagers typically endure, but also by the death of his stepfather, whom he saw as his own father. After his death, James cannot bear to see his mother suffer, for she no longer knows how to control the dynamics of the family and "wandered in an emotional stupor for nearly a year." James instead turns to alcohol and drugs, dropping out of school to play music and go around with his friends, which James refers to as "my own process of running, emotionally disconnecting myself from her, as if by doing to I could keep her suffering from touching me." Instead of turning to his family and becoming "the king in the house, the oldest kid," James "spent as much time away from home as possible… absolve[ing] [himself] of all responsibility…" As a result, Ruth sends James to live with his older half sister and her husband, in an attempt to straighten her out her son's life. James distracts himself with the life he found there, spending the summers on a street corner with his half sister's husband, Big Richard, whom he adores, and the unique men that frequented the area. During these summers, James discovers "[He] could hide. No one knew [him]. No one knew [his] past, [his] white mother, [his] dead father, nothing. It was perfect. [His] problems seemed far, far away." Instead of facing the realities of loss and anger in his family, James seeks distractions

Though her family was her main source of strength, Klein had to find someone else to rely on when she lost them. Her childhood acquaintance, a girl called Ilse, filled that void in Klein life, and Klein did the same for her. Together they pushed each other through illness, back-breaking labor, and a 350 mile death march through freezing rain and snow. Klein and Ilse became more like sisters than best friends. Ilse last gift to Klein was a single, bruised raspberry for her birthday. Klein held Ilse as she lay dying on the freezing ground. Before she drew her last breath, Ilse begged Klein to o on for one more week romise me. (p 205) Exactly one week later, the war ended and Gerda Klein found herself a free woman.

The book begins talks about other conflicts that arose with James and Ruth. James took a downward spiral during his teenage years,

This is not the way it was suppose to turn out for them. When James found out the news, he pushed Katrina down on the floor and started choking her in disbelief and fear. So many questions were going through his mind. Dreams shattered after thinking that one day the woman he would spend the rest of his life with one day, will soon die of AIDS and he won’t be too far behind him. This gives James another reason to not trust people fully.

This book was the society’s version of a bible, and everybody cherished it deeply. Upon her treatment date, she grew more and more excited as it was essentially a rite of passage. The disease was possibly one of the worst things in the world in her opinion. This was until she experienced it herself. Despite

Even though the truth upsets her deeply she realizes it was best to face what she was always afraid of: “... I’ve known it for a long time but I always closed my eyes to it, blocked my ears… I’ll have to think them over on my own for a little while.” As her eyes open to the truth, so does her mind and her heart. From this point forward, she can begin to move on with her life and fully discover

Finally, the reader is introduced to the character around whom the story is centered, the accursed murderess, Mrs. Wright. She is depicted to be a person of great life and vitality in her younger years, yet her life as Mrs. Wright is portrayed as one of grim sameness, maintaining a humorless daily grind, devoid of life as one regards it in a normal social sense. Although it is clear to the reader that Mrs. Wright is indeed the culprit, she is portrayed sympathetically because of that very lack of normalcy in her daily routine. Where she was once a girl of fun and laughter, it is clear that over the years she has been forced into a reclusive shell by a marriage to a man who has been singularly oppressive. It is equally clear that she finally was brought to her personal breaking point, dealing with her situation in a manner that was at once final and yet inconclusive, depending on the outcome of the legal investigation. It is notable that regardless of the outcome, Mrs. Wright had finally realized a state of peace within herself, a state which had been denied her for the duration of her relationship with the deceased.

James is learning to be stronger. He wants to hug his mother and comfort her, and his teeth hurt him so bad he wants to cry. Octavia tells him that crying displays weakness. He knows that his teeth need to be seen by a dentist but he thinks about how they do not have that much money, and that is a sacrifice he will make. James is thinking about the family, and knows that money can go towards something else.

“The Way We Live Now” by Susan Sontag had a compelling writing style that gave off the impression that it was a gossip column. Sontag’s short story focuses on the conversations the unnamed central character’s friends have. This unnamed male has AIDS and his condition dictates these conversations. While getting treatment at a hospital, his friends visit and bring him gifts, such as flowers and chocolate. After a while, the doctor sends the unknown protagonist home; Quentin, one of his friends, moves into his house to take care of him until he can manage by himself. His friends engage in a conversation about his disease and his condition. Even though, the unnamed character started getting better, “The Way We Live Now” ends with him in the hospital