Dunstan Ramsey: A Childhood Conflicted, a Life Unlived Essay

Experiencing further unstable environments, these children are forced to move from one foster home to another. They rarely develop meaningful relationships and constantly endure lack of care and protection by adults. Sabreen, another gifted student, was able to excel in school despite her unstable environments. She, too, became a ward of the county battling to find a stable home, constantly being placed in unstable environments, environments that do not encourage any achievement. When her situation becomes untenable, she goes AWOL, like Olivia, refusing to return to county supervision. Corwin masterfully frames the problem that wards, like Olivia and Sabreen, face when they feel that going back into the system is not an option. The additional struggles can be seen through Olivia and Sabreen accepting jobs with long hours in order to make enough to pay their bills. The responsibility on taking care of themselves financially detracts from their studies, which quickly can become a vicious, never-ending cycle.

This novel is a suitable text for a stage 4 class as it addresses a relevant and multicultural issue that students are able to relate to. It is an Australian novel that addresses two cross-curriculum priorities that are set out by the New South Wales Board of Studies (2012):

Not only does this children's book emphasize how quick individuals are to judge without any previous knowledge, but it also incorporates an ideology that is frequently disregarded: being open minded. At first, Dyamonde simply establishes that the new boy, Reed, is a “rude boy.” Without even knowing Reed, she makes this assertion based on his behavior; however, this portrays close mindedness. Instead of merely judging an individual based upon a first impression or their unconscious behavior, it is crucial to assimilate more information about the person prior to putting a label on them. However, as the story progressed and Dyamonde became more open minded, she realized that Reed was solely distraught and upset by his big move from Detroit. In fact, she discovered that she and Reed had much in common, in terms of their loneliness. Both children lost their best friends in the process of their move. Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel enhances the importance of being mindful in all situations, despite any preconceived judgments.

A challenge that Jamie has to face and overcome is when he tries to have some sense of belonging to the community of Port Barren. Archie, his guardian throughout the novel, tells him his version of a dreamtime story called ‘The wanderers and the lost ones’. This story challenges Jamie to think whether he is lost or a wanderer. This makes him feel responsible for finding out who is disturbing the balance and it is up to him to try and restore it. This is shown to the reader when Jamie thinks, “It was weird, no beginning, no middle, no end, no plot. And yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something important behind the strange words. He pondered it but couldn’t make anything of it” [page 126]. The story makes Jamie wonder who he is and how he belongs in the community. This challenges him to think more about himself and what he needs to do to change and become a better person. This also made him change the way he thought about himself, it made him to thrive to do the best he can.

Powder, a short story written by Tobias Wolff, is about a boy and his father on a Christmas Eve outing. As the story unfolds, it appears to run deeper than only a story about a boy and his father on a simple adventure in the snow. It is an account of a boy and his father’s relationship, or maybe the lack of one. Powder is narrated by a grown-up version of the boy. In this tale, the roles of the boy and his father emerge completely opposite than what they are supposed to be but may prove to be entirely different from the reader’s first observation.

| This is how he starts out the book and it is in a way introducing you to one of the worst childhoods that you can have. It also shows you that you can go beyond your childhood and become something or do something with your life. I think it is kind of weird that one of the worst childhood to have is Irish because that would not have been the first one on my list.

Throughout centuries, humans have expressed different perspectives toward a single idea. The subject of religion invites challenging discussions from skeptical minds because religion is diversely interpreted based on personal faith. The authoress sets her novel in a fictional town, Cold Sassy, where religion plays a predominant role in people’s lives. Through Will Tweedy’s narration she explores the religious opinions of the town’s most prominent citizen Rucker Blakeslee, Will’s grandpa. Although Blakeslee spent his whole life in a religiously conservative town, he has a radical approach toward religious concepts such as predestination, suicide, funerals, faith, and God’s will, thus forcing him to challenge the traditional views of

	While Dunstan Ramsay had never been too interested in competing with Percy Boyd Staunton, Percy from a young age saw Dunny as a rival. When Percy’s brand new expensive sled isn’t as fast as Dunny’s, Percy gets angry and throws a snowball at Dunny, which in turn begins the setting for the novel. The two continue to compete throughout the novel, for things such

“It was characteristic of Boy throughout his life that he was always the quintessence of something that somebody else had recognized and defined” (Davies 113). He believes that he is in control of every situation, but inside he cannot control his guilt that is still buried deep inside himself. Contrary to Dunstan who feels responsible for problems, Boy runs away from his problems by keeping himself busy. The death of Leola, his wife, clearly shows Boy’s fear of facing problems, for his does not show up for her funeral, “Boy was in England, arranging something or other connected with his Ministry, and duty and the difficulty of transatlantic flights in wartime kept him there”(Davies 194). Boy still yearns for fulfillment even though he achieves greatness in terms of his financial success and his outward appearance. He says, “I feel rotten. I’ve done just about everything I’ve ever planned to do and everybody thinks I’m a success… But sometimes I wish I could get into a car and drive away from the whole damned thing.” (Davies). Boy knows that deep inside he is very unsuccessful. As he gets older, he is supposed to be wiser, but his commitment to achieving the external greatness has stopped him from being fully satisfied. There is an immense difference in the lives of Boy and Dunstan. Boy’s focus on his external being causes him live an unfulfilled life, like a ‘boy’ who cannot see that there is

As Dunstan grew old, he re-established the inner characteristics of his youth, revisited the possibility of becoming someone’s laddie, and dedicated his life to the wellbeing of childhood friend.

To truly understand a great novel and its author, the reader must dig deep inside the life

JonBenét Ramsey was murdered in October of 1996. For the last fifteen years police have tried to solve the case, but have had little success. As such, the suspect remains at-large. Due to the high profile of the case it has received national attention. Many people kept track of findings through the news, social media, and with the publishing of books and film. Speculation about the case still remains a popular topic in various genres for the public and other interested parties. The way the case was handled by authorities, the high profile of the Ramsey family, and the lack of cooperation in the form of initial formal interviews by the Ramsey family, all contributed to the lack of progress and the unsuccessful solving of the case.

Dunstan had always lived a life of structure and guilt, Liesl turns a new page for Dunstan, releasing him from guilt and opens a new world up to him. She proposes that he write the biography of Magnus Eisengrim, which proves to be another step in Dunstan’s understanding of himself. “In spite of her marred face her smile was so winning that I could not say no. This looked like an adventure, and, at fifty, adventures do not come every day.” (202). As Liesl allows Dunstan to unload his emotional baggage and uncover his darkest secrets, he is able to connect some of the events of his life and heal from them. Liesl teaches Dunstan that men who carry secrets pay a high price for it, as she describes him as “grim-mouthed and buttoned-up and hard-eyed and cruel.” (208). She helps him understand that the reason he has made Mrs. Dempster his saint is that she has received the affection and warmth that he should have spread amongst fifty people. Without Liesl, Dunstan could not have become his final character, which is a big part of his development and understanding of himself. After he and Liesl get into a tussle, she re-enters the room and leaves him with a conversation and advice that changes him. She tells him that he is human, just like everyone else, and he cannot take responsibility for other people’s troubles, as he did with Paul’s birth. Liesl ends the chat as she brings forth these truths about his life, bringing Dunstan to that

The movie’s main theme tends to contrast two groups of people in the society. One group consists of people who come from the rural areas while the other group is that of people from the urban setting. The social norm of the people in the rural areas is based on simplicity and illiteracy. The story revolves around the murder of one of The Ward Brothers. The death of William occurs and his brother Delbert is accused of killing him. Delbert denies the allegations but before he is set free he is taken into custody and made to sign some forms.

It seems natural to think about novels in terms of dreams or psychoanalytical realities. Like dreams, novels are fictions, inventions of the mind that, though based on reality, are by definition not exactly and literally true. Conversely, dreams may have some truth to tell but like novels their truth must be interpreted before it can be grasped. Such is the case with John Green's young adult novel, Looking for Alaska. It holds many truths that are relevant to young adults, but to extract those lessons, one must first view the plot and characters through a lens of psychoanalytical theory.