Each of my four selected texts relate to the general theme of survival. I have found several

Mark Smith's novel 'The Road to Winter' explores the behaviours of characters after their experiences of loss, and their ability to persevere whilst trying to continue to act to their own ethical principles. The protagonist of the novel, Finn, is one of the many who have lost their family and way of life to the deadly disease that has ravaged the world, yet has managed to survive without much external help and relative isolation. Whilst he has managed to keep his benevolent

Our society has become a place where sacrifices are required to achieve specific goals. Sacrifice is an act of killing or giving up something in order to accomplish something that is more worthy, and righteous. The Alchemist written by Paulo Coelho displays a young boy who faces obstacles which eventually cause him to sacrifice to achieve his Personal Legend. In Santiago’s journey to achieving his Personal Legend, he sacrifices factors that provide him comfort, a sense of security and pleasure such as his sheep, money, and love. By making such sacrifices, Santiago learns to overcome difficult situations indepently.

Sacrifice is a prominent part of human living. In order to get what is needed or wanted, sacrifice is necessary, whether it is small or great. In the novel, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, he shows that in society, those with less must often sacrifice more. Hugo conveys sacrifice through the characters Fantine and Jean Valjean, by showing how they sacrifice in order to gain and also how their poverty makes their sacrifice even greater.

First, the theme survival, is very easily shown in the text when Elie is hurt very badly by a Kapo. “I no longer felt anything except the lashes of the whip...I had not realized it, but I had fainted.” (Wiesel 57-58) Elie Wiesel had caught Idek, the Kapo in charge of his block, with a Polish girl, and Idek punished him for it. He called out his number in front of a large group of people, and ordered him to lay down on a crate. He then whipped Elie twenty-five times. The pain was so unbearable, that Elie had fainted during it, and a group of men came over

Boasting more than thirty seasons and fifteen years of broadcasting, Survivor continues to reign supreme over the reality television genre. Even skeptics of this genre can admit that Survivor is a massive standout in a heap of inadequate television shows. In this current era of oversaturation in the television world, it is Survivor’s complex premise, controversial drama and competitive nature that elevate it above the rest.

In the book ‘Night’, Elie’s mother and sister got burned alive during the cruel selection. Wiesel says, “I didn’t know… I was leaving my mother and Tzipora forever” (Night, 29). Elie will no longer experience what a normal kid will, the love of a mother, the smile of a smile, and the care that a mother gives to her own kid. Elie’s family is forever broken, without his mother and sister, his family won’t be a whole anymore, this traumatic experience will change Elie’s life forever. These experiences can also change someone’s character, some changes are permanently, but some only at the moment. Elie was faithful to God before, but after all the tragedies that he’s been through, he questions himself, asking “why would I bless him” (Night, 67)? Elie’s religious belief and faith in God is going away as he experience these traumatic experiences, but for him, these were only temporary. Traumatic experience can change someone’s life and their character, in horrible

When Elie was moving to another camp, he noticed, “this shadow threw itself over [the man]... ‘Meir, my little Meir! Don’t you recognize me… You’re killing your father… I have bread… for you too… for you too’... His son searched him,took the crust of bread”(101). This shows how inhumanity can affect someone. A young boy had killed his father over a piece of bread, it was like if he was willing to do anything for that ration of bread. This can show how people put survival over compassion. Also, when Rabbi Eliahu had said, “ ‘Perhaps someone here has seen my son?’... A terrible thought crossed my mind: What if he had wanted to be rid of his father”(90-91). The young boy was trying to get rid of his father because how weak his father was. Eliahu’s son thought if he could just get rid of him everything would be easier. By running away from his father shows the pettiness he had and that he only cared for himself. Nevertheless, no matter what, people will always choose their survival over anything.

Elie Wiesel affirms, “I was saved miraculously. I succeeded in coming back... I wanted to come back to warn you” (The Night 7). This shows how many humans fight for other people’s rights. This shows how there are a big amount of people who care not just for themselves but for others.

Elie Wiesel was inspired by the Holocaust when he wrote his novel “Night”. The publication of this novel was to serve as a reminder to the future generations about human empathy and morality. In the novel, Elie Wiesel shows that when humans are faced with protecting their own mortality, they abandon their learned morals and values. This shows us that core morals are learned values, not hardwired traits. Moreover, natural disasters have a significant influence in the behavior of the people who have been affected. There is always a general mentality of scrambling for most act on the analogy of survival for the fittest. In the novel, “Night”, there are specific instances that illustrate the fight that exists between morality

In the book The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey, there are many important themes that describe what the book is about. Some of the themes were survival depending on being dedicated to others not one’s self, people being defined by the choices they make, and also that love can drive people to go beyond their limits. These themes are only a few of many that help drive the plot in this book. One of the major themes from The 5th Wave is that survival depends on being dedicated to others, not one’s self.

Has anyone lived a life without misfortune? Doubtable; even the person with what could be described as the ideal life deals with some form of adversity. The novel, Speak, and the short story, The Third and Final Continent, both use plot as a way to convey themes of hardship. Moreover, these texts both use symbolism in order to develop their themes as well. The Art of Resilience and Speak utilize characterization as a method of developing their respective themes. Speak, The Third and Final Continent, and The Art of Resilience each deal with the theme that all people must learn to cope with adverse situations.

How would you react to being trapped, fighting for survival, in a post apocalyptic society? Coupland takes an interesting look at this and presents many other underlying ideas that build up the basics of human nature, such as, competition, control and survival of the fittest. The relatable main character showcases the darker, bitter, side that is contained in the fabric in all of us, but in a satirical comedic tone. He does so in a way where the even the structure of the writing is how you might expect an average persons’ thought process of events.

The saying “desperate times call for desperate measures” holds truth to an extent. In the award winning novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel, drastic measures are taken by characters in order to survive while stranded on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean. Through his journey, main character, Pi Patel, endures many hardships and witnesses several deaths. Significantly, the death of the zebra accompanying Pi and the other animals establishes a generalization of human nature being sophisticated yet inherently vicious according to methods of survival.

The values one possesses can be shown in the measure of one’s sacrifice and compassion for others. And the Mountains Echoed, demonstrated realistic and raw situations that were tied together by an intense amount of genuine and permanent love. In the book, the characters’ forfeits were bounded by obligation to the people they love since they all valued family ties. Most sacrifices have a price to pay and cause some extent of grief in the process but ultimately, the sacrifices people make forge lifelong connections that although may be broken, stay in people’s

Sacrifice, even when it comes to one’s ultimate end, is crucial in order to survive as a productive race. In the book Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, he illustrates the hardships of the early-nineteenth-century lifestyles. With the resurrection of an evicted man, the novel sprouts from a broken family recovering and growing. This novel incorporates many grand gestures and adventures, such as the French Revolution, treason trials, and the sacrifice of one’s own life in the name of love.