Have you ever gone through a hard time? Did you have people in your life help you get through that difficult time? In Slob, by Ellen Potter, a realistic fiction novel, Owen, the protagonist, has a few people who help him get through many challenging situations. Also, in Every Soul a Star, by Wendy Mass, a realistic fiction book, protagonists, Ally, Bree and Jack, all help each other when they are faced with a difficult situation. In Slob, Owen is a boy who gets bullied a lot and has a low self-esteem. His mom, sister, and friends help him overcome his weaknesses so that he can become a stronger person. In addition, in Every Soul a Star, Ally, Bree, and Jack all help each other out when they are going through very difficult situations. Characters …show more content…
In Slob, Nima, who is one of Owen’s best friends offers Owen advice when someone was stealing his Oreo cookies. The text states, “‘But maybe you give this kid another chance. Maybe it was such kind of one-time mischief’” (Potter 38). This shows that Nima is offering advice that will help Owen deal with this particular situation by telling him to be kind and forgiving. Also, in Every Soul a Star, Melanie, Bree’s sister offers advice to Ally and Jack on how to survive in the real world. For example, “‘The trick is as long as you know who you are, and what makes you happy, it doesn’t matter how others see you… Jack says, ‘If you want to get teased all the time.’ Melanie shakes her head. ‘Kids respect you if you don’t show fear’” (Mass 229). This shows that Melanie is giving advice to Jack and Ally by telling them that they can be who they are and that they shouldn’t show fear. Characters don’t just help others by giving advice, but they can also provide …show more content…
In Slob, Owen’s friend Nima showed compassion to Owen when he told Nima that his parents died. This is shown in the text: “‘What did you say?’ I asked. ‘I pray for your honored parents. Also, I pray for the man who killed your parents.’” This shows that Nima is showing compassion to Owen when he prays for his parents who died. Likewise, Bree shows compassion to Ally when they talk about what Ally will experience when she moves out of the campground. For instance, “‘Drugs? Street Crime?’... ‘Sorry, but that stuff is everywhere.’ ‘Not here!’ ‘Well, everywhere else. But don’t worry Ally. You’ll be fine’” (Mass 129). This shows that Bree is showing compassion to Ally by telling her not to worry and that she’ll be fine when she moves out of the campground. In both of these situations, characters showed compassion to each other through their words, and, therefore were able to help each
Compassion has little to no boundries. In almost every great story there is a specific character or a group of characters that help the protagonist because they feel bad for them. Compassion is the most important aspect of a functioning society; therefore, Elie Wiesel’s Night, 12 Angry Men by Reginald Rose, and the generosity of spirit shown by the average citizen after the recent shooting in Las Vegas are all perfect examples.
Many times you will find that the characters in this book put others before themselves in a lot of hard situations. Although, it's not in any intense situations, you can still tell that the characters of this story will help each other out no matter what. Getting weight off of someone's shoulders is nice to do for someone, esecially if they have a lot on thier
Compassion is that feeling that motivates a person to help another human in need. Whether that need is an emotional, physical, or spiritual need. When caring for another human being, as nurses, we cannot help but feel that urge to help the person in front of us. We want to find the details that can
Example 2: God wants us to have a heart of compassion for others. Compassion involves feeling, but it involves so much more. If we only feel, then we are sympathetic. If our sympathy motivates us to act, then it becomes compassion. True compassion feels and it acts. Notice that compassion begins with feeling. Without feeling, there is no compassion. Feeling is not enough, but it is a place to begin. If we do not weep for those who are hurting, how can we minister to them? We must be about the Savior’s preoccupation with people. I believe that if we serve hurting people, encourage those in despair, help those in need, and hurt with those in pain, we will have not only enriched their lives but have done exactly what God would want us to do. People don’t go where the action is; people go where the love is. I have worked in the geriatric nursing field my entire adult life and the most important impact on the lives that I touch is my ability to be compassionate. I find that when a spouse or children
Examples of compassion run deep through the pages of this novel. It all begins with the acceptance of Leisel, the foster child. Hans and his wife Rosa, are expecting two children. To Rosa’s disappointment, not only is there only one child but a female named Lesell when she would have preferred a male. Though Rosa wants a male foster child, Hans as nice as he is devotes his life to take care of this girl with no other family. Even with struggles Hans Hubermann had putting food on his own family's plates, he took two unknown people into his life and showed them compassion through sacrifice, one was Liesel and a Jewish boy named Max. Hans couldn't afford to give his family the basic necessities, so he had to give up a lot more to care for two more people. A habit that Hans enjoyed, smoking, was something he had to give up in order to nurture Liesel's love for reading. Confirmation to his character of sacrifice was demonstrated when Hans said “Eight cigarettes per book… praise the lord for cigarettes.”(89-90). Hans was so relieved that he could take from himself and not put any extra strain or sacrifice of the family and give to Liesel. He found
Compassion is a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering (Dictionary.com). In the Annex you can see that many people are very compassionate towards each other. One example of this is when Peter’s cat gets lost and cannot be found. You’d expect for him to get told to suck it up and that it’s just a cat, and they’ve more important things to worry about. Instead of this you see that they try to find his cat and calm him down, which I think is very compassionate of them to think of Peter and how much he loves his cat instead of telling him to suck it up.
“A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal”. This quote by Steve Maraboli may be hard to understand, but the Holocaust texts: Night by Elie Wiesel, “A Three Year Old Saves His Mother” by Peter Gorog and “Jakob's Story” by Jakob Blankitny are great examples of where compassion is necessary to fight the despair in heartbreaking situations. In each work, compassion shows up from unexpected sources, helps motivate people to survive, and creates greater unification.
Barbara Lazear Ascher writes a well formed essay on the concept of compassion. Compassion is something that we do for others out of the kindness of our hearts. She focuses more on the poor, just how we show them sympathy, why do we do such things. Is showing empathy from our hearts or just for them to go away. I enjoyed this essay due to the fact, that she gives humanistic reasons on why people are compassionate, she doesn’t sugar coat anything, and lastly she breaks down the compassion that she sees everyday.
Compassion and Patience can help one understand the feelings and experiences of another in a positive light. We can see the positive spiritual and mental effects of being patient and compassionate in the novel We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo, which follows the life and experiences of Darling, a native Zimbabwean who moves to Detroit. Darling’s interactions with her Uncle Kojo and Tshaka Zulu in the last chapter show us that she can be patient and compassionate towards others. These characteristics showed up earlier in the book as well when Darling’s father came home from South Africa stricken with AIDs. Darling is at her best when she shows compassion and patience for those around
If a person is compassionate, this means that one is able to understand the state and the situation of another human being and help one to overcome any kind of problem one is going through. Having compassion means that one wants the best in others. We go out of our way, just to help people with physical, emotional and spiritual sufferings.
The example that affected me the most was when there was a homeless man walking across the street towards a mother and child. Due to instinct, the mother held the carriage closer and harder. To ensure the safety of her and her child, she gave him money. It was not that she felt compassion for him, but instead, she thought that this would keep him from harming herself and her child. It was not that the man acted in any unacceptable way, but that the woman and child were the ones at risk. The author shows compassion as more of a transaction as “the man stands and stares.” The fixed stare made her feel uneasy and nervous. It is as if time stopped. it was not a genuine act of kindness on the mother’s part or that she felt sympathetic for him. There is symbolism of protection “[when the mother] passes a folded dollar over her child’s head.” The man “does not know that acceptance of the gift and gratitude are what make this transaction complete.” It is visible that the woman only offers to help the man out of
Compassion is learned through experience and seeing those less fortunate; it brings out sympathy because one cannot ignore it when unfortunate people are everywhere.
Ascher’s essay describes the ways she has seen compassion showed, through voluntary donations, food, shelter. She openly questions what drives humans to be compassionate to each other. As a successful author who
Are people born with a complete quandary when it comes to compassion or is it something that has always been there? Barbara Lazear Ascher, born in 1946, writes, “On Compassion.” Having lived in New York City, Ascher is able to take first hand examples from the city to show the affection people have towards each other. Ascher is able to illustrate that compassion is something that has to be taught because of the adversity at people’s heels by including tone, persuasive appeals, and the mode of comparing and contrast in her essay, “On Compassion.”
Often when using the words of empathy and compassion, many people envision them as having similar meaning. While they may share similar circumstances, they are actually quite different. Empathy is more of an emotional response with an understanding of a person’s particular situation; whereas compassion is an emotion that arouses an active response to alleviate a distressful situation. Nevertheless, these dissimilar expressions are paramount in the way people respond to the individual needs of others and how they reach out to others in their local communities. Barbara Lazear Ascher’s essay “On Compassion” not only creatively offers a very detailed description of the day in the life in New York City, but effectively draws a picture of