Fear Of Failure In Kurt Vonnegut Jr's Coming Of Age Story

God would not have created humans if they were not meant to make mistakes. Everyone is prone to making mistakes, but they only become valuable when you take a lesson out of them. The main character, Duddy Kravitz, goes through a tough upbringing, in a family that continuously discriminates him. Throughout the story, he makes grave life mistakes which allow him to see the world more clearly. The discriminatory attitude of his family makes him go through a process of self-awareness and an understanding of his identity.

Good triumphs over evil because the prisoners never think to get revenge on the Nazis. In the last few pages of the book, Elie’s camp, Buchenwald, is liberated by the Americans. He explains what everyone does immediately following liberation and how no one speaks of violence towards the Nazi regime. “And even when we were no longer hungry, not one of us thought of revenge. The next day, a few of the young men ran into Weimar to to bring back potatoes and clothes… But still no trace of revenge” (Wiesel 115).

            Eli’s mother Sylvia and I also have a lot in common. Through out the entire story she was enraptured in talking about how many Remenzels had attended the Whitehill School and what contributions they had made to it. She stated during one part of the drive to the school:

     Childhood is a time where children learn about the world around themselves. They see and experience many factors that influence their everyday lives, which help them grow stronger when they become adults. In 'Girl'; by Jamaica Kincaid and 'The Lesson'; by Toni Cade Bambara the characters within the stories learn valuable lesson with help them grow to become better individuals. In 'The Lesson'; the character of Sugar undergoes a realization that society does not treat everyone equally, that not every individual has the same opportunity and equality that they should have. In 'Girl'; the main character learns that she must be perceived as a woman and not as a slut, her mother brings to her

Throughout the literary works of The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Maus by Art Spiegelman, and “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes, different characters deal with adversity differently. In The Glass Castle the characters must overcome family hardships. Likewise, Spiegelman writes about his father’s struggle during the Holocaust. Lastly, in “Mother to Son” the speaker informs her son about her own hardships she had to face. Challenges that characters face can impact them both negatively and positively. Characters from all three literary works deal with adversity by having courage, being resilient, and making poor choices.

Franklin Roosevelt had said, “Only thing we had to fear is fear itself.” Then, what if teen’s fear is being alone forever? What if taunting and abuse to a teen’s mental and physical state are what sparks fear of isolation? Generally speaking, bullying is commonly used to stereotype individuals based on their physical or mental appearance. Therefore, teen’s would rely on their friends to be comfortable at school, but what if you have no one? Also, teen’s are shown negative images that reflect towards their self-esteem at home as well as in public. The deeming fear of isolation is caused by teen’s lack of self-esteem in society. Due to bullying, negativity towards themselves, and peer pressure a teen’s life is under constant fear of isolation.

People react differently to tragedies: some mourn, some speak up, and some avoid the sorrow. In Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut suggests the danger and inhumanity of turning away from the discomfort by introducing Billy Pilgrim as someone who is badly affected by the aftermath of the Dresden bombing, and the Tralfamadorians as the aliens who provide an easy solution to Billy. It is simpler to avoid something as tragic as death, but Vonnegut stresses the importance of confronting it. Vonnegut, like many artists, expresses his ideas through his creations. The significance of art is not confined to helping and inspiring the general public; the process of creating art also becomes another form of coping mechanism for artists.

Most of the time, becoming an adult is planned. There are religious ceremonies, the gaining of a driver’s license, and other forms of new responsibility to signify the coming of age. Sometimes though maturity comes at you like a freight train. It comes at you in the blink of an eye and there is no stopping it once it hits you. You are forced to grow up and take on new responsibilities that you thought you wouldn’t have to take on until many years later. It's up to you though to decide what to do from there. You can either try and run away from the problems you have come to face or you can take the train head on and conquer what has been presented to you. I decided to face the train.

In the novel, The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson, the author capitalizes upon society’s expectation of a character to emphasize the struggle to achieving his goals. Ian, one of the central characters in the plot line, is heavily impacted by these expectations, which hold a substantial influence upon his decision’s regarding his future. To teenagers an expectation: a strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future, is nothing but a restriction upon them. Ian believes he is contained within these expectations; to the point where he does not wish to follow this given path. In a time of adolescence, teenagers are compelled by the strong desire to denounce that which is expected of them; Ian is no exception to

But Eli still didn’t bounce back to reality just yet, there were still more lessons to be learned. For instance, coming over to another man’s house as a visitor and eating up all of his food. The book records that 6 days later that they were without food. And Nanapush new that first in order to survive, one must have nutritional food. Nanapush wasn’t going to sit there and starve to death because of one man agony. He believed it was time for Eli to face his adversities head on, and deal with consequences at they followed. This is a wonderful part in the story because we see that Nanapush is fed up.

Our education system is perhaps one of the most complex institutions in the United States. Students are taught to be their most authentic selves but yet are told to think a certain way. In reality, students really don’t have the freedom to be their genuine identity. Our society tells us that a typical student speaks the language, excels in all areas of study, and loves to read. Children who do not fit this mold are often at a disadvantage and do not attain the same acceptance. In the essay, “Achievement of Desire” Richard Rodriguez was a first generation immigrant from Mexico. His parents spoke little English, and had no education. Automatically, his family is an outcast. Throughout Rodriguez’s schooling career he learned to fit the perfect mold of the “typical” American student. He finds himself to be in an internal struggle between social versus family isolation, authenticity and finding his place in the American society.

We all think children are all innocent and cute, but is that really true? We always give excuses for children’s misconduct, distracting ourselves from the real truth. Kids are capable of terrible things that adults quickly ignore. Children can be very scary because of their capabilities that most adults believe to be innocent mistakes. One story that explores this fear is Ray Bradbury’s “The Man Upstairs.”

Imagine living in a world where controlling happiness with the turn of a switch is possible, imagine always living in a state of oblivion, what a lovely dream. Well, dreams do not always come true, individuals are constantly reminded of the harsh realities of everyday life, they are constantly trying to escape. Through simile and repetition, Vonnegut illuminates how individuals are constantly looking for escapes from the reality of life in an attempt to find happiness.

Stephen King wrote Carrie, which received 30 rejections, which caused him to give up and throw it in the trash. His wife got it out and encouraged him to resubmit it, and now he is a best-selling author with millions of copies of his books sold around the world. Thomas Edison has to try over 10,000 times until he made the first lightbulb. Both of them could have just given up but they didn’t and do you know why? Because they had someone that believed him and they believed in themselves, which this world lacks. We give in and let others that don’t care about us win. We shouldn’t be letting ourselves throw our potential in the trash. Let’s prove them wrong because failure is what defines us. “Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to

Fear played a big role in Things Fall Apart. Mainly fear was seen ruling Okonkwo’s life, but also a couple of the other inhabitants of Umuofia. It was seen in many situations dictating the characters’ actions. Each of the character’s actions then led up to the understanding of the theme in Things Fall Apart, fear can dictate choices.