Helping Others: Ian in "Shattered" by Eric Walters Essay

This constant presence of a man who abused him and his mother can only add to the grief which the repeated trauma experienced by Jack caused. The relief Jack must have felt when he watched Roy pack his trunk and leave was only to be short lives as his moved onto another abusive man.

In Eric Walters’ Shattered, a young boy named Ian Blackburn does his volunteer work at the soup kitchen and becomes friends with a homeless man. Throughout the novel, Ian develops from a selfish young man to a caring individual. Ian changes from being disrespectful to curious then ended up being kind hearted as the story evolves.

“Mick Harte was Here” was a moving story about a girl who was grieving the loss of her younger brother. Not only was this story relatable, but also eye opening. The thoughts that roam a child’s mind when grieving is very important and should be told in a way that can possibly educate parents or peers. We see the main character Phoebe go through the path of grieving when she lost her younger brother Mick. We followed her journey for the first few days of his death and realize just how certain things can trigger an emotion or action.

Although Frome can be held responsible for his moral inactivity, he can be considered a morally inadequate man in his present state. His inadequacy, however, was not a constant in life or a sudden occurrence-- it snowballed from his youth and finally solidified through the ‘smash-up’. His earlier experiences in a university and the joy it brought him was quickly interrupted after a year by his sickly parents. The unfortunate circumstance forces Ethan Frome to move back to the depressing Starkfield he had just escaped. His parents’ illnesses bring along Zenobia, who would be another future, unseen oppression along with Starkfield. For years, Ethan lives in depressing conditions that decline as time goes on. The chance to finally leave them behind, however, comes in Mattie, Zenobia’s cousin and maid. Ethan’s inability to act on this chance of escape finally seals his fate when Mattie is paralyzed and he is critically injured. Although jinxed with unfortunate circumstances, Ethan Frome’s life could have been bettered if one small step or action was taken by him for himself with the intention to create personal joy or pleasure.

Shattered is a brilliant work of realistic fiction written by Eric Walters that inspires young adults to take a step outside of their comfort zone and open their minds to learn more about the world. It is a story that chronicles the experiences of teenage Ian Blackburn as he finds himself and unravels some of the darkest truths of human history. Ian first starts his eye-opening experience when he is forced to volunteer at a soup kitchen for the homeless only because of certain quite selfish reasons. Along the way, he meets Jacques, an emotionally scarred and homeless veteran. In his new found journey, Ian discovers shocking, life-changing information about this world’s past, maturing him as an adolescent as he learns about the horrors of human history.

As someone once said…. “Sometimes people come into your life for a moment, a day, or a lifetime. It matters not the time they spent with you but, how they impacted your life at that time.” – Unknown. If it wasn’t for three remarkably wise people Ian, character of the novel, Shattered by Eric Walters, wouldn’t have changed into a better person. In order to pass Social Studies, fifteen- year- old, spoiled, self-centered Ian Blackburn must complete community volunteer hours. Encouraged by getting a BMW car from his father for his upcoming birthday, Ian decides to work at “The Club”, which sounds good at first until he stepped into what was a soup kitchen for the homeless. While slowly completing his hours, Ian

The naval officer is not only the rescuer for the boys, but the one who rebounds Jack from complete savagery. Humans have the ability to recover from even the deepest pits of insanity. Therefore, Jack also “changes his mind”, which shows the ultimate sacrifice of his mind getting rid of the savagery. Even the

As the story comes to a close Jonathan has a moment of clarity, which is filled with both guilt and solace, as he reminisces on his father’s true dream. As a simple man Jack was easily overlooked and thought of as a piece of plywood by the members of his family. They used him as a way to make their lives easier, whether it be through faux-name brand objects or keeping an in-law on payroll, Jack was the man for the job. Although subtle in his motions Jack does attempt to share his passion with his son. Jack’s love for traveling by sea is evident in almost all that he does, including his gait. In discovering the old navy photo of his father, Jonathan has become aware to the reality that everyone, including Jonathan himself, ignored his father.

In conclusion, Jack was a classic example of humans being in a life threating survival situation and his actions and thoughts showed. For example his failure of not being able to kill the pig to being painting his face to blend in. These events is an sample of how in such a short amount of time humans could turn from a civil person to savage

This action by Jack and the unforeseeable outcome shocks him as he realizes what he has

This showed that even though Jack had no idea who he was saving he was selfless enough to risk his life to save someone. In the end of the book

In the article “Shattered Lives” by Kristin Lewis Dania a little girl faces war in her country for the longest time she had been living in a hole in her backyard, with her family for cover from the bombings. Finally in the summer of 2013 Dania and her family emerged from the hole they knew that know the hole could no longer protect them so they fled the country and now they are in Lebanon, Akkar. By 2013 90% of syrian children were enrolled in school but, it had become too dangerous for most kids to attend school. Most of the kids work during school hours to help provide for their families. Aid workers have come up with a creative solution to have the schools operate in shifts, so the refugees school day starts when the regular school day

This book is split between Grace and Ian's perspective, first-person. Blount has this skill down, guys. She has mastered the art of writing in both a female and a male perspective. A lot of times, I might like one side more than the other. BUT, I am pleased to say that I really enjoyed reading from both Grace and Ian's perspective.

She was right, Jack did exactly what he had dreamt of and fought for, for years. He finally found his mom, and although it wasn't the ideal reunion he had fantasized about every night before going to bed. He did what he had set out to do from the very first day he got stranded in the woods alone. His determination brought him to his mother, and even though she was dead, Jack still knew that one day they would be together and get to have the reunion he had dreamed of. One day he, his mom, and Toby would all be together as a family. He waited 5 years, he could wait a couple more. He knew that as long as he continued to be just as determined, he would get to be with her, but as of now, he had found her and that is all that

Waking up the next morning, Jack begins his whirlwind of a year living as if he was the Jack Campbell that did not go to