Mystic River by Dennis Lehane and The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The death of a loved one can result in a trauma where the painful experience causes a psychological scar. Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones explores the different ways in which people process grief when they lose a loved one. When young Susie Salmon is killed on her way home from school, the remaining four members of her family all deal differently with their grief. After Susie’s death, her mother, Abigail Salmon, endures the adversity of losing her daughter, her family collapsing, and accepting the loss of the life she never had the opportunity to live. Abigail uses Freud’s defence mechanisms to repress wounds, fears, her guilty desires, and to resolve conflicts, which results in her alienation and

Jim was never there for the mother due to the long existing tensions between him and the family. This was a thing of concern for the patient in her dying bed. The patient was anxious about the tensions in the family, on how to deal with it and resolve it, as well, she was anxious about dying. These anxieties enveloped the entire family, and everyone wonders what’s next now that the seeming unifying factor is dying. The dynamism of the family was critical and overwhelming.

| Tom wants his old life back prior to the accident and he sees the accident as the end of his life as he knew it. He loses his sense of identity and sense of family in particular.Feels guilty and ashamed about the irrevocable consequences his brother’s irresponsibility had for other people and their familiesRetreats into a depressed state which feels empty and black.

Aspiring to be free, to be successful, to be a picture perfect family, and to be happy; these are the traits of the American dream. Although, in one 's mind a specific picture forms when reading about the American dream this does not mean everyone is seeing the same landscape. A prevalent theme in The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, and Flight by Sherman Alexie is the potency and prevalence of diversity on the American dream. In each of these compelling works, connoisseurs get a taste of life from different demographics’ viewpoints and a measure of what it means to be yearning for the diverse definition of American ideals.

To begin, the warden informs Jimmy about his father death, Jimmy is left in disbelieve. “Just as well, because your family doesn’t want you to attend the funeral service (Baca 233).” Then, when Jimmy is released from prison he uncovers that his uncle Julian, called the warden, requesting that Jimmy dose not attend the funeral of Damacio Baca. Julian’s action is due to Damacio leaving Jimmy a twenty thousand dollars insurance policy for Jimmy, so he could a hire a good lawyer and defend his case. However his uncles took the money and spent it on a liquor license (Baca 235). Jimmy realizes prison is killing his humanity, he could not cry to grieve over his father’s death even though is emotions were genuine. Finally Jimmy honors Damacio by vowing that prison system will not break his sprite or stain his

Reading the book, The Other Side of the River, by Alex Kotlowitz, the author writes about the relationship between two towns in Michigan, and the death of a young boy named Eric McGinnis. The two towns, Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, are called the “Twin Cities”, but are ironically not related in any way. St. Joseph is 95 percent white, while Benton Harbor is impoverished and is 92 percent black. Throughout the book Kotlowitz questions the residents from both towns and how they are affected by the environment around them. The author also starts with the climax on the first page of the book – the death of Eric, and uses this as an technique to tell the story of the disagreements between the two towns.

Trying to make ends meet, he turns to selling drugs. By the time Jimmy finds love ones more and decides to settle down tragedy occurs. Trying to escaping from a drug bust at a friend’s house his attempts end up with a conviction for murder. Due to his illiteracy, Jimmy couldn’t read the false accusations he never committed.

Of all the qualities in a hero, the ones that make helping a heroic act are honesty, wisdom, dedication and conviction, which John from Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher and Clarisse from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury portray. John and Clarisse are both honest about everything no matter what anyone says or thinks. They also take the wisdom they gain from their experiences, and use it to create a positive impact on those that they are helping. The level of dedication that John shows is one side of a pole while Clarisse’s level of dedication is on the other. Clarisse puts more conviction into changing perspective, since she does this just by staying true to her opinion. John and Clarisse both show honesty and wisdom in their actions when they

Then one day when he was coming home from school, he saw a note on the table in his kitchen and saw that it was from his mom. She didn’t want to live in a privileged lifestyle that beats on her conscience when other people were suffering. She trashes his dad’s computer as well as hers, giving the chapter its name. And she took Jimmy’s altered skunk Killer, which made him angry because that was the only creature he had ever loved. Then she escaped from the compound without any

Was born March 22, 1947 in Newburgh, New York. Now he lives in Palm Beach, Florida. His writing has put on the best-selling lists. In 2005 he began to write young-adult fiction books. One of his books won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best first novel from the Mystery Writers of America. He also wrote books like "Along Came a Spider," "Cradle and All," "Hide and Seek," "Kiss the Girls," and "The Lake

‘’Every man has a property in his own person. This nobody has a right to, but himself’’ (John Locke). Therefore, societies should ensure that citizens are free to follow their individual desires for property because property is what ultimately determines the personality and value of each person in society. Nevertheless, totalitarian regimes are forced to restrain both intellectual and private property in order to ensure citizens follow the government’s revolutionary and oppressive rhetoric. Hence, this paper explores the role of property in two of the most well known fundamentalist societies in literature history: Utopia by Sir Thomas More, and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Both authors acknowledge that property represents a significant threat to governments that aim to have an equal society where every citizen contributes to the well being of the nation. Thus, property is restricted because it fosters individualism. First, through the analysis of More’s ideal society, one can understand the importance of restricting private property to sustain a communist commonwealth. Secondly, Atwood successfully illustrates the role of intellectual property in a society that aims to dehumanize women to ensure their contribution to the common good of society. Therefore, the contrast of More’s Utopia and Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale utopian societies demonstrate that in order for all-powerful governing systems to exist they need to strongly restrict freedom of property from citizens

Comparing Digging by Seamus Heaney, Catrin by Gilliam Clarke, The Little Boy Lost y William Blake and Tichborne's Elegy by Charles Tichborne

The difference between “Serpents of Paradise” by Edward Abbey and “Thinking Like a Mountain” by Aldo Leopold is specifically that one essay focuses more on the hunting aspect of life. Both essays seem to care about the environment. In Abbey’s essay he tries to figure out how to avoid killing the snake; he needed to stay calm and move it without getting bit. In Leopold’s essay he killed a wolf to save the deer population; allowing him to hunt more deer. Each essay was written with great description, yet showing one author cared more about the animal and its environment over the other. In both Leopold and Abbey essays they wanted to alter their environment, but only Abbey succeeded due to Abbey having the correct knowledge when it came to his environment.

It is true that life never goes our way. However for some of us these times of heart ache and pain cause us to find that inspiration within these dark times. It’s that inspiration that pushes us to create and to push through, this is the case with author Anne Rice. Anne is the author of many books, most famously The Vampire Chronicles, which includes the books Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and Queen of the Damned, and her Sleeping Beauty Quartet which was published under the pseudonym A. N. Roquelaure.

"The Signalman" by Charles Dickens and "The Darkness Out There" by Penelope Lively Comparing ' The Signalman' by Charles Dickens and 'The Darkness Out There' by Penelope Lively is an ideal way of looking at two authors from different times and backgrounds. Dickens, writing in the nineteenth century, would have had a very different audience to write for from Lively, writing in the twentieth century. Therefore, each author uses different techniques to create tension in the two pieces. During the nineteenth century there was a strong belief in ghosts and the spiritual world; telling ghost stories around the fireplace is often seen as a typical form of Victorian entertainment.