Nikolai Kretzsky's Between Shades Of Gray

This world is filled with many troubles including racism. Society often depicts whites as superior to blacks. However, this is not precise, because every race has both good and bad within it. The world is trying to break away from racism to become a better place for everyone around the world. Racism is not only about the color of one’s skin, it can impact individuals around the world due to their race or religion. The title of this novel is “Black and White” by Paul Volponi. In this coming of age story, two friends, Marcus Brown and Eddie Russo, who are black and white (respectively), are senior basketball stars at their high school. Marcus lives in community housing which is fraught with crime with a single mother. On the other hand, Eddie lives in a private house nearby where Marcus lives. Both Marcus and Eddie are in financial hardships and need to find easy money to cover their school and basketball fees. The two agree to start pulling robberies when they unintentionally shoot a black man. They are left in anxiety trying to avoid getting caught while trying to lead a normal life after the incident. They both end up going through the justice system, and Marcus must serve jail time while Eddie gets to go free. While all of this transpires, Marcus and Eddie manage to keep their friendship strong and overcome any barriers together. Any true friendship can overcome racial stereotypes put in place by society including the racial barrier between Blacks and Whites. The novel

“It’s not easy to be a hero. You do it because of what you believe, not because of what other people deserve.” Anyone can face a challenge or a hardship. But what makes a true hero is how the person takes on the challenge. Often, heroes show feats of ingenuity and acts of bravery. Two heroes that acted during the American Civil Rights Movement, were Martin Luther King Jr, and Rosa Parks. A hero is a person who has demonstrated behaviors to ethically receive our appreciation and respect. A hero is an ordinary person who finds the strength within themselves to persevere and undergo hardships and calamity.

In the chapter, the gray zone, the author Primo Levi describes the human relationships inside the Lager. In describing the gray zone, Levi discusses the different roles of prisoners assigned by the Nazi. The prisoners that did the work were seen as being more privileged which at the end of the day helped them get more food and live better. Therefore, the concept of the gray zone is analyzing the difference between the privileged and the non-privileged in the Lager. The difference can be seen by the tasks that the prisoners carried out, for example, one of the groups were seen as, “Low ranking functionaries... sweepers, kettle washers, night watchmen, bed smoothers... checkers of lice and scabies,

When one thinks of heroes, names such as Ghandi, Martin Luther King, and Mother Theresa often come to mind. These people had done a lot of favors, courage, helps, and more of things for the people who needed them. The true definition of hero is a man of distinguished valor. Bravery, courage, intrepidity, boldness, daring, and prowess in war are a hero’s characteristics. However a hero is understood to be different to everyone. Upon closer examination, many different qualities than these become apparent. The definition of heroism changes with the context and time. Heroes of the past are not necessarily heroes of present time and vise versa. A person can be a hero for saving the life of one or of millions.

The Gulf Between was wrote by Andre Siegfried. It had a big purpose during the time it was written. The Gulf between was created to talk about the “new society” that America has created. Siegfried was a Frenchman who has been to America numerous times, and made the comment that the life in America has changed. The Gulf Between tells the reasons why American society has been changing and why they are now in a new society. The audience for this section of the book could be for European natives, American natives, history majors, or anyone who is wanting to learn about American and their new society.

Clarity Comes with Age In the short story “No Gray Areas” by Mark Johnston, the repetition of black and white imagery reveals that as an adult it is clear whether something is right or wrong, but as a child, that person is unable to differentiate the two and is stuck in a gray area of confusion. This theme is shown through black and white imagery when Johnston tells of his misdirection as a child, and when he reflects on his childhood experiences. One way Johnson reveals the theme, childhood confusion between right and wrong is later clarified as an adult, is by telling of his experiences as a child. He tells of the black and white things around him saying, “The only wall decoration was a black-and-white eye chart; the floor was covered with

Everybody has their own version of what a hero is supposed to look like and what they must do to act as a hero, but heroes come in all shapes and sizes. Heroes are defined by how they are able to help under certain circumstances. For instance, Martin Luther King Jr. fought for racial equality in the 60’s, Susan Brownell Anthony fought for the women's right to vote in the 1800’s, Christianity’s Jesus Christ fought to protect humanity for all their sins over 2000 years ago, Luke Skywalker fought the Galactic Empire to restore order for the entire universe a long time ago in a galaxy far far away, and Iron man who fought numerous villains to keep the public safe in popular media. The story of “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. shows how an anti-hero may be the best type of hero in a dystopian setting. This anti-hero is better known as

Ruta Sepetys is the author for Between the Shades of Gray, a novel that captures the truth of Siberian camps and the annexation of the Balkans by Stalin. Ruta Sepetys got the idea to write this fictional story when she visited her family in Lithuania and got the chance to discover more about her heritage. She got very fascinated about her family’s struggle to keep memories of her grandparents because of the annexation of Lithuania to the USSR. This conflict urged her to find out more about the feelings and people’s memoirs during this period in World War II so, she started interviewing the survivors from the Siberian gulags and gathered information to write her novel. The book was also inspired by her father, Jonas Sepetys, who escape

In Ellie Wiesel’s non-fiction novel, Night, he is telling his experiences of living in a concentration camp. The following passage is one that gives an example of how human lives were disregarded, “Faster, you filthy dogs! We were no longer marching, we were running like automatons. The SS were running as well, weapons in hand. We looked as though we were running from them.

People might think that being a hero is about saving people from a villain. However, sometimes being a hero means something that is much bigger than that. Who gets to decide the qualities of a hero, John Wyndham’s novel “The Chrysalids”, a small boy named David Strorm goes through many obstacles throughout his life David lives in a small village named Waknuk. The people are determined to keep their community “pure” by eliminating the Blasphemy’s (A person that is different from normal humans). David and his friends face many obstacles in order to survive the laws of Waknuknian society. Throughout the novel, David Strorm shows the reader his heroic qualities such as being trustworthy, courageous, and caring. Despite Waknuks’s treatment towards the deviations, David is still determined to overcome his obstacles.

A hero is someone who is recognized as determined, patient, and most of all, courageous. In I Am Legend by Richard Matheson , Robert Neville is the last man standing after a vampire plague hits and erases the human race. He does whatever possible everyday to try and stay alive, and investigates to try and figure out the cause of the plague, and maybe find hope for the future. In 1984 by George Orwell, Winston Smith is one of the last people in Oceania that isn’t brainwashed by the tyrannical government they are under. He rebels against the government by writing in his diary and having a secret relationship with a woman by the name of Julia. Between

What makes a person a hero? Is it their job? Their race? Their behavior? Well, a man named Leopold Socha proved that none of that matters and being a hero is just someone helping others out of the kindness of their heart. This is who and what Leopold did for 21 Jewish people when the Lwów ghetto was being taken over by the German army.

Heros… We hear on the news all the time that, this person is a hero for doing xyz, or this person is a hero of doing a different xyz; Well one author decided to write about a hero, a made up hero. This hero isn’t superman, or batman, nor does this hear even have a hero sounding name, to some people they can’t imagine this person ever being a hero because they don’t know him. This hero is Papa from the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

Imagine being captive in a concentration camp for over eight years. Ivan Denisovich Shukhov has experienced just this. In analyzing only one day of Ivan’s life in a concentration camp, he displays many traits that show that he is a hero. Hero, can be defined in many different ways. The definition from Webster’s dictionary states: Hero- a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. Shukhov definitely portrays courageous characteristics. He also has gained many abilities that people do not have, due to his experience in the concentration camp. Shukhov shows emotional, physical, and moral strength throughout this book. I believe this alone makes him a hero.

Heroes come in many shapes and sizes, throughout time many of them have risen and fallen. A hero is characterized as someone that is a leader to his people, they reflect societal views, and yet they have a major flaw that often causes their downfall. During the 20th century a revolutionary man rose from his years of exile to lead the Bolshevik party into power, his name, Vladimir Lenin. Lenin stands as a prime example of a leader that reflects Russia’s social values, and as a flaw for his outspoken nature suffers from a near-death assassination.