Ship Breaker

In Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, Louie Zamperini experienced many situations that were both lucky and unlucky. These events helped shape him into who he is and prove that sometimes luck prevails. The Green Hornet crash, the rescue from the sea, and the aftermath of the war are all examples of lucky and unlucky instances that Louie Zamperini faced that left him “unbroken”.

Fate is a mysterious force. There are the non-believers, saying that you are responsible for your actions and not controlled by this so called ‘destiny,’ able to change your life at any point you wish to. Demonstrated in stories such as Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, these tales showcase how a crabby old miser and a mysterious man change the course of their futures. Meanwhile, there are many stories, myths, and even religions that emphasize how fate controls your life; that you are on a predestined path. Edgar Allen Poe seems to share this view on the subject. His short story, The Masque of the Red Death, exemplifies how no matter what you do to protect yourself, fate will find you and do its bidding. Despite his

In Huckleberry Finn multiple instances of superstitions arise and seem to be engraved in the culture, even the most utmost examples being rarely questioned and continually passed on from generation to generation like a hand-me-down. In modern society, superstition is one big mind game. Eventually, enough people are affected by these notions that they become evidence for others. In both modern day and in the late 1800s when the story of Huck Finn took place, superstition has been used as a cloak to explain events or occurrences that humans cannot or simply choose not to explain in a logical manner, oftentimes showing the illogical thinking and gullibility of a certain society.

Even though this story is about a serious subject, Gawande still manages to throw some of his own humor into the mix. This is a good point made by him. As this was mentioned earlier, bad things can happen to anyone, anytime, and anyplace. To several people, including myself, this is just a superstition; nothing more and nothing less. Sure, there are always different opinions, but that’s all they are: OPINIONS. Gawande explains this very well in just one statement. He says that we could have feared any other day of the year. We could have feared Thursday the thirteenth, or Friday the fifth, instead of Friday the thirteenth (16). It is in fact true that we could have referred to any day as unlucky. It’s just like having a lucky number too. To you, it may truly be lucky and make you feel that way too. On the other hand, your “lucky number” may not be someone else’s lucky number. Instead, it very well might be their unlucky number. In another instance, at the very beginning of the story, Gawande gives certain examples of athletes having their own superstitions (13). For example, Jack Nicklaus wouldn’t ever play a round of

Life is full of challenges. In the stories, “Breaking Through Uncertainty-Welcoming Adversity” and “Neighbours,” written by Jim McCormick and Lien Chao, the main characters illustrate benefits derived from taking risks. Even though both people in these texts undergo personal challenges, in “Neighbours” the character, Sally, receives greater benefits from taking risks than McCormick in “Breaking Through Uncertainty-Welcoming Adversity”.

Luck is many times considered silly or just part of someone’s imagination, but it can really play a big role in what becomes of an individual. In the first chapter, titled “The Matthew Effect”, we

According to Marian Erickson, “Most of life is choices, and the rest is pure dumb luck.” Real people’s lives depend on this quote everyday, which leads to the outcome of each problem individuals face. In the passages, characterization of the main personas helps one understand the theme. Conflict and symbolism also help lead to the overall idea that life is not always guaranteed to be full of success. The book The Other Wes Moore, the poem “If,” and the informational text “The Art of Resilience” all share a common theme of how choices and luck contribute to the success of life.

There are times in life that we attribute good luck to our hard work, dedication or talent but there are some other times when we can say that luck is just a chance that we get. As we can see on the work of this two authors James H. Austin the author of “Four kinds of chance” published in Saturday Review and Robert H. Frank author of “why luck matters much more than you think” published in The Atlantic (May 2016) they show the reader how chances can influence in different ways. After reading their work I consider Robert H Frank article more effectively fulfills his thesis.

Using superstitions and rituals aren’t uncommon, as millions of people believe in such a magical phenomenon. Some of the millions are the most successful lawyers of New York. These thoughts of superstitions and rituals boost the confidence and performance of many, including these lawyers. However, some of these superstitious

"The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure" - Sven Goran Eriksson. Success is an achievement in life which most people would be appreciative towards, but failure is looked upon in a disgraceful manner. People in society tend to face many challenges that occur in their daily lives. Some of these challenges can affect their lives dramatically in a positive or negative way. If one decides not to surmount their challenges they will suffer within themselves for a long period of time. Having confidence within is considered the greatest way to overcome suffering in life. In the novel, The Shipping News, by Annie Proulx, Quoyle deals with many difficult challenges along his life journey by suffering from bad childhood experiences

This passage is an extract from Joseph O’ Connor’s Star of the sea which was penned in the year 2002. The passage makes use of a third person narrative view point as a result of which the readers are provided with a vivid image of passengers aboard a stormy sea ship. The passage talks about a ship afloat a stormy sea and how the passengers on the deck are caught unaware due to this storm. The author uses a descriptive style of writing with short crisp sentences that heighten the pace of the story. In the last two paragraphs however, the author uses longer sentences that signal a slower pace and show the readers that the storm has died down for the time being. The author has interspersed the action with 2 dialogues. It is interesting to

In the book “Strength in what remains” by Tracy Kidder, the main protagonist named Deo was a man that faced many hurdles in his life. From escaping the Genocide in Rwanda and Burundi, which was because of the domestic racial dispute between Hutus and Tutsi (groups of ethnic people) to his time in New york. Deo faced insurmountable odds and opposition. Despite this set back, it seemed as if providence was on Deos side, granting him countless fortunes and blessings. Many different factors can be attributed to Deo’s success but nevertheless, luck and his hard work was what paved his path forward. To attribute all of Deo’s success to luck would be to undermine the sheer willpower he possesses and his willingness

Some say that superstition is an impractical way of looking at life but the characters in Mark Twain’s, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn beg to differ. Examples of superstition are abundant throughout the novel. Allowing characters in a novel to have superstitions makes their lives more realistic and the reading more enjoyable. Huck and Jim’s superstitions cause them grief, help them get through, and sometimes get them into trouble in their lengthy runaway journey. Although both of these characters tend to be quite rational, they quickly become irrational when anything remotely superstitious happens to them. Superstition plays a dual role: it shows that Huck and Jim are child-like in spite of their otherwise

His survival is heavily influenced by every choice he makes, from ignoring the exhortations to escape impending danger to choosing to stay with his father in spite of difficulties. His experience with the Holocaust directly shapes his role as a frontline fighter for recognition of Holocaust victims. In moving to Canada, I also shaped my role in society. My skills, such as playing sports; hobbies, such as reading; and characteristics, such as persistence and studious attitude have all developed due to my moving to Canada. My exposure to a life so plentiful in opportunities has also caused me to take many things for granted. Events in people’s lives shape who they become. Some of these circumstances are brought about by the decisions of others, while the majority of occurrences are caused by deliberate choices. These decisions can shape destiny in a life-or-death situation or a can be like a small, yet equally profound, choice to smile at a stranger. While some decisions are out of one’s hands, a conscious effort to have a positive outlook on life can still influence destiny. Like a rudder, daily decisions made with a positive mentality can steer people to a prosperous life. It does not do well to dwell on what may have happened, but rather on how the life one creates can be consequential in further extending the development of

word moral luck to describe these indescribably incidents. Moral luck, as Nagel defines it, is the aspect that people judge someone based on their actions which relies heavily on the factors beyond their control. Nagel also states that due to these circumstances that will alter the final result we should not be scrutinized for our results.