Short Story On Wesley Crossing

Gary Paulsen is the author of the novel The Crossing. The main character in this story is a young boy named Manny. The only family he has is himself and he lives on the streets of Mexico. Many homeless children of Mexico, like Manny, think crossing the border to the United States of America will solve all their problems and life will be good.

I peered around through the rain, desperately searching for some shelter, I was drowning out here. The trouble was, I wasn’t in the best part of town, and in fact it was more than a little dodgy. I know this is my home turf but even I had to be careful. At least I seemed to be the only one out here on such an awful night. The rain was so powerfully loud I couldn’t hear should anyone try and creep up on me. I also couldn’t see very far with the rain so heavy and of course there were no street lights, they’d been broken long ago. The one place I knew I could safely enter was the church, so I dashed.

Jenkins starts the article with a section that sets an optimistic tone for the piece. “What makes it special, what makes it sacred, is the love that Thomas poured into the turf,” is an example of how Jenkins places a thought of determination into the reader’s mind. Throughout the article Jenkins explains how Ed Thomas helped the town of Parkersburg through many disastrous moments, such as the tornado that hit thirteen months before. Thomas keeps hope by putting back together the football field, which brings the town together. Towards the end of the piece, Jenkins goes back to the optimistic tone and writes about forgiveness and how the people of Parkersburg are sticking together. He includes a quote that Ed Thomas’ oldest son told the team about what was going to happen. “Don’t use this as an excuse. Nothing is changing here.” By including this quote, it lets the reader know that the citizens of Parkersburg are not giving up and they are going to move on through the tough times, no matter how hard it is.

It was at the peak of the night’s darkness, fog covered the kingdom. The town was fast asleep, the King and his thanes were also out cold. There was an eerie sense in the air. It had almost been too long without any commotion. The kingdom, at the top of the Food chain, hadn’t been attacked for nearly two years now.

Samuel had been digging the grave all night. The task was labored silently, with only the shhks of the shovel being thrust into the dirt and the plops of the earth dropping sounding in the morning air. He would rest this morning if he could and his chores would fall to me. I had been eagerly anticipating them since Tom’s death; I needed a something to do. His passing had been long coming and while he had lain dying I had a job to do. I fed him spoonfuls of water and grain knowing all the while that it was futile and I was utterly useless, but still trying because Tom just couldn't die like that; so young.

“On the seventh day I handed him his gun. He looked at it in surprise, but finally went north.” (P.100-101)

One day, he and the dog deviated from their normal path and were led to an abandoned church. Thomas decided to stop and sit on the front steps of the old church. He began to cry and prayed that he would one day become healthy again. After regaining his composure, Thomas began inspecting the church's exterior, which was in major disrepair, and he felt that he needed to do something to spruce it up.

Thomas’ ship made it to the Atlantic about an hour after daybreak- it was a lot quicker going downriver than up. He was relieved not to see any other ships a sail as he pointed the eagle figurehead toward the north and Charleston Harbor. He just hoped his luck continued and he made it in easily. The closer they came to harbor the harder it was to keep thoughts of Allie at bay. Staring ahead, he tried to keep a watchful eye on the horizon- he estimated that they should make it to Charleston about suppertime.

As his journey continued, it seemed as if his hope was slowly left behind with the remnants of the villages that were attacked by the rebels. The uncertainty of when he is going to see his loved ones again lessened his hope of surviving but he kept pushing through each obstacle that was in his way, always reminding himself of what his father

While there are some obstacles like facing WICKED and Teresa betraying Thomas. The weather out there is extremely dangerous. Thomas and the glazers have to cooperate to make it out of the wasteland. In this book we are mainly in Thomas’s brain.

The sun was beating down on Timothy’s neck, walking hand in hand with his younger brother walker and a stranger. Tim’s eyes stung from bawling the night before and his body was bruised from being roughed up by the mysterious man. One second enjoying the sights of Austin, Texas, the next being shoved into a back of a car and taken away. It’d been almost a day since he’d seen his parents and neither him nor his brother knew where where

"Thomas leaned back against the rough rock, overcome by disbelief at what he had just done. Filled with terror at what the consequences might be." (Dashner). He ran outside the Glades knowing he only had seconds to come back in until the thick, humongous walls closed shut for the night sealing the three Gladers outside. What is worse is this is at night, one extremely tired, one with an injured arm, and Thomas, an inexperienced Glader. They have no idea what they were going to expect. Thomas might have not know it, but he's crossing his very first threshold in the story.

Earlier in the book, we are told that Thomas had lost his memories. In order to try and regain them, he allowed himself to be stung by grievers. I feel like many people can relate to Thomas. I am pretty sure that at some point we have all be in Thomas’ shoes. We all know the feeling of desperation and when that feeling occurs, we will do almost anything to get what we desire.

Alton had spent the last year of his life entombed underground with no sense of time or space. The first few weeks in his new home, he had attempted to mentally retrace every step, every movement of his journey to this mass grave. It was a defeatist attempt, as he, like most everyone else, was focused and fearful of their destination, rather than the journey.

My impression of The Crossing was that an interesting yet an educational film of American history. Additionally, I was amazed at how the actors played each character, how they portray Washington was an original thinker, and how important his decision was to the American Revolution