Stephen R. Covey 's Contents Of A Dead Man 's Pockets

As Tom grew older he began to take notice of his surroundings, the people around him and learnt how to see the light at the end of a very dark mental tunnel. Initially Tom didn’t want to come out of ‘the cave’, he wanted to be isolated from the rest of the world. Although as he got back into enjoying playing rugby at his school, Bennies, as well as running with his uncle Brendan, he began to become ‘Tom Brennan again’. When Tom started talking to the girl he liked, Chrissy, he became much more confident and starting to come out of the ‘dark tunnel’ he was seemingly trapped in. Not long after they started to go out with each other, with this completing Tom’s ‘comeback’ to being the person that he wanted to be. ‘…that was the morning Tom Brennan came back, forever.’ The only reason Tom Brennan went away was because of Daniel, his brother, who is not that much older than Tom, decided that driving while heavily intoxicated was a logical thing to

Burke illustrates Tom’s inner conflict with first-person narration. The guilt he feels over the inactivity he had on the night of the incident, his frustration with Kylie and the added guilt he exhibits because he feels sorry for himself all adds up to his conflicted thoughts. Tom doesn’t know or feel like himself anymore. But Burke brings this to the attention of the reader in a good light when Tom thinks, “But now I knew what I missed most. I missed me, Tom Brennan, and that’s why now I could smile, ‘cause I could see he was coming back.” Thus, when J.C. Burke aptly finishes the book with the line “that was the morning Tom Brennan came back, forever,” the true development in Tom’s character and conflict is shown through the employment of first-person narration. Therefore, J.C. Burke thoroughly addressed the conflict in Tom’s mind as it was overcome in the

Tom was bequeathed the position of head of the house after his father, a former telephone man, “fell in love with long distances.” Nonetheless, Tom still craves “long distance.” He spends his daily life stuck in a shoe warehouse only to “[retire] to a cabinet of the washroom to work on poems.” Tom realizes that his family

In ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’, the protagonist confronts a traumatic incident which compels him to undergo a physical relocation and sudden emotional change. The transition Tom predominantly faces is sudden as moving into the town of Coghill where he has to deal with social alienation and the horrific trauma inflicted through past events including Daniel’s anger and selfishness which hinders his physical and mentally growth and development. Tom experiences flashbacks of the ‘usual’ Australia Day with his family showing the complete paradox with what is now their reality and horror juxtaposed towards his flashback of the tragic accident of his older brother Daniel: “Running towards the car. Running into the headlights. Running into the silence of death.” The anaphora and repetition of ‘running’ highlights his emotional and physical devastation which emphasises the initial stages of the novel and negative connotations of ‘death’ assumes the setting. As a result of the crisis, Tom responds rather opposing towards transferring to a new setting of Coghill. Depressing motifs are frequently implied throughout the novel to express the feeling of despair and sadness: “There aren’t words to say how black and empty pain felt. It was deeper than the

| 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.

Tom takes a big step forward in overcoming the adversities he’s faced with, showing that he’s maturing and making steady way through his journey of growing into the wider world.

Tom’s initial perspective of on his transition he and his family must undertake is on of despair and reluctance. This despair is emphasised through the emotive language that is used throughout the prologue such as ‘groan,’ ‘dump,’ and ‘shuffling.’ Tom’s despair also creates a sense of tension throughout the family as for the line, ‘no one spoke,’ the line reinforces the tension and their reluctance to face the new change in their life. The line ‘down, down we glided in silence,’ could be interpreted metaphorically.

Our Life is a matter of choices. Live well and have faith and it will never go wrong. Our lives can be full of crazy ups and downs that shape our views on how life should be lived. With a similar ideology, author Flannery O’Connor’s depicts her own life struggles using different aspects and details throughout her novels and short stories. O’Connor lived by the basis that life must go on no matter the hardships. In her novels she represented various characters who made wrong choices and due to those choices suffered extreme negative consequences. Despite her struggles, O’Connor made the choice to continue on in her life yet many of her novels contradicted that same idea by having characters in her novels and short stories suffer consequences for making the wrong choices. Because the

Arriving back at his apartment, Booker found Tom curled on the couch, his gaunt face a mask of misery. Dressed in ill-fitting sweats, the borrowed clothing swamped his slender frame, giving him the appearance of someone much younger than his twenty-five years. There was a bucket next to the couch that smelled faintly of vomit and Booker averted his eyes, unable to stomach the sight of the foul smelling liquid. His lower body ached, and all he wanted to do was take a hot shower and go to bed. For the first time since Tom’s arrival, he was aware of the enormity of what he was taking on. He could say goodbye to his carefree bachelor’s life, he was now responsible for a sick and emotionally damaged

“Contents of a Dead Man’s Pockets” by Jack Finney is about a man, Tom Benecke, who is torn between two loves. Tom, the protagonist, is faced with a choice in the basic situation: work or family. He is put through many hardships that show him that he needs to prioritize his work and family life. This story, “Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket”, shows its readers that if one does not prioritize their life, then they could lose everything. Life is a universal theme found in many different genres of writing. In the song “Glorious” Macklemore talks about how he is back and he takes all the chances that he can in life. The poem “Loveliest of Trees” talks about how the author does not have much time left, so he will take more chances and enjoy more things in life. The poem “George Gray” tells readers that he wishes that he had taken more chances in life. People are given many chances in life; therefore, they should take as many as they can get.

Another means of Tom’s escape are his outings to the movie, which are aided by the fire escape. Tom goes to the movies for several reasons; to satisfy his need for alcohol, to escape his home life, and to experience some adventure. Walter is a black man in the 1950’s supporting himself, his wife, son, sister and mother in a small apartment in Chicago. He and Tom are both treated less than what a human is worth.

With a weary grunt, Booker shifted the bag of groceries in his arms and kicked his apartment door closed with his foot. He had planned to be home early so he take Tom out to dinner as a birthday surprise, but as usual, work had ruined his plans. When he had rung Tom and explained that he would be home late, he had expected him to react moodily, but instead, he had received a sympathetic response. It was a sign that their relationship was now on stable footing. Tom was more open about his feelings, and they argued less about the trivialities of everyday life; they were moving forward.

In The Man in The Gray Flannel Suit, as Wilson opens up the novel, he describes the Rath family’s house, stating, “the house had a kind of evil genius for displaying proof of their weaknesses and wiping out all traces of their strengths” (Wilson 1). Throughout the novel, Tom and Betsy Rath’s house is a cause of their insatiable and stagnate depression. By giving the house possession of the trait “evil genius” before even introducing the main characters, Wilson gives Tom and Betsy Rath’s house agency and control over its owners. Despite having a respectable house, the Rath’s longing for more obstructs their ability to be happy in with their house. Tom and Betsy’s “American Dream” is the source of their discomfort- it is the source of the “evil genius” in their pleasant yet simple house. Just before the Rath family goes to church, Wilson states, “Pete was in gray flannel shorts and a brown jacket” (Wilson 129). From a young age, Pete, Tom’s son, dresses to mirror his father, who incidentally mirrors the style of thousands of other men in the city. By dressing Pete the same way as his father when they leave the house, Wilson proposes the hopelessness of any deviation from the path paved by the men in gray flannel suits. Tom Rath’s “American Dream” of financial success locks not only himself, but his children into a strict and rigid path devoid of character and hostile to creativity and

More than once in every man’s life he has yearned for something that is out of his reach. Whether it be fashionable clothes, an elaborate home, a newer car, or a more desirable career, some things are unattainable. George Milton, one of the main characters

Tom, a son of Amanda, a poet, with no backbone gets a job in a warehouse and does not have any plan for his career. He is trapped by his mother and has suffered from that. However, Tom is curious about how he