The Secret Life Of Eden Book Report

When thinking about the gift offering in the biblical story of Cain and Abel and its impact, one can see many similarities in East of Eden. Cain brought to God “the fruit of the ground” and Abel offered God “the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof” (Gen 4 KJV). God preferred the gift of Abel to the gift of Cain.

The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament. Sandra L. Richter, InterVarsity Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-8308-2577-6

Selfishness, a quality that best shines in times of isolation, forces others to become aware of one's need for attention. Patrick Ness portrays this trait in A Monster Calls in a way that makes the readers realize that the burden of a secret is too great for anyone of any age to carry. Conor O'Malley is thirteen, but his experiences and hardships are ones that those who are beyond their years have not necessarily needed to overcome. Taking into account his mother's worsening condition, he does not want to let his surroundings affect him more than they already have. Under the influence of the Monster, Conor allows himself to act in accordance to his situation instead of keeping everything to himself without an outlet for his emotions. Conor’s selfishness, which is seen throughout the novel, affects his interactions with others in drawing out their flaws. To retaliate against his father, Lily and his grandma for putting him in situations that cause him suffering, Conor must act in this selfish manner regardless of the consequences.

Chapters 17 through 24, the monster starts narrating. The monster “ returned to Geneva; and I (he) could not collect the courage to recommence my work.” On his journey back, he was thinking “he saw his former self, “in Clerval. As the novel ends the monster shows sorrow, kindness, and remorse by saying “farewell I leave you, and in you the last of humankind whom these eyes will ever behold.” Throughout the novel, the reader has opinions about different characters because of the unique writing style; “framed

Patrick Ness' A Monster Calls, is truly inspiring and an emotional novel for audiences that changes ones’ perspective towards facing death. Conor’s mother affects the main character of the story (Conor) due to the fact that she has cancer. Conor seems to be maintained and calm since Conors mom is still alive. Because of her sickness, Conor was reunited with his family once again, but he wishes they would both leave since his father and grandmother are trying to make him understand that there’s a good chance she won’t make it. The audience can only understand Conor if they understand what’s going on in his head. Overtime, this “nightmare” is shown throughout the text but is never explained until the final chapter. A nightmare that’s been

As Keanu Reeves once said, “Grief changes shapes, but it never ends” (“Tragic”). When it comes to grief there are usually five shapes or stages that people go through: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and, finally, acceptance. The book A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, is about a young boy who is struggling with school, bullies, friends, and family when his mother develops a terminal illness. He is visited by the monster, a massive yew tree, who comes alive to teach Conor the ways of the world. He also teaches Conor the truth in order to move past his mother’s sickness. Ness shows how people in both literature and real life tend to go through five stages of grief while dealing with a loved one who has a terminal illness because of the overwhelming lamentation it inflicts.

The beast limped towards me, its eyes glowing red like the color of my blood, adrenaline pumps quickly throughout my body, it charges, hooves clacking along the cold dirt floor, its shaggy fur dripping with warm crimson blood. My breath is fast as I leap towards it, dagger raised. It punctures the soft skin, tearing the flesh of its bony chest. I follow the pattern; leap, stab, tear, duck, roll, aim for thigh and roll again. It howls in rage and leaps at me, its claws outstretched, I hold out my blade as it crashes into it, the knife reaching its' now motionless heart. Another comes at me, wanting to seek revenge for its fallen brother. It roars, spikes flaring in and out of

7. The monster continues to learn about the people and how to talk. A girl shows up one night to talk to Felix and she speaks a different language. After hearing them talk for a while the monster is able to speak English. The monster begins to question himself about being a monster. As he stays he learns more and more about the family.

The Epic of Eden was written in hope that believing readers would come to an understanding of the Old Testament as their story. A way for them to understand and cross the barrier that is created by the people, places, history and context of the scriptures which can be daunting and hard to navigate. As Sandra L. Richter, who is the author of Epic of Eden, depicts the modern believer as having what is called the dysfunctional closet syndrome. What she means by this is that as believers we are given many “stories, characters, dates and place names” but we do not have a way to sort all the information, like a closet with a bunch of items but no shelves or hangers. Ritcher aims to sort out these barriers and in the course of the book and all in

When the monster returns, he learns of the family’s sudden plans to move away. With no other direction, the monster seeks out answers from his creator. He comes across Victor’s papers, which reveal his identity and residence. With his newfound information, the monster decides to find his way to Victor. Throughout his journey his curiosity begins to turn into hatred and rage towards his creator. As he treks across the continent he discloses, “the spirit of revenge is enkindled in my heart” (119). This shows the monster’s capability of harboring dark emotions; it shows his benevolence quickly slipping away.

In history, monsters are portrayed as vicious creatures with frightening superpowers and other inhuman characteristics. In A Monster Calls, monsters play a significant role in the story. Although they're just imaginary creatures created by the human's imagination, they have a great purpose in the creation of the story, they are often used to tell the story, show fear, and scare. In the case of A Monster Calls, the Yew Tree monster takes Conor on a journey of courage, faith, and truth. For example, the quote from A Monster Calls "It is not what I want from you, Conor O’Malley, it said. It is what you want from me."[page.10], he is trying to help Conor and often the monster can be seen friendly and helping Conor with his life by experiences. Conor has an egregious life, while his father moved away, his mother is dying because of cancer and cannot help him on the things she wanted to help, this monster helps change his life in exchange for the truth or the his “nightmare.” While getting bullied and abused in school Conor still maintains a calm life. At 12:07 the monster arrives to talk to him every night and takes to tell three stories and then he has tell his nightmare, but Conor loses his mom because of the nightmare monster this was the nightmare he saw every day, but when he woke up, he went to hold his mom for the last time. As the quote from A Monster Calls states her death “Conor held tightly onto his mother, and by doing so, he could finally let her go.”

“The short term pain of accepting the truth is much better than the long term pain of believing an illusion”- unknown. In the novel A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, a 13 year old boy, Conor O'malley, deals with inner struggles when accepting his mother’s fatal illness. Conor experiences hardship when coming to terms with the truth so he chooses to suppress it with denial and this worsens his grieving process. Conor undergoes a troubling state where he is lonesome and unwillingly expresses himself through violence and a series of emotional collapses. The teen’s way of coping is not beneficial to either him or is family. A monster in the form of a Yew tree comes to visit Conor and guides him towards the acceptance of truth. Although Conor is not oblivious towards his mother’s imminent death, he must learn from the monster to fully accept the condition she is in, in order to move on with his life. The Yew tree monster guides Conor through storytelling, thus teaching him the importance of accepting the truth. At times, the monster takes a step back and this allows Conor to discover the importance of truth slowly and independently. The way the monster approaches Conor and the tactics he uses to enlighten him are the main reasons Conor develops throughout the novel as an individual. Patrick Ness conveys the importance of truth and how difficult it is for individuals to accept and come to terms with

The author uses the yew tree monster to symbolize healing, guiding Conor through the uneasy circumstances he faces due to his mother's illness. Conor needs help to accept his mother’s imminent death; however, wants to believe her positive responses towards treatment instead of the truth. He thinks the monster has resurfaced to heal his mother; however it states, “I did not come to heal her, I came to heal you”(193), helping Conor cope with her death. This angers Conor, but the monsters healing allows him to confront his nightmare, ultimately providing him with peace and acceptance for letting his mom go. At first, Conor copes through aggression and violence bestowed upon him through the monster. One of the most prominent scenes of destruction is when Conor demolishes his grandma's sitting room along with her precious settee and clock. In the midst of his actions he feels satisfied, unleashing the repressed anger from his mom’s sickness; however, is horrified to see the damage he causes (125). For Conor, breaking the clock symbolizes his desire to stop his mom from dying as well as the time they are both losing with one another. Also, his aggression symbolizes the changes people go through when dealing with difficult circumstances because it provides them with strength and control they lack otherwise. In addition, the monster helps Conor heal by giving him the strength to face his bullies. This is significant because his bullies torment him throughout the school year, noticing his mother’s

How can the truth hurt and heal? Tuth, a contradictory term, unveils many sides to a story; in some cases blurring the barrier between right and wrong. The novel, A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness reveals the power of truth through the story of a young boy named Connor. Struggling to come to terms with his mother’s fatal illness, Connor is guided by an ancient yew tree monster, who helps him find peace within the toxic truth that plagued him through his mom's sickness. The monster is a symbol for healing, truth, and the grieving process. Through these multiple levels of symbolism, the philosophical message conveyed is coming to terms with the truth is important for facing difficulties and letting someone go.

My mother had promised me over and over again that the monster wasn’t anything more than a figment of my imagination. When I had turned thirteen I forced myself to believe her, tired of fearing something that had no real proof. There had been pictures on the internet that promised they weren’t photoshopped, and stories people promised was nothing but the