Thursday, January 3, 2013

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger


Author's Note: In school we have been understanding the concept of writing about theme. This topic can be very challenging, but I feel like I have grown as a writer by being introduced to theme. My essay is about coping with death. I used the books, Heaven is for Real, A Walk to Remember, and The Hunger Games to show the connections of coping with death as the books theme's.  



What is the most distressing moment every person has so cope with? A lot of things in life are hard to cope with, but by far the hardest thing is death. The feeling of loosing someone you love or care for is the hardest thing a person can go through. While reading books, Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks, you can really relate to the theme of the books. Every character in these novels goes through a death or hearing about a death they have to learn to cope with. By coping with death we learn to become stronger and are able to  overcome anything.

"Daddy, I died and went to heaven." Imagine those words coming from your five year old son. How would you respond to that? In the book, Heaven is for Real, you hear the exquisite story about a young boy, Colton, dying while he was in surgery; how he went up to heaven and met Jesus. Colon then came right back to earth and explained what he witnessed. Visualize how Colton's dad managed to understand how his son went to heaven and came back to earth. Not only did Colton's father have to comprehended to his son meeting Jesus, but when Colon starts talking about how he met his grandpa in heaven his father starts to understand his son did go to heaven and he's thankful for him coming back to life. Even though Colton and his family had troubles understanding the fact that Colton died, their family becomes even closer than they ever were. 

In Heaven is for Real, the people were fortunate enough for Colton to come back to life. This was a different story in the book, The Hunger Games: everyday you're forced to either kill someone or you could be killed. Katnis is a poor girl who is entered into the The Hunger Games or what I call it: the killing games. Picture being in an arena and knowing anyone could be anywhere about to kill you. The meaning of the Hunger Games is you can't get close with anyone because for all you know they could die in the next minute. Katniss teamed up with a young girl named Rue and they became very close. Sadly, Rue dies and Katniss feels many emotions and doesn't understand with how she's suppose to cope with the loss of her friend and still be the last one standing in the Hunger Games. Lastly, Katniss doesn't only have to live with the memories of all the people dying in the Hunger Games, but she also had to go through her dad dying. This effected her a ton because her mother became depressed and Katniss had to step up and take care of the family. If I was in Katniss’s position I would just give up, but with Katniss being so strong, she learns to fight through the pain.

It's hard to watch someone die by being shot or being stabbed, but it's a whole different feeling watching someone you love die slowly from a sickness. While reading, A Walk to Remember, I remember crying: envision a young man falling in love with a young girl and coping with her having cancer. We can relate sicknesses to the book, Heaven is for Real. This is a connection because both characters, Jamie and Colton, are very ill and the people surrounding them have the same fear of them dying. Lucky for Colton he lives, but Jamie gets so sick she passes away. With being heartbroken Landon, the boy in love with Jamie, he understands that if Jamie was still alive she would want the best for him. Landon then learns to deal with Jamie's death by becoming a very successful doctor just like she would have wanted. Jamie too went through what Landon went through. At just a young age Jamie's mother was diagnosed with cancer just like Jamie. It was hard for Jamie, but she did as Landon did: she moved on.  

All the books, Heaven is for Real, A Walk to Remember, and The Hunger Games have the similarities of death. Colton and his family became stronger as a family, learning more about each other from Colton’s death. Katniss grew as powerful young girl who could take down anything from seeing death. Lastly, Landon was going nowhere and being inspired by Jamie changed him into becoming a successful young man. Death can cause pain at first, but as time goes on people learn to understand that death is in the present; therefore they develop a tough mind and are able to challenge themselves to defeat everything. 

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