He is afraid to show affection, as seen with Ezinma and Ikemefuna. In fact, he is so “possessed by the fear of his father’s contemptible life” (Achebe 18), that he does not heed Ezeudu’s advice regarding the death of Ikemefuna. Okonkwo is afraid of looking weak, so he kills Ikemefuna himself. His deep seated fear of resembling his father is stronger than even love for his adopted son. Okonkwo’s “whole life was dominated by […] fear of failure and of weakness” (Achebe 13), and while this initially aids him in his success, it is also the precise reason for all his immoral actions.
Chris feels as though he does not belong because he found out that everything his parents had been telling him was a lie. This disturbed his identity, and made him feel as though he no longer belonged to his family. This movie shows how when a persons connections with the people around them and the community are severed, they loose their identity, connections and sense of
Holden lives a very mixed up life. Holden is depressed because he learns that he is a failure after leaving Penecy since he flunked every subject except for English. Sally Hayes depresses Holden as well because he doesn’t understand why she wouldn’t want to run away with him. He says to Sally out of no where, "Look...here's my idea, how would you like to get the hell out of here"" (132; ch. 17).
“Sadness of Desire” Richard Rodriguez: The Achievement of Desire As I read Richard Rodriguez’s The Achievement of Desire a feeling of sadness overwhelmed me. Typical of what Richard Hoggart terms “scholarship boys”, Rodriguez felt he could not admire his parents and still pursue his desire to be like his teachers; educated and successful. Rodriguez’s desire to be like his teachers caused him to abandon his family. The thought of a human being alienating themselves from a loving, supportive family in pursuit of achieving a personal desire makes me sad. As a “scholarship boy” he allows himself to be embarrassed of where he came from and that his parents were not as educated as his teachers.
His parents actions when he was young left him with the idea that love and relationships are horrible and all it does is hurt us, he felt as if it’s not worth going through the pain and stress. He only saw the bad sides of love, and because of that, he kept himself from everyone; he never realised the good sides of love until later on in his life. Another main contrast between the two poems, is guilt. In both poems the poets both feel guilt, but in different ways. Harrison, who had a good and loving family life, felt guilty about the way he treated his father when mourning.
What a son of a b****,” I said under my breath, “to bring them to this.” Tears streamed from my selfish eyes over my selfish face. I sobbed, my fists clenched in shame. I wept for the guilt I had caused them to feel.” [Bell 158]. Crabbe is misled by his own pride thinking his parents will not care if he runs away but clearly they cared a lot leaving Crabbe in a pile of guilt. The teachers that have Crabbe in their class rooms are tough on him because they are preparing him for his adult life which is much different than his adolescent life.
If that “lost soul” fails to earn the grade he deserves, he becomes crushed and demoralized. He may try his hardest to bring them up, but what if he does not? Then his parents find out, then scholarship foundations find out, then colleges find out, and then that “lost soul” won’t be able to attend college. An easily aggravated bum is the fate that awaits this poor fellow. He yells and spits at people passing by who do not donate charity to him.
Other characters also help build a picture of Birling in the opening section. Eric's defense of the workers brings about a vicious verbal attack from Birling which pours scorn on Eric's lack of business experience and reveals his bitter feeling towards "public-school-and-Varsity" education. Priestley suggests he resents the advantages enjoyed by his son's generation and this helps the audience understand why later Eric says that Mr Birling is "not the kind of father a chap would go to when hes in trouble". At this point, Priestley has provided a picture of a self-important man who places his faith in technology and industry, who believes he can enjoy the rewards granted by the community while declaring that community spirit is "nonsense" and that a man has to "mind his own business and look after himself and his own". Yet Eric, at this start of the Inspector's chain of events' has already challenged his father's views, and later Sheila will do the same by recognising a shared humanity with the
Richard Rodriguez considered himself to be a bad student despite his academic success because of the change and separation of his family. He was ashamed of his parents lack of education because of their Mexican heritage. At a young age he began to correct his parents’ grammatical mistakes. A scholarship boy referred to someone who has been changed by their education that they are troubled to reminisce about their own past. Richard Rodriguez was a student who struggled to live
If he lets himself get out of control so much that he hates someone, then his inner self and soul breaks down or degrades. This means that overall everyone’s opinion does matter and mean a lot, but how you approach it is what matters most. Quote 2: Success is not really success if you haven’t succeeded past any obstacles to get to that sussessful life. “I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” Booker T. Washington was telling his readers how he felt through the voice of this quote. This says to me a lot to myself and teach me a lesson.