Reading
The Grim Effects of Greed
Over the course of the year, we read two very different books in English: The Pigman by Paul Zindel and The Pearl by John Steinbeck. One common theme they have is greed. While they both share this theme, it is represented in different ways. In The Pigman, a book about two teenagers befriending a lonely, old man, John, one of the kids, throws a party in the old man's house while he is in the hospital, in hopes of gaining popularity from his peers. In contrast, The Pearl, a book about a poor man who finds a great pearl, the man, Kino, will stop at nothing to make a good profit on the pearl to get his son a good education. Although the two characters had different motives, they ended up with a similar outcome. The old man, mad at the two teenagers for betraying him. in The Pigman ends up dying when they kids try to reconnect with him. Kino's son, however, takes a bullet for the pearl, and he too dies. This shows that greed, in any situation, can hurt those around you.
A Story That Will Make You Laugh- and Cry
Recently, I read It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini, and it quickly became one of my all time favorite books. Craig Gilner, an extremely smart and hardworking teenage boy, is accepted into the high school he has been dreaming about. When he realizes that the work he is given at the school is too incredibly difficult, Craig spirals into a pit of stress and depression. After months of troubles with friendships, girls, and school work, Craig decides he is going to end his life. The night he plans to kill himself, he calls a suicide hotline, landing himself in an adult psychiatric hospital to sort out his problems and find out where he plans to go after his release. A major theme I saw in the book is finding yourself. Before being checked into the hospital, Craig was always worrying about how he only got A minuses and how he had a crush on his best friends girlfriend. He often was a victim of peer pressure and always found himself sinking further into his sickness. Once in the hospital, he was able to find his love of drawing maps and making other people happy. Craig was able to realize that good grades and attractive girls aren't the most important things to him, and he found happiness through the art and people he discovered in the hospital. This is one of my favorite books because it shows Craig really putting things in perspective for himself, which is a very important thing to be happy with your life. After not caring much about the things that brought him down, he finds his joy. It's Kind of a Funny Story's tells the honest and at times humorous story of one boys recovery, and will leave you feeling like you can do anything.