Seth: The Hero

              To be a hero someone has to show self-sacrifice.  Self-sacrifice is when one character gives up something of his for another character.  Also, they don’t worry about their own welfare and put other’s life before their own.  Throughout Havoc, by Chris Wooding, Seth is self-sacrificing and willing to risk his own safety so he is a hero.

            Seth is a hero because he looks out for his friend, Kady, and the other kids who were taken to Malice and Havoc.  Even though he was able to escape Malice, he still had to get the shard.  The shard was important because it was going to save the kids who were in Malice and Havoc.  Even though he was safe in the real world he wanted everyone who was trapped to be free and for none of them to have to go back.  Seth is self-sacrificing because of the way he is willing to put him in possible danger and possibly give up his freedom.

            Seth is also a hero because he wasn’t worried about his own safety.  In the real world Seth could live happily and safely, but he feels like he has a job to do.  This job was dangerous because he could get killed.  Tall Jake and the others who were helping him carry out his plan didn’t want Seth to save the world.  Seth is a hero because he is putting others’ safety in front of his own.

            Seth is a hero because throughout Havoc he is willing to sacrifice himself for the benefit of others.  He was in the real world looking for the shard without thinking how it would affect him.  After he found the shard he went to Havoc to save the others who were trapped there.  Seth shows self-sacrifice and puts the welfare of others before his own, Seth is a hero.

Messenger: Trade Mart

            The community in Messenger by Lois Lowry lives in Village.  In the beginning of Messenger, Village is a place where the differences among people are accepted.   The community has grown by accepting those who were not accepted by their former communities.  Even though this is a community that accepts differences there are still hard times.  Some hard things that are happening are happening at the Trade Mart.

            At the Trade Mart, Mentor is trying to trade for the stocktender’s widow.  This is an injustice because he is trading for a person.  It’s not right and there are laws against trading for people.  Mentor is trying to trade for the widow because he is lonely, but that doesn’t justify the right to trade for a person.  He is trading his deepest self trait, which is his kindness, that’s what makes him a good teacher.  Even though his kindness may be his deepest trait it is not right to trade for a person.  There is nothing that is enough to trade for a person. 

            The Mentor also faced an injustice; prejudice because of his physical appearance.  He had a birthmark on his face, was going bald and walked with stooped shoulders.  The stocktender’s widow made fun of the way he walked by imitating him.  This was unfair especially in this community because it set up to be a community which accepted people’s differences.

            If the Mentor gets his way and the wall is built to close the community to newcomers forever the people of Village will face injustice.  The people of the village will lose out on what Village has thrived on for years: the acceptance of the difference in others.  Village will become like the community of The Giver.  There will be no people with differences.

            Messenger represents the real world, having people with many differences.  It also sets an example for us of how we should live, together as one group.  Since no two people are alike we all have differences and the Stocktender’s widow reminds us of prejudice we can all face.  Being a member of Village community acknowledges the differences in all of us and Village should not close itself to newcomers who are also looking to live with diversity.

Carter and Sadie: Their Unjust Life

                In The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan the story begins and injustice has already taken place.  Carter and Sadie, the main characters¸ are siblings who barely know each other. Before the story begins; their mother has died and Carter lives with their dad and Sadie with their grandparents.  For kids this is unfair, they have neither their mother’s love nor sibling support. Rick Riordan has set them up for a tough life.  As the book goes on more injustices unravel for Carter and Sadie.

            As if it is not bad enough to lose one parent, Carter and Sadie also lose their dad.  While doing a ritual their dad vanishes.  Set, an evil Egyptian god, was the one who causes this injustice against Carter and Sadie.  The ritual that their dad was performing was supposed to restore justice to the family.  When Set makes their dad disappear it makes the kids suffer another injustice.

            For Carter and Sadie the injustices continue.  They are questioned by an inspector from Scotland Yard about the disappearance of their father.  The inspector wanted to question them separately so that their stories would not affect each other.  Even though they were questioned separately they both gave the same account of what happened.  The inspector did not believe them; he felt that they were just telling a story, that their father could not have just vanished into the floor.  As a result they got deported.

            Imagine being a kid that lost both your parents and gets deported from where you live.  You now have no immediate family, except for the sibling you barely know.  You have no home to live in and you know nobody where you are going.  Would you feel the world was unjust?

Village a Place For Everyone

            Some might think that the communities of The Giver and Gathering Blue were ideal societies, but in Messenger the society is more realistic and closer to perfection because of its differences.  Village, the community of Messenger, is the land of “misfits”.  They were not really “misfits”, but they were welcomed in this community.  The people of Village aren’t really “misfits” but they are examples of differences among people.  Messenger shows how painful prejudice can be and shows how many people can accept their differences and thrive.

            In some societies people aren’t accepted because of physical appearances.  An example of this is the mentor, Village’s school teacher, has a birthmark.  Also Seer, the man who is from Matty’s community and the one who took him in, was beaten by people from his community because they were jealous of him.  Village took care of him and took him in when his community wouldn’t because he was left blind.  Both of them are important to Village in spite of their physical differences.

             Some communities don’t have a place for everybody.  Matty was a free spirited kid who was often seen as a trouble maker by his community.  In Messenger he plays an important role by delivering messages from his community to other communities.  He one day hopes to get his true name as messenger.  Jonas, the leader of Village, lives there because he escaped his village with Gabe, his “brother”.  He didn’t think his role in the other community was fair.  Jonas had to keep all the memories of the community’s past and he didn’t think it was fair that every one didn’t get to experience the memories.  When he escaped from the community all the memories would go back to the people and he did this knowing he would never be able to return.  Both Jonas and Matty who didn’t fit in their own community found a place in Village.

            The best example of accepting differences in others might be the village accepting Gabe. His previous community was going to release him because he wasn’t developing normally.  Village is accepting him even though at the age of 8 he is still learning how to speak.  Gabe’s disability didn’t make him a misfit in Village, but just a member with a difference.

            Village is an open minded place for everyone.  No one in the Village is a misfit because of differences.  Accepting our own differences and the differences of other will make a perfect society.

The Giver: The Mentor

            In Lois Lowry’s The Giver, the Giver is the mentor.  The mentor helps, trains or teaches a hero.  The Giver has held the memories of the world’s past and he is the only one who has these memories.  These memories include war, love, loneliness, the ability to make decisions, seeing color and weather.  Life in this community is very structured and the people living in the community don’t know any other way to live so they are happy.  The old receiver gives the memories to the new carefully selected new receiver and if the receiver leaves the community all the memories will go back to the community.

            The Giver received all the memories of the world many years ago, and is now responsible to give the memories to the new Receiver.  During the Ceremony of the Twelves, Jonas was told he was selected to be the new Receiver.  Jonas must report to the Giver right after school and go back to his dwelling right after his training.  Jonas received the memories of the world little by little from the Giver.

            The Giver is a mentor to Jonas because he helps him receive the world’s memories.  The Giver trains Jonas by first introducing pleasant memories like snow, sled rides and sunlight.  As time passes, Jonas wants to accept the more painful memories and the Giver transfers them.  Jonas now had memories of the world beyond the community that included feelings, color and war.  Jonas realizes this could be the way of life for everyone but doesn’t know how to make that happen.  The Giver explains how the last receiver couldn’t handle the memories and chose not to be the next Receiver.  When she was released all the memories she had were released back into the community.  The Giver helped Jonas make a plan for Jonas’ escape so that the memories would be released into the community.  Since the Giver helps Jonas give the memories back to the community, he is the mentor.

Charlotte: Hero and Mentor

            In E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, Charlotte is both the hero and then mentor.  To be a hero some has to show self-sacrifice.  Self-sacrifice is when one character gives up something of his for another character.  The mentor helps, trains or teaches a hero.  Charlotte is both a hero and a mentor to Wilbur.

            Charlotte is the hero because she saves Wilbur’s life.  Charlotte saves Wilbur’s life when she writes words in her web.  Mr. Zuckerman usually turns pigs into bacon because it is the farmer’s way of life.  When he sees the words he never thinks that a spider can spell so he doesn’t kill Wilbur because he believes the words on the web.  In the web, Charlotte writes some pig, terrific, radiant, and humble.    When Mr. Zuckerman sees the words in the web, he thinks that they must be talking about Wilbur so he spares the pigs life.  Charlotte also shows hero characteristics when she goes to the fair for Wilbur, otherwise he would have been lonely.  Charlotte, because she attended the fair and wrote the last word while there, almost didn’t get to complete her egg sac.  Charlotte shows self-sacrifice with all she did for Wilbur so she is a hero.

            Charlotte is the mentor to Wilbur because she is teaching him along the way.  She teaches him new words.  She aids Wilbur by acting like his mother.  She teaches him all about the life of spiders when she answers his questions while she reads to him.  She helps him mature.  Wilbur is helped a great deal by Charlotte.  He is lucky to have her as a mentor.

            Heroes and mentors change lives.  In Charlotte’s Web Charlottes changes Wilbur’s life by writing words in her web and teaching him.  She saves him from becoming bacon and helps him mature. Wilbur was lucky to find a hero and a mentor all in one.

Growing Up in Charlotte's Web

Annotations from page 9, 15, 49, 156, 173

            Throughout Charlotte’s Web, Fern grows up.  In the beginning Fern saves Wilbur’s life.  Fern convinces her dad not to kill Wilbur just because he is a runt.  She takes care of him even feeding him with a bottle.  She treats him as if he were her baby and as time passes during the story she becomes less of a mother to Wilbur and more like a girl of her age.  In the beginning she treats Wilbur as her baby doll and as girls grow up they lose interest in dolls.  At the fair she wants to be with Henry Fussy instead of being with Wilbur as he gets his appreciation medal.   A few weeks after the fair, all she could think about was being at the top of the Ferris wheel with Henry Fussy. 

            Throughout the book E.B. White tries to teach the reader lessons.  Some lessons are harder to find than others.  One of those lessons is that people and animals grow up.  I think that it is natural that Fern grew up and spent less time with Wilbur.  When Mrs. Arable goes to see Dr. Dorian it shows that Mrs. Arable cares for Fern and sets an example for Fern.  Taking care of Wilbur will teach Fern the responsibility of being a parent.  Wilbur also shows signs of growing up.  In the beginning when Fern wasn’t there to take care of him he adapted to Charlotte being his mother. In the end when Fern wasn’t there at all and Charlotte was dying Wilbur grew up and took care of Charlotte’s egg sac.  When the eggs hatched he took care of the babies and replaced the attention he used to get from Fern with the attention he gave to Charlotte’s babies.  When most of them flew away he didn’t understand why but because he had matured he didn’t cry.  Growing up happens to all living things, it is best to accept the fact, learn from those who took care of us and try to be the best mature person you can.