Examples of good essays
Jailynn Rodriguez
Mr. Abel
9R BL2
24 September 2017
The key to life: Character
Your character is what defines you as a person. It affects the choices you make, how you carry yourself, and is what separates you from everyone else in the world. What many people do not realize is that the decisions you make today, will affect your life tomorrow. There is a quote by a man named Heraclitus that states, “Character is destiny.” In other words, your character isn’t based off of the things you do when others are watching, character is based off of what you do when there isn’t anyone watching. Two works of literature that explore the importance of a persons’ character are To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Color of Water by James McBride. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem struggles between wanting to be courageous by using a gun, or being courageous by not allowing the opinions of others to get to him. In The Color of Water, Ruth McBride was in a dilemma over making her parents proud, or making a decision that she truly believed was best for her future. These examples show how Lee and McBride used symbolism to show the readers the importance of how they carry themselves and the decisions they make.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee uses symbolism to show that as Jem got older and his innocent mentality began to fade, he soon realized that the quiet town he knew and loved wasn’t what it seemed. Maycomb was a town filled with racism and many opinionated people. This is a major key as to how Jem learned the true meaning and importance of a person’s character. Jem’s moment of clarity occurred after Mrs. Dubose’s death. Ever since Jem was young, he believed that knowing how to shoot a gun was important. Jem viewed people who used guns as courageous and wanted to be like them. This viewpoint changed after the passing of Mrs. Dubose. When she was alive, she wasn’t too kind of a person to Jem. He always thought that she was just a mean old lady, but it turns out there was more to the story. She was ill, whenever she’d make rude remarks towards Jem, or anyone for that matter, it wasn’t because she had a rotten character, it was because she was having a morphine attack. Jem did not know any of this until after her death. He realized that the actions you make and how you treat others, affects how people will view you. You could have a really great personality but be focused on the wrong things and that could cause people to believe you have a rotten character. Jem realized that this was exactly what he was doing by hiding behind a gun. Having a gun isn’t what makes someone courageous, staying true to yourself is what does. Mrs. Dubose was an example of what it meant to be courageous. Even though she was very ill, she still tried to fight off her addiction and live her life to the fullest. Once Jem came to this realization, he knew that he no longer needed to hide behind a gun. In fact, he too was very courageous. He may have broken character once, but besides that, he learned that the opinions of others do not matter. He was able to stay calm and act like a gentleman whenever kids at school, or even Mrs. Dubose would make rude or racist remarks towards him and his family. He learned that his choices do matter and will affect his life in the long run. It’s better to stay true to yourself and receive hate from those who are rotten, then to follow what everyone else believes should be done and get hated by those who aren’t.
In The Color of Water, McBride begins his story through the words of his mother Ruth. Ruth explains how she struggled between making her parents proud, or making a decision that she believed was best for herself. Since she grew up in a Polish Orthodox Jewish family, her parents were very strict. They believed that Ruth should go through an arranged marriage like they did. When the time came, Ruth realized that she didn’t agree with arranged marriage. Instead, she began dating a black man. This decision alone shows that Ruth has a bold character. Ruth knew that her parents would not agree with her decision, not only did she turn down an arranged marriage but she turned it down to date a “colored” man. After this, her family pretty much disowned her, but that didn’t stop Ruth. Eventually Ruth and Andrew created a family of their own. Ruth made sure that her kids never had to go through the same racial hardships that she went through. She preached that the opinions of others do not matter and that no one should ever be told that they can’t do something because of their race/religion. Ruth realized from a young age that only you can determine your fate. Whatever decisions you make today, will affect who you are, and where you are in life tomorrow. This is not only shown through her relationship with Andrew, Ruth always stays true to herself. For example, Andrew and Ruth received a lot of harassment because they were considered an “interracial couple.” Eventually the two went to a Baptist church to get legally married and she converted to Christianity. This was another major act that helped define Ruth’s character. Ruth states that this was the happiest time in her life. The reasoning behind that is because she was making decisions for herself, she was taking control of her own destiny. This is the key to a great character. Ruth wasn’t taking these actions for the people around her, or the people watching her, she was making choices for herself. Even if that meant she was shown hate.
In conclusion, your character plays a major role in your life. Only you can decide where you end up. This may come as a challenge to some people because you may be blinded by your own innocence, and tricked into believing that everyone in this world has good intentions, like Jem did. But some may be like Ruth, and realize from a young age that character truly is destiny. You must always stay true to yourself no matter who is watching. Every choice counts. It all comes down to who you truly are as a person. Only you can say what that is.
Julia McCann
Mr. Abel
9R- Bl 2
24 September 2017
Your choices matter. Whether it’s a good or a bad choice, there will always be an outcome. The Greek Philosopher Heraclitus once said, “Character is destiny.” In other words, all your decisions determine your future. Two works of literature that analyze the choices people make resulting in their future are, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee and, The Color of Water by James McBride. In To Kill A Mockingbird Jem and Scout face obstacles that help shape them into who they are as they learn the difficult truth about their racist town of Maycomb, Alabama. In The Color of Water Rachel Shilsky makes many bold decisions along the way, from converting her religion, to falling in love with a black man, and raising 12 children, each of these events have clearly made a huge impact on her life. Through symbolism and setting, Lee and McBride explore the well known truth that actions taken determine your fate.
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee uses symbolism to shows that we must care for and respect the elderly by writing of the incident when Jem destroyed Mrs. Dubose’s flowers with Scout’s baton. Jem was set off when Mrs. Dubose said, “Your father’s no better than the n****** and trash he works for!”(Lee 135). Jem was so furious that cut off the top of every one of Mrs. Dubose’s camellia bushes. When Atticus then told Jem he had to go back and apologize he couldn’t understand how his father could be so forgiving after everything Mrs. Dubose had sad about him. When Mrs. Dubose requested that Jem read to her for a month he was incredibly angry, he couldn’t bare to spend so much time with the scary, mean old lady. What Jem failed to understand was how sick Mrs. Dubose actually was. She wasn’t some disgusting old lady, Mrs. Dubose was a brave woman who died trying to combat her longtime morphine addiction. Atticus didn’t force Jem to read to her as a punishment, he wanted to teach Jem a lesson. Actions do have consequences and also, Atticus wanted Jem to learn what true courage was. Courage isn’t standing behind a gun, it’s when you know that you’re gonna be beat beforehand, but you try anyway. After this experience Jem changes his attitude in many ways. He becomes much more responsible and he looks out for, and protects his younger sister.
In The Color of Water McBride uses setting to highlight the significance of the bold choices his mother, Rachel Shilsky, made throughout her life. Growing up in a Jewish family in Virginia Rachel was expected to abide by her parents, marry who her father told her to and stay close to home. However Rachel was a bold women who knew what she wanted in life and it wasn’t what her parents wanted. At the age of 19 she left her family for good and officially became dead to them. Eventually she changed her name to Ruth McBride after falling in love with, and marrying a black man. Not only that but Ruth converted her religion to Christianity James says, “Mommy loved God. She went to church each and every sunday,” (McBride 45). All of these bold decisions Ruth made had a significant outcome on who she turned out to be. Raising 12 children in black community and not caring about what people say shows bravery and perseverance. Ruth didn’t care about what people said about her and she turned her life around to choose her own outcome in life and she proved that no one else determines who you become besides yourself.
As Herlaclitus said, the actions you take determine your fate. Through experience and the decisions you make your future will be formed. Jem and Ruth both experience important situations which help them to become the people they turned into. They both are influenced by their surroundings but end up becoming their own person. Both books explore the theme that the actions you take will end up to determine your fate. Jem learns to understand the importance of having courage and dealing with the racism present in his little hometown of Maycomb, Alabama. As Ruth, turns into a bold woman who is not afraid to make own decisions and become the woman she wants to be, no matter the expectations of her family and the people around her.