StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

The Desires of the Main characters From Different Books - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
From the paper "The Desires of the Main characters From Different Books" it is clear that people have different ways or paths that lead to fulfillment but deep down from within, it is the personal urges and the passion that makes people chase something…
Download free paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.6% of users find it useful
The Desires of the Main characters From Different Books
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The Desires of the Main characters From Different Books"

 Desire, every person has, and everybody traces to fulfill it. It is the fire that leads the way when we get lost; it is the sun that warms us when the winter comes; it is the power that raises us when we fall down. People have their desires, and all the characters we have met have their own desires also. Desire can be a thing we want to protect, like Zeitoun, his desire is to protect his town and his property; it can be a life style we want to have, like Eustace Conway, his desire is to live freely in the nature; it can be the irresistible impulse during the youth, like Matthew Dickman wrote in his poem; it can also be a 10 years old child’s dream and tear, like Chengcheng, his cheating and struggling is his fight for what he desires. The desires of the characters make the books and videos attractive. The desire of each character makes them a lively human being, and makes them a person that others would love to know. Every individual has his own personal desire, which is why people immediately find a connection with such books and videos. Zeitoun is the first friend we met in the class. Heroism is what was discussed about him. Probably he doesn’t want to be a hero, he merely wants to protect his personal property. He wants his family, his property and his lovely town. But life is unfair, the world takes what he wants and gives him a title of a hero that he never desired. His life is controlled by a power greater than him, be it the government or god. He tries to seek satisfaction from the divine authority by serving humanity. He lives his life as a pious and industrious person for a long time. He travels the world and finally settles down in the U.S. with his wife. But when hurricane Katrina comes, his family leaves for a safer place while Zeitoun stays behind to take care of his company business but he does more than that. He rows his canoe in the floods distributing food and medicine to people in need. He probably helps others selflessly because he thinks it would please his creator. That desire to protect his family as well as helping others is his passion and he is driven and governed by it. It is not his responsibility to take care of his town but that is what he desires to do and fulfills it without giving it a second thought. Personal satisfaction and self-fulfillment are two factors that make him do such brave and altruistic tasks. Dennis Ziegler from the book, ‘This is Our Youth’ is another character that was discussed who is led by his own instinctive desires. He indulges himself into various indecent habits like smoking and selling cocaine but he doesn’t consider such habits morally wrong because he is the creator of his own cult and religion, the religion of desire. He is not seeking any rule or guideline, he is driven purely by his urges and he follows them with full faith and without regret. Even though he is wily, smart and domineering but his actions are always passionate and drenched in liberal thoughts. He is just living his life and not thinking about his past or his future, he lives in the moment and that is what fulfills him. Eustace Conway is another character by Elizabeth Gilbert who has a different way of self-fulfillment and contentment of his soul. He is driven by the desire to become one with nature. Like Ziegler, he has discovered his own religion and he believes that is the way to live. And living his life that way gratifies him. Despite having relevant knowledge of the world, he goes out and starts living in the mountains in a teepee. He hunts his own food and starts living like a caveman. His desire is to go back to the way people used to live in caves and jungles. To him that is the only pure way of living. He has not given up his successful urban life because he is afraid of some nuclear war erupting or an economic crisis, it his own will and understanding that it is the true way to live a life, he discovered a higher purpose of life and pursuing it becomes his desire. His self-discovered philosophy of life is his desire and the passion that he strives for. At one point he even has an argument with his girlfriend when he asks her to cook squirrel stew and she can’t. That’s a demonstration that he not only wants to live like a jungle-man but he wants other people to live like one too. That argument leads to their breakup indicating that he is stubborn in his demands and desires (self-contentment is conquers all). To him, living in the jungle wearing buckskin should be everyone’s lifestyle. Such a state of fulfillment that Eustace creates is probably his nirvana that he badly wants to achieve (Karen, 2002). Dickman’s ‘All American Poems’ has more in common with Conway. This poem entices the reader to live a happy life and that is the desire of Dickman. It is a persuasive poem that asks the readers to dance, spend time with girls and continue doing it because that is what life wants from people. Dickman, through the poem tries to wake people up from their slumber and wants them to ditch monotony and live life to its fullest. To him, living life listless is a waste of time and human nature doesn’t deserve such treatment. He convinces readers and probably himself that his desires are probably justified because he is not a river which flows only in one direction. He is a human being, a creature that is full of adventure and enthusiasm (at least that’s what he wishes to see humans as) (Instant Librarian, 2010). His desire is to live life opportunely even if it involves being a little naughty. Probably because a little mischief and a little rule-breaking are in people’s DNA, they shouldn’t hide or suppress it. Instead, they should let it out and let this energy guide them. In a funny and delightful way, Dickman tries to kick the depression out of readers. This is justified because depression is like a demon that feeds on people’s desires. Once people get rid of this monster, they can a lead a life filled with their own desires. Breaking rules and reaching out for those pleasures of life that people deny themselves of is not Dickman’s way. He says; “No reason not to go out and eat twenty doughnuts if that’s what you want instead of granola because, whether you like it or not, it’s a skeleton you’re wearing under those Italian jeans.” (Dickman, 2008) The little boy, Cheng Cheng wants to boss people around. He feels happy for being the class monitor because it was fun to order people and command them. The whole class was shouting and when he said “Quiet”, they all fell silent. That is what he gets so excited about. He loves the popularity and appreciation. That was his desire. After his first day he wanted to relive the moment, he wants to do it again. Living like a leader is Cheng Cheng’s desire. But later when he delivers his speech in front of the class, that he wants to make the school famous through his monitoring and making the institution stand out. Those are just spoon fed words that he delivers to make an impression. In the video ‘Please Vote for Me’, self-satisfaction is what Cheng Cheng is really after. He only wants to make himself happy and it doesn’t matter to him much how achieves that. He goes behind his opponent’s back and schemes, plans and uses cheap maneuvers to defeat competitors. Using dirty tricks to get what people want sounds something which is not fair but analyzing the whole situation and comparing it to other characters in this paper, Cheng Cheng isn’t very different. He is only a 10 year old and doesn’t have firm beliefs of right or wrong. He knows what makes him happy and his brain comes up with various plans to achieve that. He likes to boss other children and tell them what to do. He reflects to his mother how he feels when he commands the class to go quiet and everyone obeys, that happiness is his drive force. He is not motivated by the urge to make the school a better institution or he wants the teacher to appreciate his efforts. His only satisfaction comes from stealing the spotlight and that is his craving. He saw his opponent staying as class monitor for two years and probably envies his position. He likes that position and wants to achieve it by winning the elections for class monitor position, by hook or by crook. Obsession with wealth is another motive for many people to get driven. All the teenagers shown in the video by Lauren Greenfield were crazy for various clothes and shoes. Most of them admitted that spending so much money only on fashionable clothes isn’t reasonable but the happiness and self-satisfaction it brings is incontestable, there is no parallel to it. There is one basic line which divides people into two categories; the haves and the have-nots. People who have money want to spend it to show they have it and people who don’t have the money want the money to buy expensive stuff to show that they have it. This desire never stops. Sean Michael at the age of 17 is addicted to buying the latest jeans and shoes of his favorite style. He even takes up a job to satisfy his desire because his parents can’t afford to spend around $700 every month only on shoes and jeans. But he says something inspirational; he loves to get those things and doesn’t even want to save money to buy a car. The happiness of buying shoes on the spot can never replace getting a car after saving money every month. In all of the above scenarios, desire from within glues everything together. From Zeitoun to Conway to Ziegler to the poem by Mathew Dick, all have one thing in common; the belief of self-fulfillment by achieving or doing something gives them personal satisfaction. There is no other definition. People have different ways or paths that lead to fulfillment but deep down from within, it is the personal urges and the passion that makes people chase something. It is obvious that the protagonist of a movie or a book is usually always chasing something; money, girls, pride, revenge, etc. and that is why people consider them role models and instantly connect with them. They feel themselves in those characters or at least want to be like them because most of them do everything to get what they want. Even such a wily and domineering character like Ziegler inspires people because his way of life is his choice and that is something that he wants to do. He is not told by anyone to do what he is doing, he does what he wishes. Works Cited "Kids Money - Video Library - The New York Times." Video Library Home Page - The New York Times. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. http://video.nytimes.com/video/2007/12/13/magazine/1194817108554/kids-money.html "Matthew Dickman: All-American Poem « The Instant Librarian." The Instant Librarian. 26 May 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. http://instantlibrarian.wordpress.com/2010/05/26/matthew-dickman-all-american-poem/ "Please Vote for Me 1_5 - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYb_KzlXk4A. "This Is Our Youth Study Guide - Kenneth Lonergan - ENotes.com." ENotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. http://www.enotes.com/this-our-youth Valby, Karen. "The Last American Man Review | Book Reviews and News | EW.com."Entertainment Weekly's EW.com | Entertainment News | TV News | TV Shows | Movie, Music and DVD Reviews. 31 May 2002. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,249620,00.html "Zeitoun (book)." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 30 Nov. 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeitoun_(book) Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“The Desires of the Main characters From Different Books Essay”, n.d.)
The Desires of the Main characters From Different Books Essay. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/literature/1438808-comprehensively
(The Desires of the Main Characters From Different Books Essay)
The Desires of the Main Characters From Different Books Essay. https://studentshare.org/literature/1438808-comprehensively.
“The Desires of the Main Characters From Different Books Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/literature/1438808-comprehensively.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The Desires of the Main characters From Different Books

Zadie Smith's White Teeth

While the main characters remain friendly the twins never understand one another.... In spite of continuing difficulties and cultural differences and diverse reactions to situations, the two main characters continue to remain on even keel.... But the main theme remains the human relationship with other humans and with the surroundings and their reactions to compulsions.... The two cultures and religions and different outlook do not confuse the issue, but make it more vibrant and sometimes, extremely hilarious....
6 Pages (1500 words) Book Report/Review

Story of an Hour and Desirees baby by Kate Chopin

the main character in 'Story of an Hour' is Louise Mallard.... the main character in 'Desiree's Baby' is Desiree Aubigny.... They were thought to be very different from white people, not as smart or advanced.... She got the ideas for her writing from her own life, because her mother, her grandmother, and her great-grandmother all became widows when they were young women, so Chopin learned from her family that women can be strong and take care of themselves without men's help. … Both stories are set in the eighteen hundreds, when rich white women were asked to act helpless and depend on men....
4 Pages (1000 words) Book Report/Review

Analysis of A Sorrowful Woman of Gail Godwin

'She painted the room white, fed the child lunch, read edifying books, raced the boy to the mailbox, hung her own watercolors on the fresh-painted walls, made spinach souffl, cleaned a spot from the mother's coat, made them all laugh, danced in stocking feet to music in the white room after reading the child to sleep" (Godwin).... t is said that all plots center on conflicts and this is of four kinds: between people, between a person and society, between a person and nature and lastly, between different aspects of the self (Dory Lynch)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Book Report/Review

Toronto since the 1950s

The two books show both similarities and contrast in various ways in which the city changed.... hellip; The comparison of the two books is based on key themes and topics such as economic, social, political, cultural, and religious perspectives and practices.... The key concern in two books is how Toronto changed to the state it is currently.... nbsp; The two books show both similarities and contrast in various ways in which the city changed....
8 Pages (2000 words) Book Report/Review

An Analysis of the Main Characters of The Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

A look into the nature of the main characters, the Narrator, Luo, and the Little Chinese Seamstress, proves that though the Western literature they read has considerably influenced their thinking and behavior, it is their very basic nature that comes out as their actions.... This is evident from the fact that after reading the same literature, three of them show contradicting qualities.... In the novel, the Little Seamstress is the daughter of a wealthy tailor from a neighboring village....
5 Pages (1250 words) Book Report/Review

David Finchers House of Cards

The desire for political power and the quest for its acquisition is demonstrated in the life of the two main characters.... The author of this book review "David Fincher's House of Cards" describes the main aspects of this drama....  Fincher's US adaptation of the book, which is a favorite across different demographics, continues to prove what an incredible literal work the book is.... In such situations, the producers work their way back from a point in the future in an attempt to explain how the events unfolded....
6 Pages (1500 words) Book Report/Review

The Use of Character and Setting in Literature

nbsp; Moreover, the book has been designed to help students learn how to research and analyze information from written materials by inviting affecting reading skills.... The character represents people's emotions, mental abilities, and social qualities and, it is developed from the beginning of a story to the end.... The paper will show that the importance and the use of character and setting as devices of literature, rangers from one author to another but most importantly, they are used to define and shape the characters, reflect emotional states and engage the reader in the atmosphere of the story....
6 Pages (1500 words) Book Report/Review

The Idea of Theory of Mind in Fairy Tales The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland

the main point of this research is to show that children develop a sense of others through the stories that they read, becoming highly engaged in many of the literary stories which are expressed by their own recounting of what they have read and mimicking some of the behaviors of the characters.... The research focuses on the sensory experience, the desires, the beliefs, and the knowledge that children gain from the stories of which they might bring into their real-life situations....
9 Pages (2250 words) Book Report/Review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us