The Lie
As life goes on, all lies at some point come back to haunt you, no matter who you are, how famous, how poor, it always happens. Even when you go to great lengths to hide it, the lie just grows and grows, becomes harder and harder to keep track of, until, it finally all comes tumbling down. This tangled maze By Kurt Vonnegut Jr. is an extraordinarily average story that is expressed in an untypical way.
Whenever someone lies, someone is hurt. This typically occurs when a son or daughter lies to his or her parents about something small. The only reason people ever lie is because they are pressured into it, sometimes its pressure from others, sometimes its pressure from yourself, but there’s always pressure. In this case the pressure is from the one person it should never come from, his father. Parents like these are the worst kinds, he has everything so he thinks his son inherited the same things, the only problem is that those things aren’t inherited at birth, the father has to pass things like that down to his son, things like ambition, intelligence, a desire to go out and get something, some think this could be hard, but it can be done in the simplest of ways like just playing catch in the yard, helping him with their homework, or just having a conversation. Something that would remind the reader of this is a commercial that came out a while back, it shows an arm, an arm that’s full of tattoos all up and down it, but as the camera leads down it, it show pink painted nails, and then it zooms all the way out and shows a little girl painting the nails of this huge biker guy, and then it just says “Take time to be a dad today” and talks about how the simplest things can make a difference in a child’s life. This truly shows what being a good parent can mean.
Even though one could say that Eli felt like the family tradition rested on his shoulders, it probably was, many would say that Eli was pressured into doing what he did by the hundreds of Remenzels that had gone through the school. It is evident that Eli wants to make his parents proud but because of the added pressure he is terribly afraid of disappointing his parents, leading him to his decision. Something similar to this is a movie called “Dinner for Schmucks”, which is about a person who wants this promotion and all he needs to do is to attend this dinner, there’s a catch though, for the promotion he needs to bring the biggest dimwit to the dinner hence the name “Dinner for Schmucks”. This is similar because the main character in this movie tells his girlfriend that he wasn’t going to attend the dinner yet he does anyway lying to her just like Eli did too his parents.
Although the fact that Eli lied was bad, the only reason he did it was because of his father pushing it on. Throughout the story the reader will notice the father’s pompous attitude and how he never gives a second thought when Eli’s acceptance letter never comes. This attitude symbolizes exactly how ignorant and stuck-up people like him can be. Most would believe though that in the end it is Dr. Remenzel’s fault that Eli didn’t get in; this is because of his attitude towards life, everything has always been given to him, he’s never had anyone close to him not be successful in life, he doesn’t know what it’s like too fail, and he expects the same from everybody else. This was his main downfall, that and the fact that he never paid attention to Eli. Another instance of this was in the short story, “The Rocking Donkey”, which is about a little girl facing child neglect, it’s hard to compare these two stories because one is about a girl who has nothing and the other is about a boy who has everything, but they are two in the same in how they want, they both want parents who care, parents who say, It’s OK to mess up, parents to pick them up when they’re feeling sad, parents who are there.
After reading this hopefully you now understand why Eli made the decision he made and agree that it wasn’t his fault, also, if you see something like this unfolding then make sure you step in and tell the parents what they’re doing wrong.
Fall District Assessment
In this world, no matter where you are, or where you go, there will always be people who take advantage of the less fortunate. This could happen in a large array of things, possibly, raising another’s rent, or even just ignoring a homeless man while you’re walking by. Through all of this, it takes real courage to rise up against all odds, and actually just live a normal life. “Magic and the Night River” by Eve Bunting is a simple yet extravagant short story that explains just how valuable a simple life can be.
For many years Grandfather has served Kano well, yet Kano still thinks about firing Grandfather from his fishing job. This was one of the many reasons that the birds came back to Grandfather and Yoshi, but not Kano. Many would say that the main reason was that Kano had tied the birds too tight, but this reader thinks differently. It is possible that the reason the birds came back was quite simply, love. Grandfather never treated the birds badly, always giving them enough room to eat the smaller fish for themselves, but bring the bigger fish back to them. It is also possible that there was just some sort of magical bond, as if the birds simply knew that Grandfather and Yoshi needed a big catch that day, which is a living example of that old saying “treat others the way you would want to be treated”.
Although this explains that old saying, it could also teach you that friendships can be found anywhere. In this script, friendships are found when the birds come back, symbolizing the connection and love between grandfather and the birds. A final reason that the birds came back was the fact that Grandfather was humble, through forty years of lighting the first fire, being the best fisherman, he had never bragged once. Showing truly just how great grandfather was.
“Magic and the night river” by Eve Bunting explains that friendships can be found anywhere with its simple yet exuberant plot. In conclusion, hopefully after reading this script you have learned that in order to be truly happy in whatever situation you are in, you must learn to be happy with yourself.
