What the Characters Want - Admission/Application Essay Example

?Running Head: ENGLISH FINAL PAPER What the Characters Want Introduction In all stories, be it in novels, movies, books and articles, there is always a driving force behind the plot structure; the motive. This determines the plots, events and subplots of the story. It is what the characters want, do not want or needs. So what do the characters want? A general answer to this question is; identity. All the characters from the books and the two movies are after one thing; identity, though achieved in different ways. Each character shows his or her motive(s) differently based on different situations they are in and their different stories, but the main issue is identity. Consider Cheng Cheng for example, he is determined to be the class monitor and this motive determines his actions in achieving his aims. He seeks support from the parents, incites his classmates against the other candidates and ensures he is the only want whose presentation is accepted by all the children. Why did he do all these? What does he want? He wants to control others. He wants to be distinct from others and be seen as the best. He wants to be their leader. It could also be distinctiveness considering the similarity in their motives. Abdulraham defies orders just to be different and be seen as a hero, in the book “This is Our Youth”, the title says it all; it is their youth. It means they want to be distinct from other youths (previous generations). Conway wants supremacy, he has to be different from others and show them the way, and Gabby and Allissa; dress distinctively. All that the characters want is discussed below. From the book "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers, Abdulraham is portrayed as trying to be a hero, but he is not. He wants to be a hero so passionately or believes he is one. He goes on to defy government orders to vacate hurricane Katrina stricken area, and decides to stay and let his family go without him. His story is linked to that of Jonah from the bible, indicating that he could be some kind of hero summoned by God to remain and fight the hurricane. Abdulraham goes further to show his distinctiveness from others by feeding stray dogs and saving trapped old women. He wants to be distinctive. There is a film titled “My name is Khan”. In this film, Khan is a man with autism, but is able to do things that the normal people would not do. He was able to change people’s minds about Asians and Arabs being terrorists. Just after the September eleven, all Arabs and Asians were perceived to be terrorists. Very few people stood up to fight for their rights, but Khan was determined to tell the United State’s president, that he is not a terrorist. This story matches what Joseph Campbell describes as a hero and while Zeitoun’s story shows Abdulraham trying to be one. Conway wants supremacy; he wants to be the right one to have found a solution to human problems. Human problem according to his perception is the modern life that people live today. He wants to be the cherished as the leader who brought back good to humanity. He is similar to Zeitoun who remains and waits for the hurricanes instead of evacuating like the others. He also decides on his own, to go and live in the mountains by himself. He then comes back and tries to persuade others to live like him; to be like him; to go back to their natural life. To him, the life that everybody lives (modern life) is not the one people should have. People deserve better, and it is him with the better solution; which is going back to the mountains. Gabby and Allissa like fashion. Gabby says she dresses fashionably to pass a message to others about who she is. The dresses she wears say all she is. The two 16 year olds talk about some of the students spending too much money just to show off. This is a clear indication that they would not want to be identified in the class of people who show off. They define who they are to the society. In “This is Our Youth”, Warren is depicted with a lot of problems; he cannot stay with his father because of drug issues and according to him, his friends’ actions show that he does not fit in. He needs to change to belong with his friends; he needs to change to be recognized as an adult; and he needs to change to have a different life from the one he had with his toys. The toys, he refers to as, “the proceeds from my unhappy childhood”. He wants that unhappy childhood life to go away. He is called an idiot by his friend. It means that Warren does not belong with his friends. His friends, both Jessica and Dennis, seem to have found themselves. They seem to have identified who they are. Another issue that is of importance is that these three characters (Warren, Jessicca and Dennis) want is love. They fill the gaps by use of drugs, engaging in sexual activities, provoking their parents, spending nights in hotels and meeting girls; seems like they do provoking to get attention. Warren wants to belong to a group. There are two groups here; his peers and the next stage of life which is adulthood. He quarrels with his father; and by moving out of the house, and being told to move out of the house, symbolizes Warren’s perception of what their youth is. It is one where they have to smoke like they want! In “All-American Poem”, the character is also portrayed as fighting the challenges of transitioning into adulthood. The poem illustrates the behavior of the youth and how they want to be identified. In an occasion, one wanted to feel good and even ended up beating his girlfriend. The perception according to the character who wanted to feel good, is that feeling good involves drinking and beating girlfriends at that stage of life. All the characters want to show that they belong to their world. When Warren is sent away by his father, his takes his toys along with him. In “All-American Poem”, the narrator still talks of the white world, he talks of “Let’s put on our gloves and scarves and walk out under the birches”. The narrator still talks of fantasies he experienced in childhood. This is symbol of a confused individual at a stage of deciding whether to proceed on to the next stage of life or not, or, is willing to move on, but has to remember the good memories of childhood before hoping on to the train to adulthood. In the story about three eight year olds (Cheng Cheng, Luo Lei and Xiaofei) given the chance to campaign among their classmates to be the class monitor; Cheng Cheng wants to control people, Luo Lei wants respect and Xiaofei wants freedom. Cheng Cheng wants to control people and he loves it. After his presentation when he is asked by his mother if it feels good, he says “I want to do it again”. He felt good when he authoritatively told everyone to be quiet and they all kept quiet at once. He identifies himself as a manipulative leader. Luo Lei does not want to control people. He wants earned respect. In a conversation with his father and mother, he clearly indicated that he did not want to control others. At some time he also stated that, he has to be strict for the kids to obey him. He identifies himself as an authoritative leader; one who wants leadership through respect. Xiaofei’s reaction when selected as one of the students to be the class monitor and commitment to present her talent in class, show that she wants leadership. When advised to seek support from her classmates, she declined. This shows that she was ready to let the better candidate win and would let the classmates choose, just like Luo Lei. Conclusion All the characters want is distinctiveness. To be identified as unique in one way or the other. In "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers, Abdulraham is distinct from the others because he believes he is a hero. He has to remain and face the hurricane Katrina, he has to feed stray dogs and help trapped women, that way, he will be a hero and people have to know that he is one. He is just like Conway. Conway wants to be a unique human being, who identified a better life for the human race. He also has to stay in the mountains and show people that life in the mountain is better than the modern life. Gabby and Allissa are unique; they select their own fashionable dressing to belong to a distinctive class of their own. Warren and the poet want their youth; it is a different youth from the others. It is that youth with their own experiences such as believing in Santa, using drugs freely and having no respect for love; love is just having sex with the other partner and the partner knows that too. Cheng Cheng, Luo Lei and Xiaofei all want to be leader, but through different ways. These are based on their beliefs; Cheng Cheng believes controlling people is the way to leadership, Luo Lei believes people need their freedom, but he has to be strict on them to get their respect, and Xiaofei believes in total freedom. She lets them choose. Read More