"The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" by Ray Bradbury

Through the story "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh," the author, Ray Bradbury is trying to show his readers what impact strong role models can make on your life, and how they can completely turn everything around.  This is shown through the character change of the drummer boy, Joby.

In the beginning of the story, Joby is insecure, alone, and afraid.  The story says, "But without these last, the boy felt his family move yet further off in the dark, as if one of those great prairie-burning trains had chanted them away, never to return..."  This shows how incredibly alone Joby feels when he mentions his family, but adding the part about moving further into the dark really shows the desperateness of his need to go home or just to be comforted by the presence of family.  That also displays the idea that danger is lurking in this war, and there is always the darkness to hide from.  The same sentence continues, "... Leaving him with this drum which was worse than a toy in the game to be played tomorrow or someday much too soon."  The comparison of the war to a game goes further into the fact that no one is ready for this war, and that everyone is being used for the outcome to win or lose.  Having it compared to a game, however, strips away the harshness and thought of death.  This increases the presence of fear and insecurity of Joby in this situation.  It also mentions how bad this is for him to have only a drum, and no other form of a weapon or protection.  No shield or arms means Joby is almost meant to die. He recognized this fact and is just waiting for the moment to come where his life as well is stripped of him, along with his family, home and safety.  He isn't thinking like the rest of the soldiers, he is embracing the fact of death in a cautioned way, so that he doesn't want to die, but is anticipating that is probably will happen, and "much too soon."

In the middle of the book, Joby meets the General in the peach orchard and is enlightened to a new perspective on the war.  This section introduces a father-figure to the boy's life and begins to lead him in the right direction.  Joby's character ending is in confidence and leadership.  One thing that the general says to Joby is, "You are the heart of the army.  Think about that.  You are the heart of the army."  This statement got Joby thinking and understanding that how he beat the drum set the pace for the war, and started the fire underneath the soldiers' feet, just as the words of the general had done for him.  The general also said, "Do you know now you're  general of the army when the general's left behind?" The total character change from his role model is displayed when Joby announces in response,  "Yes, sir."

To close off the narrative, the story states, "Then, at last, very slowly and firmly he turned the drum so it faced up toward the sky."   I think that the drum symbolized Joby throughout the story, from when at first he calls it a worthless toy, to when he opens it up towards the sky.  Joby went from concealed to secure, all because of his role model, the General.

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Life of Pi by Yann Martel so far is a very intriguing novel, although I am still in the very beginning. Although Pi has not yet embarked on his journey, there have been two scenes that stuck out to me that began to lay down the building of his character, Pi.

The first scene that showed Pi's character was from his childhood when his father wanted to teach him and his brother a lesson.  The boys lived at the zoo with their parents and their dad was trying to scare them out of touching the animals.  The first thing he did was he ordered for the tiger not to be fed for a few days.  Because the tiger was hungry the dad showed his children how it would attack a deer when it was that desperate for food.  I think that the father was indeed just trying to help his children from not getting hurt by the animals in the future, but it was a bit too harsh for the boys at such a young age in my opinion.  The author described the deer's bound feet and the blood spraying everywhere.  I think that because he demonstrated this danger with an animal in such a desperate position, it made it harder for the children to bear.  But on top of that, I believe this experience helped Pi to grow as a person.  I think this scene is intended to display how tough and grown up Pi would need to act at such a young age, and show that these characteristics came from a life full of sadness and challenges.

Another scene that shows Pi needing to grow up quickly and deal with hardships in life was when he was at school.  This scene described his fellow classmates and teachers calling him "Pissing" rather than his actual name, "Piscine."  It wasn't the making fun of that caught my attention, but rather the response Piscine had when he transferred schools.  During the first weeks of school, when your teachers are still trying to learn your names, you have the change to tell them what you would rather be called.  Piscine made a scene out of changing his name to Pi in an extremely adult-like way.  Pi didn't complain, he just kept to himself until he had an opportunity to make change himself.  Pi, a child going into his first year of Middle School, acted as if he was a grown man himself.  I think that those two scenes for sure show the build-up of his character, which will eventually lead into his expedition.

The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

Over the summer, I competed the book called The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler.  The entire story really portrayed the idea that friendship is such an important aspect to life.  The character change was extreme throughout the book, which didn't just enhance the story and intrigue the reader, it also laid out the actual theme for the story.

The book is written from two different perspectives, one from a girl named Emma, and the other from a boy named Josh.  These two characters had an interesting relationship that began as awkward and later developed into anything but awkward.  They had been best friends since they were little, but when the book begins, they aren't even speaking to each other.  The plot is based on the two kids discovering Facebook from the past, and using it to manipulate their futures.

As they tried to change their futures, they pulled away from what was starting to rebuild their friendship.  When they pulled away, they realized how hard things began to get without a support system or anyone to talk to.  I think that sometimes the best things come from getting space for a while, and you notice who your really supposed to be, and how your friend actually fits into your life.  Even in this instance ignoring one another showed them a new perspective as to where they needed to be at the moment, but there's always a need for a friend.

With personal knowledge on pulling away from someone, I realized that what I really needed was to be closer to them, because they had my back through conflict, and weren't the ones inflicting it.  I think that the characters never would end up where they do in the end of the book if they never had that fight, and they also wouldn't have realized the second major theme to the book.

I think that the other lesson learned from this story is that living in the moment is what forms your future, and you shouldn't try and change those moments to have the perfect future.  A lot of the time great things can come out of your mistakes, but if you focus on the present, in my opinion, that wil;l lead you to a better place in your life than your mistakes will.

The Future of Us was written extremely well and had me hurting for the characters.  I think it served a great purpose, with surprising detail, all while keeping me interested.

                             

                                  ~~Ali