The Secret Lion
Reality Bites
We all have gone through it: patiently we wait for our name to be announced, lining up one by one. Soon, it will be our turn and realize that we must take the leap and face our destiny. As you consider what this means, you look back at the memories you have created in this sanctuary, but now your time has ended and you will have to move on. Finally, your name is called and you are presented a book of achievement. This book will open new doors for opportunity, however, it also closes your childhood memories of school, friends, and pep rallies. Today, you have graduated and a new life of adulthood awaits you, while the old one is stuffed into an old high school year book. In his story, “The Secret
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The first example of the children losing their innocence is when they are describing the transition from elementary school to junior high school. Each has found that instead of one teacher, they in fact had many teachers. Additionally, the girls they were once friends with, now different in size and grace, ignored them. This becomes apparent that things have change as a result of age.
The main setting of the story is the river, an arroyo. It illustrates their childhood, the place that never changes. It was their secret place where they could do whatever they wanted to do. “It was our river, though, our personal Mississippi, our friend from long back, and it was full of stories” (59). Additionally, they come in contact with a grinding ball. It represents their soon to be lost childhood. In realizing this, they decide to bury it hoping to preserve it and their childhood memories.
However, as they grew up, they realized that their thoughts of the arroyo were changing. They stopped going and decided to venture elsewhere. What they find is a golf course. It is like “heaven” (62) for the boys when they first noticed it. They considered it “Perfect. Heaven was green, like nothing else in Arizona… This was perfect, had lots of trees, had birds, like we had never seen before. It was like “The Wizard of Oz” (62). Upon discovering two men with bags, they soon realized that their heaven
Thus, this novel is pleasant to read by the young readers and children is the easy target for instilling new information as their minds are still fresh and clean. Children act as a sponge, and absorb almost everything that is being taught.
Within the loss of innocence archetypal event, a person experiences a life-changing event or realization, often in their late youth, before they can move towards experience or knowledge. As one initially moves from innocence to experience they may feel resentment, insecurity, or sorrow. Before they accept their new understandings and responsibilities, they may first see hypocrisy. The fairytale, Hansel and Gretel, is one of many examples illustrating this. Before they are held captive by the witch, Hansel And Gretel are seemingly carefree despite being removed from their home. Their misled views on the gingerbread house’s safety and appearance lead to their imprisonment, and potential death. As the story progresses, Hansel and Gretel devise and act upon a plan to free themselves. The story ends as the children
All babies are born like blank pieces of papers knowing nothing about the life ahead of them. Whoever they become depends on the experiences and influences drawn on top of them. Younger kids tend to obtain more innocence compared to older kids and they are more willing to believe in the magic. However, as they obtain more knowledge about the world around them, they gain more insight into the reality and the innocence will slowly begin to disperse. As Mary Astor had once said, “ We’ve let the blade of our innocence dull over time, and it’s only in innocence that you find any kind of magic, any kind of courage. “ The parish of innocence is portrayed in Lords of the Flies by William
When they were young, the narrator and his friend Sergio liked to play at the arroyo to pass time. One day, they found a grinding ball which they suspect must have been used for mining. The cannonball was something perfect in an imperfect world, innocence in an adult world, and it was something they wanted to keep forever, just like how kids will always want to be kids.
The first coming of age scene from the novel, I selected was Ms. Mayella's testimony that John Robison had beat her, held her down, and took advantage of her. She had a very jumpy and stressed demeanor. As her story of her tragic event unraveled Jem's face contorted into disgust. As a child many of us are sheltered from the coldness of the world but as the children grow into adolescence the harshness is exposed.
The loss of a child’s innocence is seen in the short story “The Monkey Garden” by Sandra Cisneros. A garden by a little girl’s house that once was her playground is now a place she dreads because her sister, Sally, lost her innocence there. The author creates this loss by using symbolism and simile. The sisters live by a beautiful garden in which they make their playground. One day, the sisters are enjoying their time in the garden, when the boys they play with take Sally’s keys. Sally asks for them back, but the boys say they will only give back the keys if Sally kisses each and every one of them. Although Sally agrees, the little sister does not. She keeps thinking to herself, “It was just a kiss that’s all… only how come
One of the most trying and confusing periods in a person’s life is adolescences. The period of adolescence can be both thrilling and trying times in a one life. We experience a great deal of growth during this period. Adolescence is also a period where we begin to leave a childhood behind and take our first steps into adulthood. When we begin this journey into adulthood we begin to lose our some of our innocence.
This theme was present in the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. Innocence lost through experience was most clearly demonstrated when the story focused around racism. When the Finch children accompanied Calpurnia to her church, they witnessed segregation. “You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here- they got their church, we got our’n.” (Lee). This is one of the unfortunate moments that Jem and Scout had to deal with. It pertains to the theme, because Jem and Scout not only learned, but they witnessed the true feelings many of the people in Maycomb had for the opposite race. Another example that illustrates the theme is the children’s connection to Boo Radley. “The Radley place had ceased to terrify Scout..” (Lee). This
Nelson Mandela once said, “There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.” I’ve had the opportunity to attend Allegany College of Maryland, not only as a sapling when in high school, but later in life as an adult. Ten years ago, I sat in a similar gymnasium, anxiously awaiting my high school principle to call my name so I could walk across the stage and receive my diploma. My journey since my high school graduation has rarely been straight, but rather, full of hills and curves and of course, a few potholes. Those twists and turns of my journey, lead the way
Childhood innocence is something that every one only has once in their lifetime. In many cultures children are depicted as
I believe in this class the most important thing we have learned in this class is the idea of innocence and how it is defined. It can be varied throughout many different cultures, ethnicities, and communities for where a child is said to “lose” and also “reclaim” their innocence.
Loss of innocence is an extreme form of sacrifice whether self-imposed or environmentally dictated. This is the human experience of being exposed to an event or series of events that are inappropriate for their developmental age and consequently, Trauma and lifelong impact can be expected. The protagonists, Jim and Luong experience a tremendous loss of innocence. “Although he is only twelve his eyes look of an old man” This
There comes a time in life where you are no longer considered a child nor an adult. For me it is my senior year of high school. While looking back on my four years at Joliet West I see just how important Education is in my life and that does not just mean everything I learned in the classrooms there but, everything I have learned outside if school that I could apply to the classroom setting.I know that I am never done learning and each day brings something new to learn from. During my Junior year we had to read the book Divergent and it told the story about a girl named Tris who’s world was turned upside down because of other people’s actions. During Junior year my life was affected by my father’s actions back in 2013 and I had a lot of self-doubt at the beginning of the
The Age of Innocence, written by Edith Wharton, is written in the 1870’s in high society New York. This time was known as the “Golden Age”, however, our characters see it as a suffocating society they wished to get away from. The characters are members of the elite families in New York. In New York society, the husbands casually worked and the wife’s lived a leisurely day to day life. They lived off of their families
We are seven, a poem written by William Wordsworth, paints the perfect picture of innocence, in all its forms. It tells of a man conversing with a young girl, inquiring about her family. She, without fail or any hesitation, responds that she is one of seven children; however, two have died. This is ultimately why the man is confused throughout the entire work. I am going to explore the notion of naïveté in Wordsworth's, We are seven, by analyzing the many different aspects of innocence in the young girl and the man and contrasting with the element of experience.