A quote from Lord Acton gives the wisdom that “history is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul”. In the beginning of human kind history was passed down orally through stories. Dave Isay takes this heritage of humanity and places it in his anthology novel Ties that bind. Isay has split his collection of stories into three categories, “We saved each other” (17), “Been through battles” (67), and “Two sides of the same heart” (127). A reader can presume that there are several themes playing a part in the section “We Saved Each Other”. However, the bare foundation theme that all of the other themes branch out from is love. With love comes other emotions such as respect, acceptance, and understanding. These themes were introduced
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Through his love for his daughter Will left the navy to be there for her, applied and accepted into college at the age of twenty-seven to better his life for her, as well as became her sole provider as a single father when he and Olivia’s mother decided Olivia would be better-off with him. Will overcame many struggles during his college years with his love for Olivia. Will said “… I was not prepared for college. Had I not been able to kiss you good night every night… I would not have had the strength to do it” (20). The tale of Will and Olivia reveals that with love anything is …show more content…
It is a love based on respect and understanding. Respect and understanding are the foundation themes of Ralph Catania’s and Cole Williams story. Ralph was Cole’s fifth grade teacher. However, their relationship changed when Ralph became Cole’s guardian. Cole expressed his concern on how their relationship would evolve “When I came in, I didn’t really have anything. And I wasn’t quite sure how you transfer being a teacher and a student to developing something different, so it was nerve-racking for me” (29). Cole’s situation became even more complicated when he discovered he was going to become a teenage father. Cole was worried how Ralph would take the news, but Ralph had such a respect and understanding for Cole that he just took it in stride. The mutual respect and understanding Ralph and Cole had for one another carried their relationship to great heights and allowed Cole to become a man to his full potential. Together Ralph and Cole proved that if two people have respect and an understanding for one another they can help each other
Through his love for his daughter Will left the navy to be there for her, applied and accepted into college at the age of twenty-seven to better his life for her, as well as became her sole provider as a single father when he and Olivia’s mother decided Olivia would be better-off with him. Will overcame many struggles during his college years with his love for Olivia. Will said “… I was not prepared for college. Had I not been able to kiss you good night every night… I would not have had the strength to do it” (20). The tale of Will and Olivia reveals that with love anything is …show more content…
It is a love based on respect and understanding. Respect and understanding are the foundation themes of Ralph Catania’s and Cole Williams story. Ralph was Cole’s fifth grade teacher. However, their relationship changed when Ralph became Cole’s guardian. Cole expressed his concern on how their relationship would evolve “When I came in, I didn’t really have anything. And I wasn’t quite sure how you transfer being a teacher and a student to developing something different, so it was nerve-racking for me” (29). Cole’s situation became even more complicated when he discovered he was going to become a teenage father. Cole was worried how Ralph would take the news, but Ralph had such a respect and understanding for Cole that he just took it in stride. The mutual respect and understanding Ralph and Cole had for one another carried their relationship to great heights and allowed Cole to become a man to his full potential. Together Ralph and Cole proved that if two people have respect and an understanding for one another they can help each other