Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Fighting is always easier than forgiving, for placing blame brings no tarnish to oneself. As humans (and seagulls) we cannot hope to move forward without leaving what holds us down behind us. In Richard Bach’s novel Jonathan Livingston Seagull, forgiveness is weaved throughout the tale of a seagull, daring to go beyond the norm, facing the consequences for the pursuit of happiness. Despite his banishment from the rest of the flock, Jonathan begins the discoverence of the secrets of flying by himself until he hits his maximum flying ability. Shortly after, he is brought to a new level of being and flying by another group of “enlightened” seagulls. The parting words of Jonathan’s mentor Chiang, “ keep working on love”, impart on Jonathan the…

An allegory is by definition a story that contains a moral, political, or religious meaning both Johnathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach and “The Myth of the Cave” by Plato are both examples of this. In reading of these stories, there exist several similarities and innumerable differences. Flock members ban Johnathan Livingston Seagull for flying too fast and reckless, whereas in the cave a prisoner escapes from darkness into the light. Johnathan Livingston Seagull and “The Myth of the…

Disability may only be a matter of judgement. This concept appears in Homer and Langley, where Edgar Lawrence Doctorow depicts the possibilities in the life of a blind protagonist, Homer Collyer. Although Homer discerns darkness in a negative connotation, darkness can only be seen and sight is not the only sense for humans. Thus, blindness does not replace the senses or disconnect the Collyer brothers from the world. In a passage on page 159, Langley Collyer’s theory of replacement enables Homer…

Observation – life has a way of getting away from me of late despite the time I dedicate to planning and preparing. Oasis Springs lies at the root of this recent development, I’m sure. After all, things always went according to plan before I moved here, my days quiet, orderly, peaceful – dull, boring and predictable. Now? Let’s take my failed attempt at a barbeque for example, my efforts to throw the party of the year resulting in the fiasco of a lifetime. I swear, I will never live long…

“Stop and put your hands where I can see them!” The officer hollows as he continues running after the boy, who has the stolen loaf of bread cradled in his arm like a running back running a football. Donny bolts through the busy sidewalks filled with people. The officer continues behind him and radios in but is slowly losing track. “We have a 10-43 requesting backup on Yawkey way.” Donny has a 100 foot gap on the enervated officer. Donny reaches the street corner and makes the split-second…

Did you hear what happened? Did you hear the tail of Jack and his pins? It all started one day Jack went to go buy some milk and other groceries, because they were out. On his way to sell Bess he ran into a man carrying a big white sign that read “Wenger Out” in huge red letters. As he tried to avoid the man, for logical reason, but the man walked up to him “Here you look like you want this. Crack it open and see what inside.” the man said with small laugh and the end. Jack was so scared he…

The phone rings at 2 a.m. We get news to immediately catch a plane and travel across the globe to be part of a last minute wedding, not knowing why everything is happening so suddenly. I had just entered my senior year of kindergarten, which felt like a huge transition for me since I had spent my first year of school crying every single day, pretending to be sick, grabbing onto my grandmother 's blouse and not letting go until the teacher would let her stay with me. Now I have to go on my first…

Despite and above all “When a person desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person realize this dream.” Madiba was a poor young man who accepted to support everything in order to take his family out of poverty. It was all about a dream, a dream of a simple child. Madiba considered his life as a challenge to overcome. Sometimes, it’s the fear of failure itself that make a dream impossible to achieve. Madiba couldn’t think about failure even though his situation headed for the…

Accepted to CSUEB and I dived in clueless. Clueless as to what will be surrounding me for the next four years and clueless as to who I wanted to be. I accepted any challenges facing my way because I believed leaving home will be better than staying. As my father drove up the hill I looked out towards the bay and took in the view and prayed that I made the right decision. At first it was hectic looking for my classes and getting use to my new roommates. I felt a sense of joy yet I still felt a…

Rebecca is 30 years old and has been divorced from her husband Jason for a year. Rebecca lost her mother at the age of ten and her father who raised her moved away to find love again. She was socially awkward throughout her childhood years. She had two close friends she would hang out with and that would be only after school. She was always scared to give her ideas because she did not want to be judged by others. She hoped to finish her Bachelors degree and enter in the medical field. Rebecca…