Paper Topic:

The necklase

Turning Personal Struggle into Strength of Character

Life is difficult . We know this for a fact - living in this world is a constant struggle . We struggle to meet our basic needs of food , shelter clothing , education , and then we struggle to fulfill our intangible needs like love and nurturing relationships with family and friends . We struggle to reach our dreams and pursue our passion , to attain the kind of life we want to live . Nothing comes easy - not even to moneyed people . They can have the financial resources , but it does not mean

that they do not encounter any problems , nor does it mean that they are happy . It could be that they have less difficulty with their struggles but then it would mean that they will have less opportunity to hone their character as well . Because it is the struggles in our lives that help us become better people , that drive us to become more than what we are , to exceed our limits and be better individuals . Our struggles refine and define us - it hones our character

That is why in literature we read of people who overcome their situations , their problems , their tragedies , and in doing so , ultimately overcome themselves . Like Scarlet O 'Hara in Mitchell 's Gone With the Wind , the valedictorian in Maya Angelou 's Graduation , and Mathilde Loisel in Maupassant 's The Necklace

In Gone With the Wind , Scarlet O 'Hara is presented as a dominant selfish woman who craved for attention and used her charms to get what she wants . However , with the war and the poverty that surrounded her and her family at that time , readers saw how Scarlet struggled and coped with her changed circumstances , and saw how beneath her domineering and manipulative exterior she always had her family 's welfare and security in mind . She did all that she could to ensure that they will not lose their home and that they will never go hungry again . As she matured she put aside her own desires and focused on what must be done to save the family , even if it meant breaking her sister 's heart . This is not to say that Scarlet was conscientious , or that she always did the right thing but that with the hardships that life has thrown her way , she became a much stronger person in mind and spirit

In Graduation , Henry Reed , the class valedictorian , renewed the hope of everyone present that a better life was ahead of them if they will not give up and continue to dream and struggle for their freedom . They were black people , but that does not mean that they will be slaves forever and as long as they remember what every Negro man and woman has gone through before them , their sorrows and dreams as immortalized in their songs , stories and poems , then they can push themselves further down the road towards freedom . It was dark times for all of them , but they could not afford to lose the...

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