Thursday, May 7, 2009
Chapter 22 - He's Blind for a Reason, You Know; Chapter 23 - It's Never Just Heart Disease...; Chapter 24 - ... And Rarely Just Illness
Recall two characters who died of a disease in a literary work. Consider how these deaths reflect the "principles governing the use of disease in literature" (215 - 217). Discuss the effectiveness of the death as related to plot, theme, or symbolism.
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Two characters that have died of a disease in a literary work are Old Yeller and the husband (not sure of his name) from P.S. I Love You. Old Yeller is a classic. Everyone that I know is familiar with the story. Old Yeller was a dog that nobody liked. He kept hanging around Travis and the rest of his family’s house but then one day he saved the family's youngest boy's life. From here on out, he was considered a good dog. They kept Old Yeller and he kept on being a miraculous dog but one day he got into a fight with a wolf that had rabies. The rabies passed to Old Yeller and he had to be put down by Travis. Why do all the stories with dogs in them have to end sadly? Well, the reason Old Yeller died was to show the readers just how much of an amazing dog he was. He put his life in danger every time he saved somebody and his bravery finally ended up killing him. The characters of the book didn’t think Old Yeller was a good dog at first but eventually he proved himself to be the best dog that they had ever owned. So why the deadly disease? Couldn’t he have just lived to be old and died of natural causes? Well, first of all, the death of Old Yeller makes the book more interesting and also adds drama which always hooks people. When somebody thinks of rabies they usually think of a wild, untamed animal having the disease. Old Yeller was a tame animal with a family but the author wanted to show the reader that he had an untamed side still and that you can bring the dog out of the wild, but you can’t bring the wild out of the dog. Rabies is also a disease that makes the dog extremely angry and frightening. This saddens the family because they love the dog and the effects of the disease are making Old Yeller not love them anymore. Rabies is a disease that not too many people know all the information about either, so this kind of mysterious disease was very interesting. If Old Yeller doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, you aren’t human. Another example of a disease in a story is in P.S. I love You. The husband dies of cancer shortly after he gets married. This disease was basically put into the story just to make the plot work. The whole movie is about a guy who planned out the next year for his wife so it could be like they were still together. He makes all the arrangements for flights and trips and he writes all kinds of letters for her before he passes away. The disease was cancer and so he knew he was going to die and relatively when. If it were a quick passing disease, he wouldn’t have been able to make the arrangements, and the story wouldn’t have worked obviously. The fact that he had cancer let the viewers realize that you can’t have a grip on everything. Nobody asks for cancer and you can’t necessarily prevent it. You have to live your life to the fullest because you don’t know when you are going to go. That is the message that the writer was trying to get across and cancer was the perfect disease for the plot because it allowed time for the husband to make plans. It also made the viewers totally unaware of what was going to happen since cancer is such an unexpected disease.
Good blog Sarah. It looks like you beat me to this one. But i think the late husband's name from P.S. I Love You was Gerry Clarke. Good job none the less. I guess I have to catch up now.
One of my two example characters is Grandpa Joad, from our familiar The Grapes of Wrath. Grandpa Joad dies of a stroke not long into their journey. But why the deadly disease? Couldn’t he have just lived to be old and died of natural causes? (intertextuality hard at work). Well, this death adds quite a bit and is essential to the beginning of our book. First we should take a look at the nature of the disease. Stroke isn't taboo and wasn't in 1939. In fact, it was one of the leading causes of death, and is today's second biggest killer. It is quite picturesque, losing the functions of the brain. Stroke makes it seem as if the the mind and body are being disconnected and holding on by only a thread. So when someone dies of stroke it is as if their mind and body have been completely separated. Is having a stroke mysterious in origin? Though today there are factors that could be pointed to as the cause, but back in 1939, this was not the case. When coupled with it's sudden and unexpected nature, stroke can be the perfect ailment. This is the case for Grandpa Joad. Him dieing from a stroke symbolized his mind and body being separated. Since his body is on a trip to California and his mind and spirit are back at home, this seems fitting. This shows how much he really didn't want to leave (as if being carried off drugged wasn't enough). Also, being sudden, his death brings up the theme that life is temporary and death is just a part of it for those in the Joad's condition.
The second of my example characters is Timothy Cratchit or "Tiny Tim" from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. And though Tim didn't die in real life, he died is Scrooge's vision. It is that envisioned death that is so powerful. to understand this more lets first look at the ailment and its properties. Though it was never directly stated in the book what disease Tiny Tim actually had, it is believed to be rickets. Rickets is a disease caused by malnutrition and a deficiency of vitamin D. It causes bones and muscles to become tender and eventually unable to support the body. Is this a mysterious disease? Well as always, diseases are far less mysterious today then they were in 1843. Though the diseases properties were quite mysterious, its cause was nearly known due to its appearance in poorer populations. Is this picturesque and symbolic? Of course it is. In our story it causes Tim to be lame and carry a crutch. Eventually as this disease gets worse into Christmas yet to come, the crutch is not enough. Our character cannot support himself literally (due to the disease) and figuratively, and so he dies. When Scrooge sees this, he realizes that if the boy doesn't get help now (Christmas present) that he to deteriorate beyond repair and eventually die. Scrooge then feeds him and nourishes him so that he does not die.
Sarah- Every read, Where the Red Fern Grows? Thats even more sad!
Haha thanks Scott and no I haven't read that Chris. I don't want to read it if it's sad! I don't do well with sad things. When I was little I couldn't watch Charlotte's Web without crying.
Dying from an illness can symbolize many things in a piece of literature. It can be a vital part of understanding the true meaning of the novel. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Ms. Dubose is ill (I'm not sure what disease she has) and became an addict of the morphine she was taking. She is slowly deteriorating and she is well aware of it. The little boy neighbor Jem ruined her flowers and as a punishment he had to read to her. By reading to her, she did not think about her morphine, and slowly but surely she broke her habit. Everyday Jem read less and less to her, where eventually he stopped reading to her entirely. Shortly after, Ms. Dubose died from her agonizing sickness. Her sickness was a slow process. Thats signifacant in that it symbolizes the long pain-staking process it took for her to brake her morphine addiction. Upon her death, Jem took great insight. He realized how courageous she was in starting a new goal even though she knew she was going to die. She wanted to end the addiction and cut it off at the roots before she left. Jem realized that the racism taking place in the community had to be cut off at the roots or it would never end. Ms. Dubose meaningful illness and death developed Jem into a wiser and more understanding young man. He understands what courage is, and accepts his father's decision to help Tom.
My second example is from the book, Alas Babylon. A small community has heeded warning that a nuclear war is taking place in the world. A group of people band together to try and survive it. Nuclear bombs were dropped all around them and the radiation was resonating greatly. The groups leader, Randy, has taken charge of the situation and taken the necessary precautions. A man from an outside city comes in thier community and dies from radiation sickness. Randy is notified and takes the body, along with his posessions, and carfully buries them deep inside the earth. How died was not as important as what happened after his death. Citizens didn't want to help bury him, and Randy threatened them to help. This was his turning point in becomming the dictator he will eventually be. He later on kills people and doesnt listen to anybody else. The diseased man that came into his town must have firghtened him with the thought of death. Randy never took and chances from then on and made everyone be very carefull. He made the people dig a water channel out to safely transport water to thier community. He dictated over all. The death of the man was the turning point of the novel, things got much more serious. The death developed the theme and plot structure greatly. Illness and disease can change a literature piece immensely.
*NOTE: This is the first part of my answer. Sorry that I got carried away with it!
Disease is something an author can give their characters that has significant appeal to the plot, theme, or symbolism of a literary work or even for their own personal, and sometimes ironic, reason. The two examples I have chosen exemplify the very reasons why disease can be such an eminent part of what the reader or viewer takes away from a piece.
In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster says that there are four “principles governing the use of disease in a literary work”: 1.) Not all diseases are created equal, 2.) It should be picturesque, 3.) It should be mysterious in origin, and 4.) It should have strong symbolic or metaphorical possibilities. Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga touches upon disease when the main character, Bella, is told of how her beloved vampire, Edward, came into his vampire existence. When Edward became a vampire, it was at the height of the Spanish Influenza outbreak of 1918. Edward and his mother and father were infected and suffered as they faced the extreme possibility of death. Today in 2009, we have the medicine and vaccinations to stop anything like this from eve, and hopefully never, happening in our lifetime, so we immediately feel sorry for how these three are facing what was at the time highly incurable. This takes care of Foster’s first principle, and since Meyer gives vivid and horrid descriptions of them being pale, weak, and ghastly, the second principle is also proven. The origins of the disease are somehow mysterious because of the fact that no one really knew how this too real disease infected and killed so many back in 1908. These three only apply to the deaths of Edward’s mother and father, though the dying wish of Edward’s mother to Dr. Cullen was to save the life of Edward, suggesting that she was presenting a message or theme that a mother will always try to protect their child from death even if the only possibly is to have them live one that is unnatural, and as some would think, unholy. However, though the reason why Edward and his family get the disease and the deaths of his family are simply to work with the plot, I would like to bring up the point that the disease itself is symbolic for Edward’s transformation. To become a vampire, Edward’s body must physically and mentally once again suffer (maybe even more) like it did from the influenza, to live an eternal life and even then Edward must suffer through other things such as loneliness, a thirst to kill, his personal belief that vampires have no promising afterlife, and even the consequences of living forever. In either any case of having influenza or being a vampire, there is always some level of pain.
*NOTE: This is the beginning of part two.
My second example explores a much more initially frightening and gory disease: rabies. In the very laughable horror film Quarantine, a young reporter named Angela and her cameraman are set to follow the night shift of the Los Angeles fire station. That night, the firemen are called out to respond to a medical emergency in an apartment complex. When they get there, Angela and her cameraman, the firemen, and two police officers go to the room of an older woman who is hysterical and bites one of the officers. Since she is so crazy and mad, she is shot to death by one of the police officers, and thus every resident in the complex is ushered downstairs to the lobby. Later, after many other people fall ill, a veterinarian who resides in the building comes to the conclusion that they are infected with a super and fast-acting form of rabies and before long everyone is running around trying to kill and attack each other while those who haven’t been infected try to escape. So I don’t go on and on and bore everyone with further details, I’ll get straight to the point. Foster’s first principle is proven right away since when untreated or not prevented rabies is incurable and ultimately leads to death because the brain expands within the skull. If that last fact alone isn’t enough to prove that the second principle exists, then I could go giving examples about how this movie is all about the visuals whether a foaming mouth with piercing eyes and curled fingers, human-on-human attacking and mauling, or the many, MANY insane, ludicrous, and relentless ways those who go untouched kill their fellow rabid-ridden residents. Principle three is just as easily proven because, until the end, no one knows who, what, where, why, and how this wicked disease infected those in the complex and principle four is simple because rabies (especially a super form of rabies) like disease itself is something to avoid, fear, and many times incurable, relentless, and a hell in itself. Like I did in my first example, I would like to bring up another point to add on to the fourth principle. Being a horror film, the blood and guts, death, and the disease itself as well as those infected are all first essential to the plot but those who has not seen this film may have asked, ‘Why didn’t they just escape the complex if they were in danger on the inside?’ Well, while those inside were just figuring out what was going on, those on the outside knew that a severely rabid dog that had been taken to a vet clinic was traced to have owners in the apartment and so sealed the building and jammed the internet, TV, and phone access so those on the inside couldn’t contact the outside world. Once they find out they aren’t allowed out of the building, Angela and the cameraman as well as two other residents who own a rabbit-ear TV set, turn on the television to find out that a.) their building has been quarantined and b.) (this is when the movie starts to get somewhat interesting) that everyone has been evacuated. The latter, of course, is a lie and when those who remain unbitten try to alert the outside world one of them is sniped making it impossible to make a simple escape from the building. As I described with Foster’s first principle, disease is something to be feared even in extremes. This added point also suggests that those who are in control should take caution from the threat and disease even if it means sacrificing those who could survive. We as viewers are left to question whether or not this is a wrong or just point when it comes to anything whether the characters’ situation or even the ills and diseases of others as well as ourselves.
My first example is from Arthur Golden’s novel Memoirs of a Geisha. Sayuri and her real sister Satsu, as they were young girls, knew their mother was very ill. She was so sick she lie in bed all day, had high fevers all the time, and she was constantly in horrible pain. Their father did everything he could for their mother but it didn’t seem to be doing any good, and he knew she would die. Knowing this, and knowing he could not work and take care of his little girls, he sold them away to a rich family in the city. The family consisted of three women, being a Geisha house, and Sayuri was separated from her sister who was taken to work in a different house. The mother’s death followed shortly after as well as their father’s. Sayuri and her sister Satsu had been planning to ran away to go back home, and after hearing of their parents death, they knew it wasn’t possible. The mother’s death was significant because had she been well Sayuri and Satsu would have never had to be sold to another family. Their lives would have been much different. For one thing, they would have been together, and with their family. Sayuri would have never had to become a Geisha, and she would have lived a much different, but poorer, life. She also would have never met the love of her life and man she was to marry.
My second example is from the movie The Bucket List, about two men dying of cancer who make a list of things they want to do before they “kick the bucket”. In the movie, Edward Cole is a bitter, rich, older man, and Carter Chambers is a kind, father and husband. Together the two make an unlikely friendship and set out to do things all over the world before they kick the bucket. When Edward dies in the end, Carter knows he’s done all these amazing things, but the thing he holds most dear is the friendship he had with Edward. Being that Edward was a very bitter man, he didn’t have any visitors or loved ones who came in to check on him. Carter feels that the friendship he had with Edward was special, and knows that it changed Edward a great deal. Had Edward not died in the end Carter may not have realized how important that friendship was not only to him, but to Edward as well. Also, I believe Carter was supposed to die first. So Edward’s death was almost caused by the friendship, releasing him from his pain, like with that friendship his life had been complete. Whereas Carter still had a family to take care of and that he loved very much.
Two characters that I can remember dying from a disease are: Edward from Twilight, and Beth from Little Women. Edward is slowly dying from the Spanish influenza and Carlisle makes a promise to Edward’s mother that he won’t let Edward suffer too much from the disease. Seeing how much pain the influenza was causing Edward, Carlisle decides to turn him into a vampire like himself. So if you think about it, if it wasn’t for Edward dying from the influenza he never would have become a vampire and there would not be the infamous Twilight.
My second example of the death of Beth in Little Woma was also very important for the plot of the story. Beth was always an ill child and she eventually ends up passing away from a disease. (not sure exactly what disease that it was) Her death allows her sisters, Meg and Jo to see how much they really loved their little sister and how they wished they would have spend more time with her while they still had the chance. Beth’s death also makes Jo into a calmer and more sympathetic person as she tries to instill a little bit of Beth’s ways into herself.
People who have diseases you know will die, but their death is the worst because you still keep hoping they won't die. The two characters I am going to use for examples are Marley, the dog from the book Marley and Me, and Jamie Sullivan from A Walk to Remember. In Marley and Me, a family falls in love with a big dog with a pure loving heart. The dog is the type of dog that is every owner’s nightmare. He chews and tears up everything in house, so they could not leave him alone inside the house. The couple did not know what to think of this dog, but they fell in love with it as if it were their child. Marley was truly a loyal, loving, and good-hearted dog that could make anybody's heart melt which is why it was devastating when Marley began to have gastric dilation vovulus. The disease Marley had was picturesque and mysterious. GDV causes the dog to suffer in pain. His disease gives him the appearance of weak and helpless creature. Being the strong hyper dog he was, no one expected him to contract such an awful disease for the reason that no one thought he deserved to suffer. Marley's death contributed to the plot and theme. He taught people that life is short, so a person should fill their lives to the fullest with love, joy, and loyalty. Marley's death needed to be included so that his owner's family could become closer together. The story would not be as meaningful if the dog had lived. The other character Jamie dies of leukemia. Leukemia is another mysterious disease because no one knows what causes it and they don’t know how to cure it. People only know what it does to the body. Jamie becomes extremely pale with dark circles around her sunken-in eyes. She becomes thinner giving her a weak appearance. Foster wrote, “Not all diseases are equal.” Jamie’s disease is not equal because it kills her slowly and there is no real way to ease the pain. Treatments for the leukemia are even painful because the chemotherapy causes a person to get sick. Also with this disease, people know that they will die once they stop responding to treatments. Why would Spark's make a innocent good girl like Jamie die? He had to teach Landon and the other characters about the gift of life. If she did not have leukemia, Landon would have not loved her as much as he did. When he began focusing on making Jamie enjoy the time she had left, he learned how to care about others instead about himself. Landon and Jamie would not have gotten married young if she did not have leukemia. After Jamie's death it inspired Landon to succeed in his goals because he realized how special it was that he could live long unlike Jamie. Like Marley Jamie’s death reminded people how short life is. Both were the characters in the story that nobody wanted to die, but that is why their deaths were influential and powerful.
Leah- I liked the examples you picked as well as how you explained them. At one point you hinted about how if Jaime and Marley wouldn’t have died they wouldn’t have impacted the people in their individual stories the same way. Though I definitely agree that the two’s diseases and deaths created on impact and add to the fact that one must fully take in and live their lives, it also enhances the fact that we recognize and appreciate the goodness and qualities of others as well as acknowledge them for this before it’s too late. Jaime became beloved by all after her death but before her diagnosis and during treatment she was laughed and ridiculed by her common peers for dressing and acting like a good Christian girl. Yes, Jaime realized that she had to start living and fulfilling her life once she found out she had leukemia but she was still the same person up until her death. The same with Marley. Marley was always loved by his owners but when it was inevitable that he would die as a result of his disease the owners took extra special care in their remaining time with Marley. Not only should life be about living it the fullest but also by living it to the fullest with the people you love and care about, no matter how much time they may have left in this world.
The two characters that have died of a disease that came to my mind are Mary from A Walk To Remember, and Julia Roberts in the movie Steel Magnolias. A Walk to Remember is about a boy who starts out as a troublemaker, but transformers into a sweet caring young man. After committing some sort of a crime he is forced to take part in his school play. He ends up running lines with the other main character Jamie (I think that’s her name). She is a girl that doesn’t really fit in but simply because she doesn’t try. She wears clothes that are not in style and she acts Christ-like to fit in with the kids who think they’re cool. After spending so much time with her and getting to know her, the boy falls in love with her. He finds out there’s a reason she acts and dresses the way she does. It’s because she has cancer and there’s no telling when she might die so material things are not important to her. This breaks the boys heart and he does everything he can to make her last days the happiest. He ends up doing everything she wished to do in life and after which she dies. Her death had to be this way for the story to play out. It was because of the cancer that the story was so emotional and heart breaking. It showed how much the boy loved her and how much he had changed. He was willing to do all that for her and stick by her side till the very end. It would not have made sense if it had been an unexpected death. In the second story Julia Roberts has a kidney disease, and receives a kidney transplant to survive. Because of her illness she was to avoid having children, the risk was to great to her health. She loved children and decided to have them anyway, it was important to her. After having her second child she dies. This disease was of great importance because these children in a way completed her. The fact that she could bring another loved one in her husbands life in place of her own was all she wanted.
When I think of characters dying from a disease, I think of Jenny from Forrest Gump and Robert Neville's family in I am Legend. In Forrest Gump, Jenny is the woman who Forrest loves. She has had a troubled life, leading to severe drug abuse. She is very promiscuous and that combined with her drug use, leads to her contracting a mysterious virus, probably AIDS. When she realizes she has AIDS it makes her realize that Forrest is the only person who has been good to her in her life and she marries him. Her contracting the disease made her realize how miserable her life was and that all the traveling she did looking for happiness was unnecessary because Forrest was right in front of her the whole time. After she dies Forrest is deeply saddened but he has their son to care for which eases the pain. The other movie with people dying from disease is I am Legend. It is a movie about a cure for cancer that goes horribly wrong. It creates the Krippin Virus which turns people into "dark seekers". They are animalistic, almost zombie-like creatures who can’t go into direct sun light. Throughout the movie Neville (who is immune to the virus and therefore designated to stay in NYC to try to find a cure) has flashbacks of his family’s death. The dark seekers attack the helicopter that his family is on, killing them. Although his family doesn't contract the disease, they were killed by people infected with it so they were indirectly killed by the virus. This causes Robert much pain and sadness. His daughter gives him her puppy Sam and also tells him, "Look daddy it’s a butterfly." The dog becomes Robert's only companion in the deserted city. The dog is also indirectly killed by the virus. She is bitten by an infected dog and despite all of his attempts Robert cannot develop a cure and when the dog starts to become aggressive, he has to kill her. Sam's death made Robert even lonelier and also caused him a feeling of rage. He sets a trap and tries to kill all of the dark seekers and after they manage to destroy his car, he is saved by Anna and Ethan. The phrase about the butterfly is important because when Lieutenant Neville meets Anna and Ethan, who are also immune and the woman who is being experimented on has a butterfly tattoo. Anna takes a blood sample and brings the cure to a secret city of people who aren't infected. This shows that Neville's daughter's last words had a foreshadowing meaning.
Whenever characters die in novels or films it always tragic. No one wants it to happen, but it does. One character that dies from an illness is Little Ann in "Where the Red Fern Grows". After the fight with the mountain lion, Old Dan is mortally wounded, and soon dies. After the death of Old Dan Little Ann becomes heartbroken, she refuses to eat or even move. She eventually gets sick and dies on the grave of Old Dan. What she dies of is never clearly stated, but her depression and sadness over the death of her lifelong partner probably had something to do with it.
My second death is in the movie "The Beach". This movie is about the main character Richard and his friends finding a hidden utopia on an island where everyone is at peace. They all live on the beach and can supply themselves from the sea and the jungle behind them. Life is perfect there, until one day a shark comes into there little part of the ocean and one of the villagers in there "utopia" is attacked and mortally wounded. Without any medical supplies the bite soon becomes infected and he died. The man is buried and everyone soon forgets about him. His death represents how imperfect the utopia really is. The dead are forgotten and the people only care about themselves at the present. If the man would not have been infected then his wound infected then Richard never would have had this realization, which shows that disease and death in a story can be extremely significant.
In Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson, a few people die of illness. First off, Jim’s father dies during the winter, of causes unmentioned, but probably some illness or another. Later, Bill, whose health has been questionable at best, receives the black spot and promptly dies. This could easily be attributed to his alcoholism (which health teachers tell us is indeed an illness), which probably ruined his body to the point that he couldn’t stand the excitement, so he just collapsed (plus, I believe that he was anemic because Dr. Livesey had recently bled him). The first death, Jim’s father, places extra strain on the family that is suddenly fatherless. Since nothing is really known about (or at least, said about) his disease, we can’t say that it was picturesque, but I think it’s safe to say that it was a deadly one and the origin seems pretty mysterious, though it was probably something related to the cold of winter. His death shows that the winter was harsh, possibly also symbolizing the harshness of some of the experiences and people that Jim will encounter in the story. The second death, that of Bill, was a sort of self-inflicted one. Bill was extremely unhealthy in appearance, and it was most obvious just by looking at him that he was not taking care of himself. While the exact reason for his death is fuzzy, the cause of his illness was not (alcohol, disregard for one’s own health, and, if you include superstition, the black spot are all available for analysis). Bill’s outside display of unhealthiness reflected his inner degradation--he’d lost most of the things that make a person decent, but this serves well as giving someone bad to compare to someone who’s worse, namely the pirates that appear throughout the story. While I’m sure there are better examples of deaths from disease, I think these two events are still of some importance to Stevenson’s book beyond the bare event of the characters’ deaths.
The first example that comes to my mind when I think of characters in literature dying from a disease comes from the movie, Goal. Santiago, the main character, is playing soccer in Europe for Newcastle United when his father dies of a heart attack. Santiago’s father was never supportive of Santiago. His heart wasn’t in the right place. He wasn’t ever thinking of what was best for Santiago. He always told Santiago that he wouldn’t make it in soccer, and he wouldn’t let him try out for the Newcastle United team. He even went as far as stealing Santiago’s money so he couldn’t buy a ticket to go try out. He had his heart set on Santiago staying in America and living a hard life since that is what he had to do. What better way for him to die than a heart attack if his heart was never in the right place?
The second example that comes to my mind when I think of characters in literature dying from a disease comes from the movie, Rocky III. Rocky has fought many fights to defend his title. Clubber Lang is the next fighter he will face. Mickey Goldmill, Rocky’s trainer, tries to convince Rocky not to fight Lang because he will get destroyed and possibly injured. Rocky doesn’t listen and against his better judgment, Mickey agrees to train Rocky. Mickey has had heart trouble before. There was a scene where Rocky was fighting a character played by Hulk Hogan and Mickey could be seen clutching his chest on the side of the ring. He just shrugs it off and continues. Before the fight against Clubber Lang, Mickey gets shoved and falls down grasping his chest. He eventually dies due to a heart attack. I believe that this symbolizes the inner struggle he was going through and the fact that he ultimately lost that struggle. Mickey knew that Rocky was going to get demolished by Lang, and he knew that he could get possibly even be killed in the fight. Despite this, he agreed to train Rocky for the fight. Rocky ended up losing the fight. Mickey poured out his heart into training Rocky to be the best he could be. When Rocky chose not to listen to Mickey’s advice and go ahead and fight Lang, I believe that is really when Mickey’s heart gave out. He knew Rocky couldn’t win, and he was training him harder and harder so maybe he wouldn’t get hurt. He poured out his heart into this training so much that his heart just couldn’t take it. Mickey had such a good heart, that it was bound to give out sometime
In the movie, Marley and Me, Marley becomes ill with a mysterious and rare disease. In the beginning of the movie, the just married couple adopts a dog to put off having children for a few years. In multiple ways, Marley was much more responsibility than a baby. He was everyone’s worst nightmare. Eventually the dog becomes a family favorite. Everyone loves Marley. This just makes everything more depressing when viewers find out that Marley is going to die. Marley and Me is a great movie that wouldn’t have been the same without Marley’s death. When the dog dies, the whole family mourns. It teaches us to appreciate what we have when we have it because nothing lasts forever. My second example is the movie, P.S. I Love You. Gerry dies early on in the movie of a terminal brain tumor. His death is mostly for the use of plot development because the rest of the movie couldn’t happen without his death. His widow, Holly, receives a letter in the mail on her birthday from her deceased husband. This one letter is the first of many surprises to come. By the end of the movie, it is obvious that Gerry’s goal was to help Holly live again.
Several characters die in literature from disease. In The Road, the father is killed by lung disease. This disease brings up man versus nature. Cold weather gives the father his disease and kills him before he can escape it. The father loved his son as much as he could before he died. He always looked on the positive side of things and lived life to the fullest until his death. In Moulin Rouge, the woman dies from the consumption of her lungs. Her lungs were used for singing and sinful work, which is what caused her to lose her life. The disease makes her give up her boyfriend who was wants to run away with her and live happily. Disease tears apart people and move the story in a different direction.
Carly - You made a great connection with Mary from a Walk To Remember. I had planned on using her for my blog, but you did wonderful job! I love how you explain how she doesn't fit in because she doesn't try, but the Landon still ends up loving her.
Often, diseases kill characters in works of literature. For my first example I wanted to use Benjamin from the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It's a rather odd tale about a baby who is born old. He has arthritis of an old man and many other complications. His mother dies while giving birth to this creature and the father does not want to keep the baby. Ben's father leaves the baby boy on the steps of nursing home and a care taker, Queenie, finds the baby and keeps him as her own. She begins to realize that he is living in reverse, he keeps getting younger. Benjamin falls in love with a young girl and she can sense that he's not like other adults. They continue to live their lives and somehow them seem to meet in the middle when they are both about thirty five years of age. The woman, Daisy, has a daughter named Caroline with Benjamin. Daisy watches as Ben becomes younger and younger and begins to forget who she is and sadly who he was. Benjamin dies as a tiny infant in the now aged Daisy.
My second example is Marley from the movie Marley and Me. Marley is possibly the worst dog ever, he is one of the main reasons why the man and woman fight. The family ends up falling in love with the dog. When they find out he is dying from a strange illness that makes his stomach literally flip they become extremely sad. When the dog’s stomach turns for a second time he must be put down. The dog is buried in the back yard at the family’s house. The ceremony is very depressing because each child gives him a letter and says final words. What puts the icing on the cake is the mother puts the necklace in the grave that her husband gave to her when their family started because she was pregnant. She simply says that it started with Marley.
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