Memoir Presentations 3

One theme that was illuminated for me during this weeks'presentations was how hard work and dedication will eventually lead to success. There will almost certainly be trials in your way, but you can't let it stop you. In The Secret to Success Eric Thomas describes his method to success. One thing he said that really impacted me is when he said that you have to want to be successful more than you want to breathe. He was emphasizing the importance of setting your goals asa high priority. He said that you have to be able to run on 2 hours of sleep or less to do a good job on whatever you're doing. This mentality of earning your own way and making a life for yourself is similar to that in Scratch Beginnings where a man whose had most of his things provided provided for him, but he tried to make something for himself without the use of his highschool or college degree. Like in Secret to Success he stresses how hard work does pay off. It will be a long road, but those who are persistent will see success.

Another big theme that impacted me is how we perceive those around us. In The Color of Water a black man faces the adversity and teasing that comes along with having a white Jewish mother. He knows that people look at him differently because of his family but he is taught to always just do what you need to do and ignore the things people say about you. In Autobiography of a Face she takes us through what it's like to have no self image associated with how she looks. This makes her self conscious because she can never be sure how she looks and what people think of her. Eventually she doesn't care, she embraces it. We live in a society where we have a lopsided view of what people are "supposed" to look like, who is best at looking like everyone else. Despite this sort of judging she overcame it and recognized her true self.

2nd Week of Presentations

"In comparison, they said I was lucky". Lucky is such a relative term. lucky to be successful in life, lucky to have loving family, or lucky to be alive. Such was the conflict in Lucky by Alice Sebold. unlike conflicts caused by her own choices, like those of Anothony Kiedis in Scar Tissue, hers were forced upon her by someone who cared nothing for her. This seems to be one of the hardest things to get over, because you had no control over what happened, and when you make the choices, it's easier to change and erase those memories. The root of Anthony Kiedis's hardships come up due to his drug addiction, so once he realizes his problem he can more effectively eradicate the source. With a rape, that image and those feelings are imprinted onto that persons soul forever, and every time they have to talk about it, they relive it which brings those memories back. 

This is similar to the tragic kidnapping of an 11 year old girl in A Stolen Life, where she can never forget the 18 years she was trapped in a situation she couldn't escape. One thing not under her control was the birth of her first child at 14, who will always be a reminder of the child's father and the mother's captor. This women, however was able to shine through with the surprising attitude that what happened to her can be moved past. Although she will never forget, she has learned to appreciate every day in the present and future as if it's her last. She knows it could be, it may not be under her control what happens to her or those she loves. 

1st Week of Presentations

The main thing I learned throughout the first group of presentations is that human beings are capable of enduring extreme tragedy and coming back even stronger after their hardships. For example in Lone Survivor the main character watches his best friends and squad members die, then has to go back to the hallowed ground where they died to retrieve the bodies. I've never even watched someone die, let alone someone I cared so much about. Despite this, he has the strength to write a moving memoir about all his sensitive memories so that we can learn about what it's like.  Similarly, in Two Kisses for Maddy, the father experiences the nightmare of losing the love of his life and is torn between that grief and the joy of his daughter being born. He is able to see the light his daughter can bring to his life and to use that to get beyond losing his wife. He allowed his daughter to make him happy and like the author of Lone Survivor, writing about his feelings and memories helps him heal and made him the best he could be in the face of adversity. 

Although these two memoirs had terrible things happen to them, Stephen Hawking in My Brief History and Ishmael Beah in A Long Way Gone reveal personal demons they had to overcome to be who they are today. Hawking has dealt with divorce, debilitating disease, and inability to easily portray the complex things running through his mind. His theories have nonetheless revolutionized the way people study physics in this day. Luckily he is able to fabricate virtual representation of his theories through futuristic computer software, but I imagine it would get very frustrating to have such a powerful mind and such a weak body. Beah had to forgive himself and forget for a moral sin. He had to live with the fact he had killed so many people, even if it wasn't his fault. Instead of hating his nation and living with resentment for what he was put through at such a young age, he dedicates his life to bettering that of those he can relate to, those still living the horror he once did. This is the most sincere sign of forgiveness; wanting to change the situation and help others.